Month: April 2026

Posted in GOOD FRIDAY, HOLY WEEK, LENT 2026, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on SUFFERING, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The PASSION, The REDEMPTION, Thomas Aquinas

Good Friday – 3 April – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – The Death of Christ

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Good Friday – 3 April – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church The Death of Christ

Good Friday
The Death of Christ

The Expediency of the Death of Christ:

  1. To complete our Redemption.
    For, although any Suffering of Christ had an Infinite Value because of its union with His Divinity, it was not, by no matter which of His Sufferings that the Redemption of mankind was completed but only, by His Death.
    So the Holy Ghost declared, speaking through the mouth of Caiaphas, “It is expedient for you that One Man shall Die for the people” (John xi. 50).
    Whence, St Augustine says, “Let us stand in wonder, rejoice, be glad, love, praise and adore, since it is by the Death of our Redeemer, we have been called from death to life, from exile to our own land, from mourning to joy.”
  2. To increase our faith, our hope and our charity.
    With regard to faith, the Psalm says (Ps cxl. 10), “I am alone until I pass from this world, that is, to the Father. When I shall have passed to the Father, then shall I be multiplied.”
    “Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground and die itself, it remaineth alone” (John xii. 24).

As to the increase of hope, St Paul writes, “He Who spared not even His Own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how hath He not also, with Him, given us all things?“ (Rom viii. 32).
God cannot deny us this, for to give us all things is less than to give His Own Son to Death for us.
St Bernard says, “Who is not carried away to hope and confidence in prayer, when he looks upon the Crucifix and sees how Our Lord hangs there, His Head bent as though to kiss, His Arms outstretched in an embrace, His Hands pierced to give, His Side opened to love, His Feet nailed to remain with us.”

“Come, my dove, in the clefts of the rock” (Cant ii. 14). It is in the Wounds of Christ where the Church builds its nest and waits, for it is in the Passion of Our Lord she places her hope of Salvation and thereby trusts to be protected from the craft of the falcon, that is, of the devil.

With regard to the increase of charity, Holy Scripture says, “At noon he burneth the earth” (Ecclus xliii. 3), that is to say, in the fervour of His Passion, He burns up all mankind with His Love.
So St Bernard says, “The chalice Thou didst drink, O good Jesus, maketh Thee lovable above all things.”
The Work of our Redemption easily, brushing aside all hindrances, calls out in return the whole of our love. This it is which more gently draws our devotion, builds it more straightly, guards it more closely and fires it with greater ardour.

ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, GOOD FRIDAY, HOLY WEEK, JUNE-THE SACRED HEART, POETRY, Quote on SELF-ABANDONMENT, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on PURITY, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, Quotes Self-Oblation, The HEART, The HOLY CROSS

Quote of the Day – 3 April – GOOD FRIDAY The Word of the Cross (Christ,What am I to Give Thee for my life?)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 3 April – Good Friday – The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

GOOD FRIDAY
The Word of the Cross
(Christ,What am I to Give Thee for my life?)

St Paulinus of Nola (c 354-431)
Father of the Church

“Look on thy God, Christ hidden in our flesh.
A bitter word, the Cross and bitter sight –
Hard rind without, to hold the Heart of Heaven.
Yet, sweet it is, for God upon that tree
Did offer up His Life upon that rood –
My Life hung, that my Life might stand in God.
Christ, what am I to give Thee for my life?
Unless, take from Thy Hands, the cup they hold,
To cleanse me with the precious draught of death.
What shall I do? My body to be burned?
Make myself vile? The debt is not paid out yet.
Whate’er I do, it is but I and Thou,
And still do I come short, still must Thou pay
My debts, O Christ, for debts Thyself had’st none.
What love may balance Thine? My Lord was found
In fashion like a slave that so His slave
Might find himself in fashion like his Lord.
Think you the bargain’s hard, to have exchanged
The transient for the eternal, to have sold,
Earth to buy Heaven? More dearly God bought me!”

Posted in GOD ALONE!, GOOD FRIDAY, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

One Minute Reflection – 3 April – There they crucified Him – John 19:18

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 3 April – Good Friday – The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St John 18:1-40.19:1-42 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“There they Crucified Him and with Him two others, one on either side and Jesus between them. ” – John 19:18

REFLECTION – “Truly, you are a hidden God!” (Is 45:15).   Why hidden?   Because He had neither form nor beauty, yet Power was in His Hands.   It was there His fortitude was hidden.

Was He not hidden when He submitted His Hands to brutes and His Palms received the nails?   The print of the nails gleamed on His Hands and His innocent Side received the Wound.   They shackled His Feet in fetters, the iron pierced His soles and His Feet were fastened to the tree.   These wounds did God suffer on our behalf, at the hands of His own people, in His own home.   O how marvellous are His Wounds by which the wounds of the world were healed!   How victorious His Wounds, by which He slew death and stung hell! … Therefore, O Church, O dove, You have coverts in the rock and a hollow in the wall in which to rest (cf. Sg 2:14). …

And what will you do … when He comes in the clouds with great power and majesty? (cf Mt 24:30)   He will come down with Heaven and earth ablaze and by the terror of His coming, He will dissolve the elements.   When He has come, the Sign of the Cross will be seen in the sky and the beloved One will show the scars of His Wounds and the prints of the nails, by which He was transfixed in His own home!” … St Amadeus of Lausanne (1108-1159) – Cistercian Monk, Bishop

PRAYER – Deliver us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, from all evils, past, present and to come and by the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God and of the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul and of all the Saints, mercifully grant peace in our days, that through the assistance of Thy mercy we may be always free from sin and secure from all disturbance. 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.
Faithful Cross! above all other, One and only noble Tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom, None in fruit thy peer may be.
Sweetest wood and sweetest iron,
Sweetest weight is hung on thee. (Antiphons).

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, PRAYERS for SEASONS, PRAYERS of PETITION, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, PRECIOUS BLOOD PRAYERS, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, The PASSION, The SEVEN PASSION Feasts

Our Morning Offering – 3 April – A Prayer of the Passion

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 3 April – Good Friday

A Prayer of the Passion
By St Melito of Sardis (Died 180)
Bishop of Sardis, Apologist, Father

Lord Jesus Christ,
Thou were bound as a ram,
Thou were shorn like a lamb,
Thou were led to the slaughter like a sheep,
Thou bore the wood of the Cross on Thy shoulders,
Thou were led up the hill of Calvary,
Thou were displayed naked on the Cross,
Thou were nailed to the bitter Cross by three spikes,
Thou delivered Thy last Seven Words from the Cross
Thou died on the Cross, with a shout of victory,
Thou were buried in noble Joseph’s rock-hewn tomb,
By Thy boundless suffering on our behalf,
fix our eyes unceasingly on Thy broken Body
and the Blood which poured
from Thine Hands, Feet and Side.
By the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
which each day renews Thy Sacrifice
of the Cross on our Altars,
apply the merits of the Cross to all humanity
and, especially to those, who worship it daily
and who offer themselves back to Thee,
our great High Priest
and perpetual Intercessor,
before the Eternal Throne of God.
Thou livest and reigns,
throughout all the ages of ages.
Amen

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 3 April – Saint Vulpian (Died c306) Martyr of Tyre

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 3 April – Saint Vulpian (Died c306) Martyr of Tyre, Phoenicia, Syria. Born and Martyred as a teenager in Syria. Also known as – Ulfianus, Ulpian, Ulpiano, Ulpianus, Vulpianus.

The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Tyre, the Martyr, St Vulpian, who was sewn in a sack with a serpent and a dog and drowned in the sea during the persecutions of Maximian Galerius.”

The Martyrdom of St Vulpian of Tyre, who lived during the persecution of Maximinu, has come down to us through the Roman Martyrology which celebrates his memory today.

His life and death, although brief and tragic, offers food for thought on the unwavering faith of a young Christian in the face of such violent adversity.

Unfortunately, information on St Vulpian is scant. We know only that he was a teenager from Tyre, a City in Phoenicia (modern-day Lebanon), who lived in the early 4th Century. His Martyrdom occurred during the period of Christian persecution under Emperor Maximinus (305-313), known for his ferocity against the Church.

Vulpian, still a young man, was arrested for his faith in Christ. The authorities attempted to make him recant but he remained steadfast in his great love for Christ and His Church. Faced with his steadfast resistance, his persecutors devised a particularly cruel Martyrdom by sewing him into a sack with a dog and a snake and then throwing him into the sea.

Posted in BREVIARY Prayers, GOOD FRIDAY, HOLY WEEK, INCORRUPTIBLES, SAINT of the DAY

GOOD FRIDAY – FAST and ABSTINENCE, Tre Ore (The Three Hours Devotion) abd thge Saints for 3 April

Posted on by AnaStpaul

GOOD FRIDAY – FAST and ABSTINENCE

Tre Ore (The Three Hours Devotion)
The Three Hours’ Agony on Good Friday from Noon until 3 o’clock to commemorate the three hours of Christ’s Hanging on the Cross.
It includes sermons on the Seven Last Words from the Cross and usually occurs between Noon and 3PM, the latter being the time when Jesus Died on the Cross and the time the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion begins.
In 1815, Pope Pius VII decreed a Plenary Indulgence to those who practice this devotion on Good Friday.

It is a fine tradition to keep silent
from Noon to 3:00 PM today.

The Office of Tenebrae
The public singing of part of the Divine Office, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings in Holy Week, anticipating Matins and Lauds of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.
This custom goes back centuries and acquired the name because of the mourning ritual surrounding the ceremony which includes a triangular candlabra bearing fifteen candles. These are extinguishedt one by one until, after the last candle is extinguished, a prayer is said in darkness, one candle is lit and the assembly dispersed in silence.

St Attala of Taormina

St Benedict of Palermo OFM (1526-1589) Lay Friar of the Order of Friars Minor of the Observance, Confessor, spiritual counsellor, Apostle of the poor and needy, graced with the gift of healing the sick.
St Benedict’s gifts for prayer, his love for the Blessed Virgin and the Infant Jesus and the wisdom displayed in his guidance of souls, earned him, a reputation for holiness, throughout Sicily.   Following the example of St Francis, Benedict kept seven 40-day fasts throughout the year. He also slept only a few hours each night.
His body is incorrupt.
Kind and Holy Benedict:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-st-benedict-of-palermo-ofm-1526-1589-lay-friar/

St Burgundofara / more commonly known as Fara (c595-c 643) Virgin, Nun, Abbess, Founder of the famous Evoriacum Monastery, near Paris which after her death was renamed in her honour, Faremoutiers Abbey (Fara’s Monastery). She is celebrated on 7 December in France.
Her Pious and Zealous Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/12/07/saint-of-the-day-7-december-st-burgundofara-c-595-c-643-virgin/

St Chrestus
St Comman
St Evagrius of Tomi

Blessed Gandulphus OFM (c1200-1260) Priest, Friar of the First Order of St Francis. He was a renowned Preacher mainly in Sicily, Hermit, Miracle-worker . He was one of those who entered the Order while the Seraphic Father was still alive and the life he led was one of great self-abnegation. He was Beatified on 10 March 1881 by Pope Leo XIII.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-blessed-gandulphus-of-binasco-ofm-c-1200-1260/

Blessed John of Penna OFM (c1193-1271) Priest, Friar of the First Order of St Francis and became a Franciscan during St Francis’ lifetime. Founder of the Order in France, Mystic and gifted with the charism of prophecy. He was Beatified on 20 December 1806 by Pope Pius VII.
His Ardent Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-blessed-john-of-penna-ofm-c-1193-1271/

St Liutberga (Died c870) Virgin, Recluse.
Her Holy Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2025/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-saint-liutberga-died-c870-virgin/

St Nicetas (c760-824) Abbot of Medicion Abbey in Bithynia (in modern Turkey).
The Roman Martyrology reads: “In the Monastery of Medicion, in the East, the Abbot, St Nicetas, who suffered much for the worship of holy images, in the time of Leo the Armenian.”
Courageous St Nicetas:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-saint-nicetas-of-medicion-c760-824-abbot/

St Papo

St Richard (1197-1253) Bishop of Chichester , Teacher, Reformer, Apostle of charity, Writer, Miracle Worker.
Great St Richard:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-st-richard-of-chichester-1197-1253/`

St Urbicius of Clermont

St Vulpian (Died c306) Martyr of Tyre, Syria

Martyrs of Greece – 4 Saints: A group of young Christian men who protested to City authorities that gifts to temples of pagan gods should be used to feed the poor during a regional famine. When the officials refused, the group went to local temples, broke up the idols and fixtures and gave the gold and silver bits to the poor to use to buy food. The group was imprisoned and executed. The only other thing we know about these Martyrs are the names – Bythonius, Elpideforus, Dius and Galycus. They Died in the 3rd Century at an unknown location in Greece.

Martyrs of Tomi (Romania) – 9 Saints who were Martyred together. We know nothing else about them but the names – Arestus, Benignus, Chrestus, Evagrius, Papo, Patricius, Rufus, Sinnidia and Zosimus. They Died at Tomi, Scythia (modern Constanta, Romania).

Posted in HOLY COMMUNION, LENT 2026, MAUNDY THURSDAY, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The PASSION, Thomas Aquinas

Maundy Thursday – 2 April – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – The Last Supper

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Maundy Thursday – 2 April – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

Maundy Thursday
The Last Supper

It was most fitting that the Sacrament of the Body of the Lord should have been instituted at the Last Supper.

  1. Because of what that Sacrament contains.
    For that which is contained in it, is Christ Himself. When Christ in His natural appearance was about to depart from His disciples, He left Himself to them in a Sacramental appearance, just as in the absence of the Emperor there is exhibited the Emperor’s image. Whence, St Eusebius says, “Since the Body He had assumed was about to be taken away from their bodily sight and was about to be carried to the stars, it was necessary that, on the day of His Last Supper, He should Consecrate for us, the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, so that which, as a Price was offered Once, should, through a Mystery, be worshipped unceasingly.”
  2. Because, without faith in the Passion, there can never be Salvation.
    Therefore, it is necessary that there should be forever among men, something which would represent the Lord’s Passion and the chief of such representationd in the Old Testament, was the Paschal Lamb.
    To this there succeeded in the New Testament, the Sacrament of the Eucharist which is commemorative of the past Passion of the Lord, as the Paschal Lamb was a foreshadowing of the Passion to come.

And, therefore, was it most fitting that, on the very eve of the Passion, the old sacrament of the Paschal Lamb having been celebrated, Our Lord should institute the new Sacrament.

  1. Because the last words of departing friends remain longest in the memory, our love being at such moments most tenderly alert.
    Nothing can be greater in the realm of sacrifice than that of the Body and Blood of Christ, no offering can be more effective.
    And hence, in order that the Sacrament might be held more securely in all veneration, it was in His last leave-taking of the Apostles, when Our Lord instituted it.

Hence, St Augustine says, “Our Saviour, to bring before our minds with all His Power, the heights and the depths of this Sacrament willed, ere He left the disciples to go forth to His Passion, to fix it in their hearts and their memories as His last Act.”

Let us note that this Sacrament has a threefold meaning:
(i) In regard to the past, it is commemorative of the Lord’s Passion which was a true Sacrifice and because of this, the Sacrament is called a Sacrifice.
(ii) In regard to a fact of our own time, i.e. to the unity of the Church and that through this Sacrament, mankind should be gathered together.
Because of this, the Sacrament is called Communion.
St John Damascene says, the sacrament is called Communion because, by means of it, we communicate with Christ and this because we hereby share in His Body and in His Divinity and because by it, we are communicated to and united with one another.
(iii) In regard to the future, the Sacrament foreshadows that enjoyment of God which shall be ours in our Fatherland.
On this account, the Sacrament is called “Viaticum” since it provides us with the means of journeying to that Fatherland.

ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568

Posted in "Follow Me", AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, GOD is LOVE, LOVE of NEIGHBOUR, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, REDEMPTORISTS CSSR, St Francis de Sales, St PAUL!, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 2 April – Maundy Thursday

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 2 April – Maundy Thursday

“Be imitators of God, as very dear children
and walk in love, as Christ also Loved us
and delivered Himself up for us …”

St Paul … Ephesians 5:1-2

“But I say to you,
Love your enemies …”

Matthew 5:44

“But the wise took oil
in their vessels”

Matthew 25:4

“The wise ones’ lamps were burning,
from the oil inside them,
from the assurance of their consciences,
from their inner boast,
from their deepest charity.”

St Augustine (354-430)
Father & Doctor of Grace

“Father, forgive them.”
With this prayer, He wanted to make us understand
the Love He bore us, undiminished
by any suffering and to teach us how
our heart should be toward our neighbour.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritas

“He Loves you as though He had
no-one else to love but you alone.
You, too, should love Him alone
and all others for His Sake.
Of Him you may say and, indeed, you should say:
My Beloved to me and I to Him (Cant, 2:16).
My God has given Himself all to me
and I give myself all to Him;
He has chosen me for His beloved
and I choose Him, above all others,
for my only Love.”

“How to Pray at All Times”
By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, GOD ALONE!, GOD is LOVE, HOLY WEEK, MAUNDY THURSDAY, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES for CHRIST, The PASSION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 2 April – ‘ … Not for His benefit but only for their own!’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 2 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Maundy Thursday – 1 Corinthians 11:20-32 – John 13:1-15 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“He Loved them unto the end.” – John 13:1

REFLECTION – “Before the feast of the Pasch, Jesus, knowing His hour had come to leave this world and go unto His Father, “having loved those who were His Own, unto the end, He Loved them”… In the Gospel John was epecially called “the disciple whom Jesus Loved.” This disciple declares here what manner of faithful Lover our holy Saviour was, of Whom he, himself, was so Beloved.

For unto these words, he straightaway joins, the rehearsing of Christ’s bitter Passion, beginning with the Last Supper and therein, His humble washing of His disciples’ feet, the sending forth of the traitor and after that, His teaching, His prayer, His capture, His judging, His scourging, His crucifying andH all the whole piteous tragedy of His most bitter Passion.

Before which things, St John sets the aforesaid words to declare all these things which Christ did, in all this, He did it for very Love. Which Love He declared well unto his disciples in many ways, at the time of His Last Supper, giving them charge that, in loving each other they should follow His example (Jn 13:34). For those whom He Loved, He Loved unto the end and this He wished, they too should do. He was not an inconstant Lover Who does as many do, Love for a while and then, upon some light occasion, leave His Love and turn from being a friend to an enemy, as the false traitor, Judas did. But He, still so persevered in Love unto the very end, so that, for very Love, He came to that painful end and that, not only for His friends who were already His but too, for His enemies, to make them His friends and not for His benefit but only for their own!” – St Thomas More (1478-1535) Martyr, Lord Chancellor of England (Treatise on the Passion, 1).

PRAYER – O God, from Whom Judas received the punishment of his guilt and the thief the reward of his confession: grant unto us the full fruit of Thy clemency, that even as in His Passion, our Lord Jesus Christ gave to each a retribution according to his merits, so having taken away our old sins, He may bestow upon us the grace of His Resurrection. Who with Thee lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in HYMNS, MAUNDY THURSDAY, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, STATIONS of the CROSS, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 2 April – Maundy Thursday – Man of Sorrows—Wrapt in Grief

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 2 April – Maundy Thursday in Holy Week

Man of Sorrows—Wrapt in Grief
From an old French Hymn
Author Unknown

Man of Sorrows—wrapt in grief,
Bow Thine ear to our relief;
Thou for us the path hast trod
Of the dreadful wrath of God.
Thou the cup of fire hast drain’d
Till its light alone remain’d:
Lamb of Love!—we look to Thee,
Hear our mournful litany!

By the garden—fraught with woe,
Whither Thou full oft wouldst go:
By Thine Agony of prayer
In the desolation there!
By the chains of sleep, which bound
Watchers in their trance profound;
Lord!—behold our bended knee,—
Listen to our litany!

By the conflict foul and fell
With the loosen’d fiends of hell,
By the darkness of the hour
Shadow’d with the tempter’s power,
By the dire and deep distress
Of that mystery fathomless;—
Lord! our tears in mercy see
Mingling with our litany!

By the vision then, which stole
Looming o’er Thy spotless soul,
Of the pride and guilt of man,
Since his fall from grace began,—
Seas of sin, with billowy waves,
Yawning into countless graves;—
Lord! ourselves from shipwreck free,
Hear our solemn litany!

By the Chalice, when it came
Pregnant with a hell of flame:
By those Lips—which fain would pray
That it might but pass away:
By the Heart, which drank it dry,
Lest a rebel race should die;—
Let Thy Pity be our plea,
Hear our solemn litany!

Man of Sorrows! —let Thy grief
Purchase for us our relief—
Lord of Mercy—bow Thine ear,
Slow to anger—swift to hear:
Let the garden Thou hast trod
Draw us to the throne of God;
So Gethsemane shall be
Sweet in every litany!

This translation by Matthew Bridges (1800-1894)
(The Passion of Jesus 1852) Hymnist, Poet, Writer
Converted to Catholicism in 1848, by the influence of
John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Posted in DYING / LAST WORDS, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 2 April – Blessed John Payne (c1550-1582) Priest Martyr

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 2 April – Blessed John Payne (c1550-1582) Priest Martyr, Born in c1532 in Peterborough, Huntingdonshire, Cambridge, England and died on 2 April 1582 in Chelmsford, Essex by being hung, drawn and quartered, Also known as – Pain, Paine. Blessed John was Beatified on 29 December 1885 by Pope Leo XIII.

John Payne was born around 1550 near Peterborough in Huntingdonshire. Nothing is known of his youth, except that he was raised a Protestant. Only later did he convert to Catholicism and in 1574, he entered the new college in Douai to prepare for the Priesthood. There he was entrusted with the task of Bursar and in 1576 he was Ordained a Priest, although this suggests Blessed John had already undertaken Theological studies elsewhere.

He then returned home with Blessed Cuthbert Mayne, to exercise his ministry, settling in Essex at Ingatestone Hall, a guest of the Petres family, who were strongly opposed to the religious policies of the English Government. This facilitated his pastoral activity among the local Catholics, even though these were still difficult times for Catholics in communion with the Holy See.

In 1577 he was arrested and briefly imprisoned. Once released, he returned to Douai but by mid-1578 he was back at Ingatestone Hall.

In 1581, while working in Warwickshire, John Payne was betrayed, arrested and taken to the Tower of London. Accused of treason against the Queen, he was tortured on the wheel and sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered.

He refused the assistance offered him by a certain George Elliott, reiterating instead “he had always, in mind or word, honoured her Majesty the Queen more than any other woman in the world; that he would always happily obey every civil duty; that he prayed for her as for his own soul; that he had never thought or plotted any treason against her Majesty or any nobleman of England.”

On 2 April 1582, the sad event occurred near Chelmsford in Essex which earned John Payne the Martyr’s Ccrown. Those who witnessed his execution, struck by the Priest’s upright conduct, asked that his body be left hanging until death, thus waiting to perform the gruesome procedures prescribed.

The Saint died uttering the words “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MARIAN TITLES, MAUNDY THURSDAY, SAINT of the DAY

Maundy Thursday, The Office of Tenebrae, Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia / Our Lady of the Highest Grace, (1506), St Francis of Paola and the Saints for 2 April

Posted on by AnaStpaul

MAUNDY THURSDAY

The Office of Tenebrae
The public singing of part of the Divine Office, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings in Holy Week, anticipating Matins and Lauds of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.
This custom goes back centuries and acquired the name because of the mourning ritual surrounding the ceremony which includes a triangular candlabra bearing fifteen candles. These are extinguishedt one by one until, after the last candle is extinguished, a prayer is said in darkness, one candle is lit and the assembly dispersed in silence.

Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia / Our Lady of the Highest Grace, Higuey, Dominican Republic (1506) Patron of Dominicans- 2 April:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/04/02/nuestra-senora-de-la-altagracia-our-lady-of-the-highest-grace-1506-and-memorials-of-the-saints-2-april/

St Francis of Paola O.M. (1416-1507) known as “Saint Francis the Fire Handler” – Confessor, Monk and Founder, inspired with the Gift of Prophecy and still called the “Miracle-Worker” Apostle of the poor, Peacemaker. He was an Italian mendicant Friar and the Founder of the Order of Minims. Unlike the majority of founders of men’s religious orders and like his Patron Saint, Francis was never ordained a priest. His Body was Incorrupt until destroyed in the French Revolution. He was Canonised in 1519 by Pope Leo X.
St Francis’s Life:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/02/saint-of-the-day-2-april-st-francis-of-paola-o-m-1416-1507/

St Abundius (Died c489) Bishop and Confessor of of Como, Italy, wonder Miracle-worker.
Devout and Devoted St Abundius:
https://anastpaul.com/2025/04/02/saint-of-the-day-2-april-st-abundius-died-c489-bishop-and-confessor/

St Agnofleda of Maine
St Appian of Caesarea (c287-306) Martyr, Layman

Blessed Arnulf O.Cist. (c1200-1276) Abbot of the Cistercian Abbey in Villers-la-Ville, in Leuven, France, Poet, Writer. After serving in this office for ten years, he abdicated, hoping to pursue a life devoted to study and asceticism but he died within a year thereafter.
His Holy Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/04/02/saint-of-the-day-2-april-blessed-arnulf-of-leuven-o-cist-c1200-1276-abbot/

St Bronach of Glen-Seichis
St Constantine of Scotland
St Ebbe the Younger
St Eustace of Luxeuil
St Gregory of Nicomedia
Blessed John Payne (c1550-1582) Priest Martyr

Blessed Leopold of Gaiche OFM Cap (1732-1815) Priest and Friar of the Order of Friars Minor of the Capuchin branch, Missionary Preacher in Italy, called “The Apostle of Umbria.” He became renowned for wearing a crown of thorns. He served in a position of power in the Franciscan Order in the Umbrian region in which he supported strong adherence to the Rule of Saint Francis.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/04/02/saint-of-the-day-2-april-blessed-leopold-of-gaiche-ofm-cap-1732-1815/

St Lonochilus of Maine
St Musa of Rome

St Nizier (c513-573) Bishop of Lyon. Nizier was a man of ascetic lifestyle, his care for the poor and his promotion of Church music have since been remembered and praised.
The Roman Martyrology reads: “At Lyon, St Nizier, renowned for his saintly life and miracles.”
His Life of Grace:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/04/02/saint-of-the-day-2-april-saint-nizier-of-lyon-c513-573-archbishop-of-lyon/

St Rufus of Glendalough
St Theodora of Tiria

St Urban (c 327-c 390) Bishop, the sixth Bishop of Autun and Langres, in Burgundy, France from 374 until his death, Confessor.
About St Urban:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/04/02/saint-of-the-day-2-april-saint-urban-of-langres-c-327-c-390/

Martyrs of Africa – 10 Saints: A group of ten Christians Martyred together in Africa, date unknown. We have six of their names – Marcellinus, Procula, Quiriacus, Regina, Satullus and Saturnin but no other information has survived.

Martyrs of Thessalonica – 16 Saints: Sixteen Christians who were Martyred together in Thessalonica in Greece, date unknown. We know nothing else about them but 13 of their names – Agapitus, Agatophus, Cyriacus, Dionysius, Gagus, Julianus, Mastisius, Proculus, Publius, Theodoulus, Urbanus, Valerius and Zonisus.

Posted in "Follow Me", APRIL -MONTH of the RESURRECTION and the BLESSED SACAMENT, AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on THE MYSTICAL BODY, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The RESURRECTION, The WORD

Devotions for the Month of April – The Resurrection and The Blessed Sacrament

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Devotions for the Month of April

The Resurrection and The Blessed Sacrament

The Month of April is dedicated both to devotion to the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Holy Eucharist – the proof of the promise of the love of God and of ETERNAL LIFE.

“My brethren, when was it that the Lord made Himself recognised? — When He broke the bread. — So, we ourselves are convinced, too, that when we break the bread, we recognise the Lord. — If He had not wanted to be recognised until that moment, it was for our sakes, we, who were not to see Him in the flesh but who were yet to eat Him in the flesh. ” – St Augustine (354-430) Father, Doctor of Grace

“I am the Resurrection and the Life,
he who believes in Me,
although he be dead, shall live.”

John 11:25

“I am the Living Bread
Who came down from Heaven.
If any man eat of this Bread,
he shall live forever
and the Bread that I will give,
is My Flesh, for the Life of the world.”

John 6:51-52

“For His Body, has been given to you
under the appearance of bread
and His Blood, under the appearance of wine,
so that, when you have partaken
of the Body and Blood of Christ,
you might be One Body and One Blood with Him.
So shall we become Christ-bearers [“Christophers”].
His Body and Blood are diffused through all our members – see, then,
how we become participants
in the Divine Nature!”

St Cyril of Jerusalem (c 313-386)
Father and Doctor of theChurch

Posted in LENT 2026, The PASSION, Thomas Aquinas

Wednesday in Holy Week – 1 April – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas –

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Wednesday in Holy Week – 1 April – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

Wednesday in Holy Week
Three Elements are Symbolised
by the Washing of the Feet

“He putteth water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded”
John xiii. 5

There are three elements which this action may symbolise.

  1. The pouring of the water into the basin, is a Symbol of the pouring out of His Blood upon the earth.
    Since the Blood of Jesus has a Power of cleansing, it may in a sense, be called water.
    The reason why Water, as well as Blood, flowed from His Side, was to show that this Blood could wash away sin.

Again we might take the water as a figure of Christ’s Passion.
He putteth water into a basin, that is, by faith and devotion He stamped into the minds of faithful followers, the memory of His Passion.
“Remember My poverty and transgression, the wormwood and the gall” (Lam iii. 19).

  1. By the words, “and began to wash” it is human imperfection which is symbolised.
    For the Apostles, after their living with Christ, were certainly more perfect and yet, they needed to be washed, their souls were still stained.
    We are here made to understand that, no matter the degree of any man’s perfection, he still needs to be made more perfect; he is still contracting uncleanness of some kind, to some extent.
    So in the Book of Proverbs we read,“ Who can say My heart is clean I am pure from sin”(Prov. xx. 9).

Nevertheless, the Apostles and the just have this kind of uncleanness only in their feet.

There are, however, others who are infected, not only in their feet but wholly and entirely.
Those who make their bed upon the soiling attractions of the world, are made wholly unclean thereby.
Those who wholly, that is to say, with their senses and with their wills, cleave to their desire of earthly things, these are wholly unclean.

But they who do not thus lie down, they who stand, i.e. they who, in mind and in desire, are tending towards heavenly things, contract this uncleanness in their feet. Whoever stands must, necessarily, touch the earth at least with his feet.
And we too, in this life, where we must, to maintain life, make use of earthly things, cannot but contract a certain uncleanness, at least as far as those desires and inclinations are concerned which begin in our senses.

Therefore, Our Lord commanded His disciples to shake the dust from their feet. The text says, “He began to wash” because this washing the affection for earthly things is only a beginning.
It is only in the life to come that it will be really complete.

Thus, by putting water into the basin, the pouring of His Blood, is signified and by His beginning to wash the feet of His disciples, the washing away of our sins.

  1. Finally, there is Symbolised Our Lord’s taking upon Himself the punishment due to our sins.
    Not only did He wash away our sins but, He took upon Himself the punishment they had earned.
    For our pains and our penances would not suffice were they not founded in the Merit and the Power of the Passion of Christ.
    And this is shown in His wiping the feet of the disciples with the linen towel, the towel which is His Body!

ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568

Posted in AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY WEEK, LENT 2026, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 1April – “Jesus remember me” Luke 23:42

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 1 April – Spy Wednesday in Holy Week – Isaias 53:1-12, Luke 22:39-71; 23:1-53

“Jesus remember me”

Luke 23:42

“Blessed are those who have not seen
and have believed.”
John 20:29

“Blessed, therefore, is everyone
who believes the message
of the holy Apostles who, as Saint Luke says,
were eyewitnesses of Christ’s actions
and “ministers of the word” (Lk 1,2).”

St Cyril of Alexandria (380-444)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“… He effected a wonderful exchange with us,
through mutual sharing –
we gave Him the power to die,
He will give us the power to Live!”

St Augustine (354-430)
Father and Doctor of Grace

“Because it is not by raising a dead man,
commanding the sea and wind,
or casting out demons that He is able
to change the thief’s sinful soul
but, by being Crucified,
pinned down by nails,
covered with insults, spitting, mockery and torture,
so that you might see the two sides
of His Sovereign Power.
He shook all creation,
split the rocks (Mt 27:51)
and drew to Himself the brigand’s soul,
hard as stone, to cover it with honour…”

St John Chrysostom (347-407)
Father & Doctor of the Church

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, HOLY COMMUNION, LENT 2026, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on MYSTERIES of our FAITH, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on THE MYSTICAL BODY, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The PASSION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 1 April – – But Jesus he delivered up to their will. – Luke 23:25

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 1 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Spy Wednesday in Holy Week – Isaias 53:1-12 – Luke 22:39-71; 23:1-53 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“But Jesus he delivered up to their will.” – Luke 23:25

REFLECTION – “Come, come, let us go up together to the Mount of Olives. Together let us meet Christ, Who is returning today from Bethany and going, of His own accord, to that Holy and Blessed Passion, to complete the Mystery of our Salvation. And so He comes, willingly taking the road to Jerusalem, He Who came down from the heights for us, to raise us who lie in the depths, to exaltation with Him, as the revealing Word says: “above all authority and rule and power and above every Name that is named” (Eph 1:21). He comes without display, without boast. For, as the Prophet says, “He will not contend or shout out and no-one will hear His Voice” (Is 42:2). He is gentle and lowly and His entrance is humble…

Then, let us run with Him as He presses on, to His Passion. Let us imitate those who have gone out to meet Him, not scattering olive branches or garments or palms in His path but spreading ourselves before Him as best we can, with humility of soul and upright purpose. So may we welcome the Word as He comes (Jn 1:9); so may God, Who cannot be contained within any bounds, be contained within us.

For He is pleased to have shown us this gentleness, He Who is gentle and Who “rides upon the setting sun” (Ps 56:12) which refers to our extreme lowliness. He is pleased to come and live with us and to raise us up, or bring us back to Himself through the Word which unites to God.” – St Andrew of Crete (660-740) Bishop and Father (Homily for Palm Sunday).

PRAYER – O God, Who to drive far from us, the power of the enemy, didst will that Thy Son should suffer for us on the gibbet of the Cross, grant us Thy servants, that we may obtain the grace of the resurrection. 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 "Follow Me", DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 1April – In Thine Hour of Holy Sadness

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 1 April – “Spy” Wednesday in Holy Week

In Thine Hour of Holy Sadness
By St Bernard (1090-1153)
Father & Doctor of the Church

In Thine hour of holy sadness
could I share with Thee, what gladness
should Thine Cross to me be showing.
Gladness past all thought of knowing,
bowed beneath Thine Cross to die!
Blessed Jesus, thanks I render
that in bitter death, so tender,
Thou now hear Thy supplicant calling,
Save me Lord!
and keep from falling, from Thee,
when my hour is nigh.
Amen.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 1 April – Saint Beherond (7th Century) Bishop and Confessor of Amiens

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 1 April – Saint Beherond (7th Century) Bishop and Confessor of Amiens. He was a friend and colleague of St Valéry of Leucone (c565-c619) also celebrated today. Also known as – Berchond.

Saints on Amiens Cathedral Facade

The story of this saintly Bishop of Amiens is limited to his relationship with Saint Valery regarding the donation of Leuconay Abbey to the latter by the King of the time.

A Statue on the Saint-Firmin portal of the Cathedral perpetuates his memory.

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

“Spy” Wednesday in Holy Week, The Office of Tenebrae, April Devotion, Nostra Signora delle Lacrime / Our Lady of Tears, Sicily (1953) and the Saints for 1 April

Posted on by AnaStpaul

“Spy” Wednesday in HOLY WEEK

The Office of Tenebrae
The public singing of part of the Divine Office, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings in Holy Week, anticipating Matins and Lauds of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.
This custom goes back centuries and acquired the name because of the mourning ritual surrounding the ceremony which includes a triangular candlabra bearing fifteen candles. These are extinguishedt one by one until, after the last candle is extinguished, a prayer is said in darkness, one candle is lit and the assembly dispersed in silence.

Devotions for the Month of April
The Resurrection and The Blessed Sacrament
‘I am the Resurrection and the Life’

Nostra Signora delle Lacrime / Our Lady of Tears, Sicily (1953) – 1 April:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/04/01/maundy-thursday-2021-our-lady-of-tears-sicily-1953-and-memorials-of-the-saints-1-april/

Blessed Abraham of Bulgaria
Blessed Alexander of Sicily
Saint Anastasio
Blessed Antonius of Noto
Saint Beherond (7th Century) Bishop and Confessor of Amiens

Saint Celsus (c1080-1129) Archbishop of Armagh, Reformer. He was responsible for the change from lay control of the Church in Ireland, to a Clerical-Episcopal model. Himself a hereditary lay administrator, he decided to seek Priestly Ordination and be embraced celibacy in order that the reform introduced by Pope St Gregory VIII on the Continent, could take effect also in Ireland.
Holy and Brave St Celsus:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/04/01/saint-of-the-day-1-april-saint-celsus-of-armagh-c1080-1129-archbishop/

Saint Dodolinus of Vienne
Blessed Enrico Alfrieri OFM (1315-1405) Vicar General of the Friar’s Minor
Blessed Gerard of Sassoferrato
Saint Gilbert de Moray
Blessed Giuseppe Girott
Blessed Hugh of Bonnevaux

Saint Hugh (1053-1232) Bishop of Grenoble , Reformer, in the foundation of the Carthusian Order, founded a Monastery at Chalais.
The Roman Martyrology reads: “In Grenoble in Burgundia, in today’s France, St Hugh, Bishop, who worked for the reform of the customs of the clergy and the people and, during his Episcopate, ardently loving solitude, gave St Bruno at the time, his teacher and to his companions, the hermitage of Chartroux, of which he was also the first Abbot. He ruled his Church for about fifty years with the thoughtful example of his charity.”
This Wonderful Zealous St Hugh:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/04/01/saint-of-the-day-1-april-saint-hugh-of-grenoble-1053-1232/

Saint Jacoba of Rome
Blessed John Bretton
Saint Leucone of Troyes

Blessed Marcelle

Saint Mary (c344-c 421) Desert Mother in Egypt, Penitent, Recluse.
Her Devout Life of Solitude:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/04/01/saint-of-the-day-1-april-saint-mary-of-egypt-c-344-c-421/

Saint Melito (Died c 180) Early Church Father, Bishop of Sardis (Died c 180), ecclesiastical Writer, Confessor, Apologist, Defender of Christ’s dual nature. Saint Melito is believed to have been martyred around the time he wrote his apology to Marcus Aurelius circa 180.
Brilliant St Melito:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/04/01/saint-of-the-day-1-april-st-melito-died-c-180/

Blessed Nicolò of Noto
Saint Prudentius of Atina


Saint Tewdrig (5th-6th Century) Hermit, Martyr, Martyr, King of Gwent and Glywysing in Wales.
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2025/04/01/saint-of-the-day-1-april-saint-tewdrig-5th-6th-century-hermit-martyr/


Saint Theodora of Rome

Saint Valéry (c565-c619) Priest, Abbot, Founder of the Abbey of Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, a man of Miracles and Visions. Born around 565 in the Auvergne in France and died on 1 April c619 (?) in Leuconay, today St-Valéry-sur-Somme. Patronages – of horticulturists and gardeners, of Death Row Prisoners,fishermen and of of Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme.
The Roman Martyrology reads: “At Amiens, the Abbot, St Valéry, whose Tomb is made illustrious by frequent miracles.”
Miraculous St Valéry:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/04/01/saint-of-the-day-1-april-saint-valery-of-leucone-c565-c619-priest-abbot/

Saint Venantius of Spalato
Blessed Vinebault

Apostles of Picardy – Martyrs:
Saint Caidoc
Saint Fricor

Martyrs of Thessalonica – 6 Saints: A group of Christians Martyred. We know nothing about them but the names Alexander, Dionysius, Ingenianus, Panterus, Parthenius and Saturninus. Martyred in Thessalonica, Greece, date unknown.