Day: April 20, 2026

Posted in QUOTES on HEAVEN, THE 4 LAST THINGS : HEAVEN By Fr Martin von Cochem

Thought for the Day – 20 April – On the Spiritual Joys of Heaven 4: The Beatific Vision

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 20 April – During this Season of Alleluias and Joy, we will consider Fr von Cochem’s Reflections upon our Heavenly Homeland.

Excerpts from THE FOUR LAST THINGS —- DEATH, JUDGMENT, HELL and HEAVEN
FR MARTIN VON COCHEM (1625-1712) OSFC .

Nihil Obstat: Thomas L Kinkead, Censor Liborium
Imprimatur: Michael Augustine — Archbishop of New York (New York 5 Oct 1899)

PART IV
ON HEAVEN

III.4 On the Spiritual Joys of Heaven: The Beatific Vision

There is no greater happiness upon earth than to love and be loved in return and the more tender, pure and ardent this love be, the greater the joy and delight it affords us.

Now, the love of Heaven, the love of the Redeemed for God and for each other, is the most tender, the most pure, the most ardent affection, an affection infinite and boundless; consequently it is a source of immense delight and happiness unspeakable.
May the God of all Grace make us partakers of this love and we shall then know, by experience, that of which words fail to convey an idea.
No-one will be privileged to partake in this love, unless here below, he lives in the love of God and dies in His Friendship.
Let us, therefore, strive to increase within ourselves, this Divine Charity, in order that we may be admitted hereafter into the full enjoyment of His Love.

The Beatific Vision of the Divine Countenance is a joy above all joys, a delight far surpassing all the Celestial pleasures of which we have spoken.
Without this, all other joys would lose their savour, they would be changed to bitterness.

On one occasion, when the devil was speaking by the mouth of a person who was possessed, he said: “If the whole Heavens were a sheet of parchment, if the whole ocean were ink, if every blade of grass were pens and every man on earth a scribe, it would not suffice to describe the intense, immeasurable delight which the Vision of God affords to the blessed.”
And at another time he said that if God would but vouchsafe to grant him the privilege of beholding His Divine Countenance for a few moments, he would, if it were possible, gladly bear in his own person, all the torments of Hell until the Day of Judgement.

This teaches us that if a man spent his whole life in works of most severe penance and, after his death were permitted only for one instant to gaze on the Face of God, he would have received an ample recompense for all his mortifications.

Now, consider how transcendent must be the bliss which the Saints derive from the contemplation, the enjoyment, the possession of the Supreme God!
If to gaze on the Divine Countenance for one passing moment is a joy beyond all that which a life of pleasure offers to the worldling, what rapture will it be to gaze for evermore, with undimmed eyes, on His Infinite Beauty, what rapture to call this Supreme Good one’s own, for all eternity!

God is a being in Whom all that is most admirable and desirable exists in the highest degree.
In Him is all that which is most attracts and fascinating to us; clemency, beauty, justice, compassion, wisdom, majesty, every sweet and sublime attribute in its fullest perfection.
From God proceeds all Grace, all we need for our spiritual and temporal welfare, all the happiness, the joy, the repose, the consolation, all the benefits and blessings which His creatures enjoy in Heaven and on earth.
And when the Redeemed enter upon the contemplation of this Infinite Good, upon the possession of this source of all that is to be loved and admired and longed for, their joy will indeed be full.
What unspeakable delight it will afford them to understand the Mystery of the Incarnation, the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist!

What unspeakable delight it will be to them to comprehend how God can be invisible Himself,and yet, see everything; how He can Himself be unmoved and yet the source of all motion; how He can be Himself immutable and yet the Author of all change.
These and many other Mysteries will be made clear to the blessed in the Light of God and this fount of knowledge will not be exhausted to all eternity.
The more they know God, the more will their desire to know Him better increase and of this knowledge there will be no limit and no defect.

Thus they will ever hunger and yet be perfectly satisfied; this rich treasury will ever be open to them and never will they exhaust all the wealth it contains.

Meditate frequently upon this subject, O reader and excite within thy soul an earnest desire to enjoy God forever and ever.

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, GOD is LOVE, QUOTES on LOVE, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on WATCHING, St Francis de Sales, The GOOD SHEPHERD, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 20 April – ‘ … See, I am with you all the days of this age …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 20 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament”– Easter II – Feroal Day – 1 Peter 2:21-25 – John 10:11-16 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“ I lay down My Life for My sheep.”

John 10:15

“He cries out, saying:
See, I am with you all the days of this age.
He is Himself the Shepherd,
the High Priest,
the Way and the Door
and has become all things at once for us.”

St Athanasius (297-373)
Father & Doctor of the Church

“With good reason Christ declares:
I am the Good Shepherd,
I seek out the lost sheep,
the strayed I will bring back,
the injured I will bind up,
the sick I will heal (Ez 34:16).
I have seen the flock of mankind
struck down by sickness;
I have witnessed my lambs
wander about where demons dwell;
I have seen my flock ravaged by wolves.
All this I have seen
and have not witnessed it from on high.
That is why I took hold of the withered hand,
gripped by pain, as if by a wolf;
I have unbound those whom fever had bound;
I taught him to see,
whose eyes had been shut from his mother’s womb;
I brought Lazarus out from the tomb
where he had lain for four days (Mk 3:5; 1:31; Jn 9; 11).
For I am the Good Shepherd
and the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.”

Basil of Seleucia (Died 448)
Bishop of Seleucia

(Oratio 26)

“The measure of love,
is to love without measure.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of the Church

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, GOD ALONE!, GOD is LOVE, ONE Minute REFLECTION, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on WATCHING, The GOOD SHEPHERD, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 20 April – “ I lay down My Life for My sheep.” – John 10:15

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 20 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament”– Easter II – Feroal Day – 1 Peter 2:21-25 – John 10:11-16 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“ I lay down My Life for My sheep.” – John 10:15

REFLECTION – “The service of the Good Shepherd is Love. That is why Jesus says He “lays down His Life for His sheep.” For we must know what distinguishes Him – the Good Shepherd watches over the needs of His flock, the bad one seeks his own interest. That is what the Prophet said: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who seek only to feed themselves! Should they not feed their flock?” (Ezek 34:2). Those who only use the flock for their own interest are not good shepherds … A good shepherd, in the natural sense, bears with much for the sake of the flock over which he watches, as Jacob testified: “By day the heat consumed me and the cold by night.” (Gen 31:40)…

But the spiritual flock’s salvation, is more important, than even the life of the shepherd. That is why, when the flock is in danger, its shepherd must accept to lose his physical life for the salvation of the flock. The Lord said: “The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep” his physical life in the loving exercise of authority … Christ gave us an example: “He laid down His Life for us – and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.” (1 Jn 3:16).” – St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Dominican Priest and Friar, Theologian, Doctor of the Church (Lectura super Ioannem, X lect 3, 1-20).

PRAYER – Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord God, unto all Thy servants that they may remain continually in the enjoyment of soundness, both of mind and body and by the glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary, always a Virgin, may be delivered from present sadness and enter into the joy of Thine eternal gladness. Through the 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 Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, St Francis de Sales

Our Morning Offering – 20 April – Daily Morning Prayer Of St Francis de Sales

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 20 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Easter II

Daily Morning Prayer
Of St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritatis

Lord, I lay before Thee my weak heart,
which Thou fills with good desires.
Thou knows that I am unable
to bring the same to good effect,
unless Thou bless and prosper them
and, therefore, O Loving Father,
I entreat Thee to help me
by the merits and Passion of Thy dear Son,
to Whose honour I would devote this day
and my whole life.
Amen

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 20 April – St Theodore Trichinas (5th Century) Confessor,

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 20 April – St Theodore Trichinas (5th Century) Confessor, Hermit and Monk of Constantinople (modern Istanbul), Miracle-worker, graced with the charims of dispelling demons. After his death, a holy oil secreted from his tomb, had the property of curing illness.

The Roman Martyrology reads today: “The same day, St Theodore, Confessor, surnamed Trichinas, from the rough hair garment which he wore. He was renowned for many miracles but especially for his power over the demons. From his body issued a liquid which imparts health to the sick.”

Theodore is one of the great Saints of the first centuries of Christianity in the East. Although there are no dates whic confirm the lifetime of St Theodore Trichinas it is known that he lived in the 5th Century.

Theodore, a young man from Constantinople, was attracted by the austere and intense spiritual life of Monks, who, following the example of the St Anthony Abbot (250-356), were increasingly abandoning their hermitage in the desert, to live in prayerful communities, hosted in permanent Monasteries.

Tradition reports that our Saint led an austere life, dedicating much of his time to prayer. He left the world and retired to a Monastery located at the foot of Mount St Absinthe beyond Chalcedon on the Bosphorus.

This Monastery later took its name from his nickname ‘Trichinas.’ This name was given to Theodore because of the long-haired tunic which was his only clothing.

Theodore’s sanctity soon enabled him to cast out demons and perform many miracles. After his death, his tomb became a place of pilgrimage, also because a miraculous ointment supposedly leaked from his tomb and his body, had the power to curing illnesses.

The cult of St Theodore Trichinas was completely unknown until the 16th Century, when the learned hagiographer, Cardinal Cesare Baronio, introduced him into the Roman Martyrology, on 20 April.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Our Lady of Schier, Bavaria and the Saints celebrated today – 20 April

Posted on by AnaStpaul

FERIAL DAY

Our Lady of Schier, Bavaria – 20 April:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/04/20/our-lady-of-schier-bavaria-and-memorials-of-the-saints-20-april/

St Agnes OP (1268-1317) Virgin, Sister and Abbess of the Order of Preachers of Montepulciano, Mystic, known as “The Miracle Worker” – her body is incorrupt. Agnes was Beatified in 1534 and Canonised in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII.
About St Agnes:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/saint-of-the-day-20-april-st-agnes-of-montepulciano/

St Peter Caedwalla (c658-689) Layman, King of Wessex. Venerable St Bede wrote of him in his History of the English Church.
An Interesting Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/04/20/saint-of-the-day-20-april-saint-peter-caedwalla-of-wessex-c658-689-king-of-wessex/

Bl Catwallon
St Domninus of Digne
Bl Gerald of Salles
Bl Harduin

Blessed Hildegun O.Cist. (Died 1188) Virgin, Cistercian Monk of Schönau – yes! she was disguised as a boy as a child, for her own safety and after many frightening trials, decided to retain the identity in order to enter the Cistercian Monastery as Brother Joseph. Her true identity remained a secret until her death.
Or Brother Joseph!:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/04/20/saint-of-the-day-20-april-blessed-hildegun-of-schonau-died-1188-virgin/

St Hugh of Anzy-le-Duc
Bl John of Grace-Dieu

St Marcellinus – Bishop of Embrun (born in North Africa- died 374)
St Marcellinus:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/20/saint-of-the-day-20-april-st-marcellinus-of-embrun-born-in-north-africa-died-374/

St Marcian of Auxerre
St Margaret of Amelia
Bl Maurice MacKenraghty
St Michel Coquelet
Bl Oda of Rivreulle
St Sara of Antioch
St Secundinus of Córdoba
St Servilian

Blessed Simon Rinalducci OSA (Died 1322) Priest, Friar of the Order of the Hermits of St Augustine, noted for his theological studies, Prior of several houses, renowned Preader, Miracle-worker. Blessed Simon was a model of humility and obedience, even in the face of great trials and obvious injustices. Simon was Beatified on 19 March 1833 by Pope Gregory XVI (cultus confirmed).
His Ardent Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/04/20/saint-of-the-day-blessed-simon-rinalducci-osa-died-1322/

St Sulpicius
St Theodore Trichinas (5th Century) Confessor
St Theotimus of Tomi
St Vincent of Digne
St Wiho of Osnabrück

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