St Caerealis Bl Claude Laplace St Cormac of Cashel (c836-908) Bishop, King St Crescentian of Carthage St Crescentius of Rome St Generalis of Carthage St Giulia Crostarosa St Jean Gabriel Taurin du Fresse
St Maternus of Cologne (Died c 325) Bishop, the first Bishop of Cologne and Founder of the Diocese of Tongeren, Germany. In Cologne and in his hometown of Trier, the faithful began to venerate him as a Saint. A popular cult of which the splendid 13th century stained glass windows in the Cathedral Chapel dedicated to his name, also testify. He was buried in the Cathedral of Cologne but the Cathedral of St Peter in Trier boasts a large Reliquary, which became and remains, a pilgrimage site. Biography; https://anastpaul.com/2021/09/14/saint-of-the-day-14-september-saint-maternus-of-cologne-died-c-325/
St Peter of Tarentaise O.Cist (1102-1174) Cistercian Monk, Archbishop of Tarentaise from 1141 until his death, Abbot, Apostle of Charity, Miracle-worker. There are two Saints named Saint Peter of Tarentaise who lived one Century apart. The Saint we honour today, is the younger Peter, born in France in the early part of the 12th Century. The other Saint Peter if Tarentaise, became Pope Innocent V. His Life: https://anastpaul.com/2019/09/14/saint-of-the-day-14-september-saint-peter-of-tarentaise-o-cist-1102-1174/
Bl Pedro Bruch Cotacáns St Rosula of Carthage St Sallustia St Victor of Carthage
The Liturgical Year by Abbot Prosper Guéranger OSB (1805-1875)
“It was most just that our Divine King should show Himself to us with the sceptre of His power, to the end, that nothing might be wanting to the majesty of His empire. This sceptre is the Cross; and Paschal Time was to be the Season, for its being offered to Him in glad homage. A few weeks back and the Cross was shown to us, as the instrument of our Emmanuel’s humiliation and as the bed of suffering, whereon He died but, has He not, since then, conquered Death? and what is His Cross now but a trophy of His victory? Let it then be brought forth to our gaze and let every knee bend before this Sacred Wood, whereby our Jesus won the honour and praise we now give Him!
On the day of His Birth at Bethlehem, we sang these words of the Prophet Isaias: A Child is born unto us and a Son is given unto us and His government is upon His Shoulder (Is. ix. 6. The Introit of the Third Mass for Christmas Day). We have seen Him carrying this Cross upon His Shoulder, as Isaac carried the wood for his own immolation but now, it is no longer a heavy burthen. It is shining with a brightness that ravishes the eyes of the Angels and, after having received the veneration of man, as long as the world lasts, it will suddenly appear in the clouds of heaven, near the Judge of the living and the dead, a consolation to them that have loved it but a reproach to such as have treated it with contempt or forgetfulness.
St Helena and St Macarius and the discovery of the True Cross
Our Saviour did not think the time between His Resurrection and Ascensio,n a fitting one for glorifying the Instrument of His Victory. The Cross was not to be brought into notice, until it had subjected the world to Him, Whose glory it so eloquently proclaimed. Jesus was three days in the tomb; His Cross is to lie buried unknown to men, for three centuries but it is to have its Resurrection and the Church celebrates this Resurrection today. Jesus would, in His own good time, add to the joy of Easter by miraculously revealing to us, this Sacred Monument of His love for mankind. He entrusts it to our keeping, it is to be our consolation, as long as this world lasts – is it not just, that we should love and venerate it?
Never had Satan’s pride met with a humiliation like that of his seeing the instrument of our perdition, made the instrument of our salvation. As the Church expresses it in her Preface for Passiontide: “he that overcame mankind by a Tree, was overcome by a Tree.” Thus foiled, he vented his fury upon this saving Wood, which so bitterly reminded him, both of the irresistible power of his Conqueror and of the dignity of man, who had been redeemed at so great a price. He would fain have annihilated the Cross but knowing that this was beyond his power, he endeavoured to profane it and hide it from view. He, therefore, instigated the Jews to bury it. At the foot of Calvary, not far from the Sepulchre, was a deep hole. Into this was the Cross thrown, together with those of the two Thieves, the Nails, the Crown of Thorns and the Inscription, or Title, written by Pilate . The hole was then filled up with rubbish and earth and the Sanhedrim exulted in the thought of its having effaced the memory of the Nazarene, Who could not save Himself from the ignominious death of the Cross.
Forty years after this, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, the instruments of God’s vengeance. The Holy Places were desecrated by the idolaters. A small temple to Venus was erected on Calvary and another to Jupiter over the Holy Sepulchre. By this, the pagans intended derision; whereas, they were perpetuating the knowledge of two spots of most sacred interest. When peace was restored under Constantine, the Christians had but to remove these pagan monuments and their eyes beheld the holy ground that had been bedewed with the Blood of Jesus and the glorious Sepulchre.
As to the Cross, it was not so easily found. The sceptre of our Divine King was to be raised up from its tomb by a royal hand. The saintly Empress Helena, Constantine’s Mother, was chosen by heaven to pay to Jesu, and that, too, on the very spot where He had received His greatest humiliations, the honours which are due to Him as the King of the world. Before laying the foundations of the Basilica of the Resurrection, this worthy follower of Magdalene and the other holy women of the Sepulchre, was anxious to discover the Instrument of our Salvation. The Jews had kept up the tradition of the site where it had been buried, the Empress had the excavations made accordingly. With what holy impatience must she not have watched the works! and with what ecstasy of joy did she not behold the Redeeming Wood, which, though not, at first, distinguishable, was certainly one of the three Crosses that were found! She addressed a fervent prayer to the Saviour, Who alone could reveal to her which was the trophy of His Victory – the Bishop, St Macarius, united his prayers with hers and their faith was rewarded by a miracle, that left them no doubt as to which was the true Cross.
The Finding of the True Cross (Giandomenico Tiepolo), where Bishop Macarius blesses the sick with the True Cross
The glorious work was accomplished and the Church was put in possession of the instrument of the world’s Redemption. Both East and West were filled with joy at the news of this precious discovery, which Heaven had set on foot and which gave the last finish to the triumph of Christianity. Christ completed His Victory over the Pagan world, by raising thus His Standard, not a figurative one but His own real Standard, His Cross, which, up to that time, had been a stumbling-block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles;but before which every Christian is, henceforth, to bend his knee.
Helena placed the Holy Cross in the Basilica that had been built by her orders and which the same St Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem oversaw and which covered both the glorious Sepulchre and the hill of the Crucifixion. Another Church was erected on the site, where the Cross had lain concealed for three hundred years and the faithful are enabled, by long flights of steps, to go down into the deep grotto, which had been its tomb. Pilgrims came, from every part of the world, to visit the hallowed places, where our Redemption had been wrought and to venerate the Sacred Wood of the Cross. But God’s merciful providence willed, not that the precious pledge of Jesus’ love for mankind should be confined to one only Sanctuary, however venerable it might be. Immediately after its discovery, Helena had a very large piece cut from the Cross and this fragment she destined for Rome, the new Jerusalem. The precious gift was enshrined in the Basilica built by her son Constantine in the Sessorian garden,and which was afterwards called the Basilica of Holy Cross in Jerusalem.
By degrees, other places were honoured by the presence of the Wood of the Holy Cross. As far back as the 4th Century, we have St Cyril of Jerusalem attesting that many of the Pilgrims used to obtain small pieces of it, and thus carried the precious Treasure into their respective countries and St. Paulinus of Nola, who lived in the same century, assures us that these many gifts lessened not the size of the original Relic. In the 6th century, the holy Queen, St Radegonde, obtained from the Emperor Justin 2nd a large piece from the fragment that was in the imperial treasury of Constantinople . It was for the reception of this piece of the True Cross into France, that St Venantius Fortunatus composed the , that beautiful Hymn which the Church uses in her Liturgy, as often as she celebrates the praises of the Holy Cross.
After several times losing and regaining it, Jerusalem was, at length, forever deprived of the precious Relic. Constantinople was a gainer by Jerusalem’s loss. From Constantinople, especially during the Crusades, many Churches of the West procured large pieces. These again supplied other places; until, at length the Wood of the Cross was to be found in almost every town of any importance.
There is scarcely to be found a Catholic, who, some time or other in his life, has not had the happiness of seeing and venerating a portion of this sacred object. How many acts of love and gratitude have not been occasioned by this? And who could fail to recognise, in this successive profusion of our Jesus’s Cross, a plan of divine providence for exciting us to an appreciation of our Redemption, on which rest all our hopes of eternal happiness?
How dear, then, to us should not this day be, which blends together the recollection of the Holy Cross and the joys of the Resurrection of that Jesus, Who, by the Cross, has won the throne to which we shall soon see Him ascend|! Let us thank our Heavenly Father for His having restored to mankind a treasure so immensely precious as is the Cross. Until the day comes for its appearing, with Himself, in the clouds of heaven, Jesus has intrusted it to His Spouse, as a pledge of His Second Coming. On that day, He, by His divine power, will collect together all the fragments and the Tree of Life will, then, gladden the Elect with its dazzling beauty and invite them to eternal rest beneath its refreshing shade”. – Abbot Prosper Guéranger OSB (1805-1875)
“On whose dear arms, so widely flung, The weight of this world’s ransom hung, The price of humankind to pay And spoil the spoiler of his prey All hail, O Cross, our only hope!” [From the Hymn Vexilla Regis by St Venantius Fortunatus (c 530 – c 609)]
Virgen de la Carrasca, Bordón, Teruel, Aragón, Spain (1212) – 3 May:
Commemorated on First Monday of May
In 1212, a herder found an image of the Virgin in a holm oak (carrasca) in the rocky countryside of Aragón in Spaon. There are several stories about what happened then, all of them ending with a Shrine in Bordón. Templars carried the Statue to Castellote, 12 miles north but the next day the image was back in the oak, the Virgin made those carrying her to Castellote keep turning toward Bordón and springs arose at each turn.
Original Statue
In the place where it was found, a hermitage was built to house it, which would later be replaced by the building that today is the Parish Church of Bordón, built in 1306 by the Templar Order (The Order was dissolved by Pope Clement V in 1312 ).
Although its exterior hardly stands out, its interior is magical and fascinating, a place full of mystery. In one of the Chapels inside, the Templar novices who previously made a pilgrimage on foot from Castellote, capital of the Templar Commandery, performed initiation rites to become Knights of the Order.
In the 18th century, the interior of the Church was covered with marvellous frescoes, which have been recently restored. Unfortunately, the venerated carving of the Black Virgin of the Carrasca was lost during the Civil War, along with another very famous Romanesque carving with a reputation for miraculously calming storms, the Virgin of the Spider, only a series of photographs being preserved, which allowed the making a replica.
Replica Statue
On the first Monday in May, the faithful from the three towns to the south—Tronchón, Olocau del Rey and Mirambel—conduct a processional pilgrimage to the Virgin de la Carrasca. They have done this “from time immemorial,” according to a document of 1390 in the Parish archives of Tronchón.
St Adalsindis of Bèze Bl Adam of Cantalupo in Sabina St Ahmed the Calligrapher St Aldwine of Peartney St Pope Alexander I St Alexander of Constantinople Bl Alexander of Foigny St Alexander of Rome Bl Alexander Vincioli St Ansfrid of Utrecht (c 940-1010) Bishop St Antonina of Constantinople St Diodorus the Deacon
St Ethelwin of Lindsey St Eventius of Rome St Fumac St Gabriel Gowdel St Juvenal of Narni Bl Maria Leonia Paradis St Maura of Antinoe St Peter of Argos St Philip of Zell Bl Ramon Oromí Sullà St Rhodopianus the Deacon St Scannal of Cell-Coleraine Bl Sostenaeus
Feast of The Sacred Crown of Thorns of Our Lord Jesus Christ celebrated on the Friday after Ash Wednesday – One of the “Seven Passion Feasts” – celebrated on the the Friday after Ash Wednesday – 16 February 2024
The first Feast in honour of the Sacred Crown of Thorns (Festum susceptionis coronae Domini) was instituted at Paris in 1239, when Saint Louis IX of France brought there the Relic of the Crown of Thorns which was deposited later in the Royal Chapel, erected in 1241–1248 to guard this and other Relics of the Passion. The Feast, observed then on 11 August, though at first special to the Royal Chapel, was gradually observed throughout the north of France.
The Reliquary in France
In the following Century, another festival of the Holy Crown on 4 May, was instituted and was celebrated along with the Feast of the Finding of the True Cross in parts of Spain, Germany and Scandinavia. It was later kept in Spanish Diocese and is observed by the Dominicans on 24 April.
A special Feast on the Monday after Passion Sunday was granted to the Diocese of Freising in Bavaria, by Pope Clement X (1676) and Pope Innocent XI (1689), in honour of the Crown of Thorns of Christ. It was celebrated at Venice in 1766 on the second Friday of March. In 1831 it was adopted at Rome as a Double Major and is observed on the Friday following Ash Wednesday. As it is not kept universally, the Mass and Office are placed in the appendices to the Breviary and the Missal. The Hymns of the Office, which is taken from the 17th Century Gallican Breviary of Paris.
Artist – Carl Heinrich Bloch
This Feast became a part of The Seven Passion Feasts – special Masses related to the Passion of Christ which are celebrated as Feasts on particular days each week, from Septuagesima to the Fourth Week in Lent.
The Feasts and their appointed days are as follows: The Prayer of Our Lord Jesus Christ (in the Garden of Gethsemane)—on the Tuesday after Septuagesima Sunday. The Commemoration of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Votive Mass of the Passion)—on the Tuesday after Sexagesima Sunday. The Sacred Crown of Thorns of Our Lord Jesus Christ—on the Friday after Ash Wednesday. The Sacred Lance and Nails of Our Lord Jesus Christ—Ember Friday in Lent (1st Week of Lent). The Most Sacred Shroud of Our Lord Jesus Christ—on Friday of the Second Week in Lent. The Five Sacred Wounds of Our Lord Jesus Christ—on Friday of the Third Week in Lent. The Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ—on Friday of the Fourth Week in Lent.
These Feasts are crowned by the observance of The Compassion of Our Lady (The Seven Dolours of Our Lady) on Friday in Passion Week—1 week before Good Friday. In this way the Mystery of Christ’s Passion is continually kept before the eyes of the faithful as they journeyed through Lent.
These Feasts no longer form part of the Vatican II Roman Missal.
A stained glass window depicts veneration of the Crown of Thorns.
Saint of the Day – 10 March – Saint Macarius (Died c 335) Bishop of Jerusalem from 312 until his death, Defender of the Faith against Arianism, founder of the True Cross with St Helena, organiser and manager of the building of the Sacred Basilicas, including the Church of the Holy Sepuchre in Jerusalem, paid for by St Constantine the Great, St Helena’s son. Also of great import is the fact that Bishop Macarius was one of the two main authors of the Nicene Creed, that is, of the Creed that we still pronounce in Mass today, professing faith “In one God, the Father Almighty” and “In one Lord, Jesus Christ. .. True God from true God.” Died c 335 of natural causes. Also known as – Macario.
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “The commemoration of St Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem, on whose exhortation the holy places were brought to light by Constantine the Great and his mother, St Helena and ennobled with, the construction of the Sacred Basilicas.”
The Finding of the True Cross (Giandomenico Tiepolo), where Bishop Macarius blesses the sick with the True Cross
St Athanasius, in one of his orations against Arianism, refers to Macarius as an example of “the honest and simple style of apostolic men.” The date 312 for Macarius’s accession to the Episcopate is found in St Jerome’s version of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Chronicle. And Macarius is listed as one of the Bishops to whom St Alexander of Alexandria wrote warning against Arias.
Macarius accompanied St Helena Augusta, the mother of St Constantine I, in her search in Jerusalem for relics of the Passion of Jesus, including the Sacred Cross on which Jesus was Crucified.
According to Eusebius, he received a long letter from Constantine with reference to the building of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem: “Such is our Saviour’s grace, that no power of language seems adequate to describe the wondrous circumstance to which I am about to refer. For, that the monument of His most holy Passion, so long ago buried beneath the ground, should have remained unknown for so long a series of years, until its reappearance to His servants now set free through the removal of him who was the common enemy of all, is a fact, which truly surpasses all admiration … And as to the columns and marbles, whatever you shall judge, after actual inspection of the plan, to be especially precious and serviceable, be diligent to send information to us in writing, in order that whatever quantity or sort of materials we shall esteem from your letter to be needful, may be procured from every quarter, as required, for it is fitting that the most marvellous place in the world should be worthily decorated.”
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerysalem
Macarius took part in the Council of Nicaea (325), and two concl;usions as to the part he played there are worth mentioning. The first is that there was a passage of arms between him and his Archbishop, St Eusebius of Caesarea, concerning the rights of their respective Sees. The seventh Canon of the Council — “As custom and ancient tradition show that the Bishop of Ælia [Jerusalem] ought to be honoured, he shall have precedence; without prejudice, however, to the dignity which belongs to the Metropolis” — by its vagueness suggests that it was the result of a drawn battle. The second conclusion, is that Macarius, together with St Eustathius of Antioch, had a good deal to do with the drafting of the Nicene Creed finally adopted by the First Council of Nicæa in 325 and which was introduced into the Mass by St Leander (534-600).
The vigour of his opposition to the Arianists is suggested by the abusive manner in which Arias writes of him in his letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia. Macarius’s name appears first among those of the Bishops of Palestine who subscribed to the Council of Nicæa. Athanasius, in his encyclical letter to the Bishops of Egypt and Libya, places the name of Macarius (who had been long dead at that time) among those Bishops renowned for their orthodoxy. Macarius here at the Council, also appointed Maximus, who afterwards succeeded him, Bishop of Lydia and that the appointment did not take effect because the people of Jerusalem refused to part with Maximus. He also gives another version of the story, to the effect that Macarius himself changed his mind, fearing that, if Maximus was out of the way, an unorthodox Bishop would be appointed to succeed him. The fact that Macarius was then nearing his end would explain the reluctance, whether on his part or that of his flock, to be deprived of Maximus.
After the Council Constantine requested Macarius to search for the sites of the Resurrection and the Passion and the True Cross. It is likely that this is what happened, for excavations were begun very soon after the Council and, completely under the management of Macarius.
The huge mound and stonework with the temple of Venus on the top, which in the time of Hadrian had been piled up over the Holy Sepulchre, were demolished,and “when the original surface of the ground appeared, forthwith, contrary to all expectation, the hallowed monument of our Saviour’s Resurrection was discovered”. On hearing the news Constantine wrote to Macarius giving lavish orders for the erection of a Church on the site. Later on, he wrote another letter “To Macarius and the rest of the Bishops of Palestine” ordering a Church to be built at Mambre, which also had been defiled by a pagan shrine. St Macarius also oversaw and arranged the building of the Churches n the sites of the Nativity and Ascension.
The True Cross with St Helena, right St Barbara, left, St Macarius kneeling, St Andrew far left and another Saint
Saint of the Day – 20 January – Saint Féchín of Fore (Died 665) Abbot, Priest, Founder of several Irish Monasteries, Féchín name is particularly connected with that of Fobhar (Fore or Foure) in Westmeath which was his first Monastic foundation and an important one for its renowned Manuscripts. Born in Connacht, Ireland and died in 665 ofthe Plague in Ireland. Also known as – Feichin, Vigean, Mo-Ecca.
Saint Féchín statue at Fore Abbey
Born of Irish Royal stock, he was the son of Coelcharna, descendant of Eochad Fionn, brother to the famous King Conn of the Hundred Battles and his mother, Lassair, was of the Royal blood of Munster. When fit to be sent to school he was placed under St Nathy of Achonry (Died 610) Bishop of Achonry/
Having finished his studies, he was Ordained Priest and retired to a solitary place at Fore in Westmeath, there to live as a Hermit. But he was followed by many disciples and Fore became a Monastery. Here he eventually governed over 300 Monks. He is said to have so pitied the Monks engaged in grinding their corn, that he, brought water from a marsh to the Monastery, by cutting a tunnel through the rock and then established a water mill. Of this miracle, the Monk, Scholar and Historian,, Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis) relates the following :-
“There is a mill at Foure, in Meathwhich St Fechin made most miraculously with his own hands, in the side of a certain rock. No women are allowed to enter, either this mill or the Church of the Saint and the mill is held, inasmuch reverence, by the natives as any of the Churches dedicated to the Saint.”
Féchín’s influence, being himself Royal, was very great with the Kings and Princes of his age. The Saint finding a poor leper, full of sores one day, took him to the Queen and bade her minister to him, as if to Christ. She bravely overcame her repugnance and tended him with gentle care as if of three hundred Monks.
He also established a religious house on the Island of Immagh, near the coast of Galway. The inhabitants were then pagans but Féchín, with his Monks, evangelised and converted them.
The Monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary which he founded in Cong is renowned because of the Cross of Cong, one of the great treasures of Ireland which had been hidden in an old oaken chest in the village and now resides in the National Museum in Dublin. Both the Church and Monastery at Cong were rebuilt in 1120 for the Augustinians by Turlough O’Connor, who gave them the bejewelled processional Cross he had made to enshrine a particle of the True Cross. Cong Abbey also served as the refuge for the last high king of Ireland, Roderick O’Connor. The Monastery was suppressed by King Henry VIII.
The Cross of Cong
St Féchín’s numerous monastic foundations include those at Ballysadare (his birthplace?), Imaid Island, Omey and Ard Oilean, from which came the oldest Manuscript recording the details of his life. All of these Monasteriest are now in ruins. His memory, however, is also perpetuated at Ecclefechan and Saint Vigean’s (the name under which he is invoked in the Dunkeld Litany), near Arbroath in Scotland, where a fair was held on his Feast day. There are also pilgrimages undertaken to explore St Féchín’s foundations and the holy mill.
Saint of the Day – 28 March – Blessed Jeanne Marie de Maille TOSF (1331-1414) Virgin, Widow, Recluse Born on 14 April 1331 at the Castle of La Roche, France and died on 28 March 1414 at Tours France of natural causes. Patronages – abuse victims, against in-law problems, against the death of parents, of exiles, people ridiculed for their piety, widows. Also known as – Jane Mary de Maille. Jeanne Marie was Beatified on 27 April 1871 by Pope Pius IX .
Jeanne, the daughter of the wealthy Baron of Maille, was born at the chateau of her father near St Quentin in France. Because she possessed, from her earliest youth, a tender devotion and love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, she was given the additional name of Marie at Confirmation and from then on, she always used it with her Baptismal name. Under the direction of a Franciscan, who conducted the divine services at the chateau, she strove earnestly to attain perfection. Self-denial, mortification, prayer and works of charity towards her neighbour were the special means she employed.
Jeanne Marie was scarcely fifteen years old when her father died. She was placed under the guardianship of her grandfather, who was already quite advanced in years and who, therefore, believed it his duty to see his grandchild settled in life, as soon as possible. He chose as her husband Baron Robert of Silly, a man who was noble both by birth and by virtue. On the evening of their wedding day the grandfather died suddenly. This made such an impression on the pious husband that he readily yielded to the wish of his young wife to live in virginity.
The young couple’s first concern was to order their household in a Christian fashion. Only virtuous and God-fearing persons were admitted as their servants; all had to observe the commandments of God and of the Church faithfully; frivolous conversations, cursing and swearing, as well as games of chance, were not tolerated. In everything their Master and Mistress set the best example. Jeanne Marie interested herself too, in all the needs of her people and never sent a needy person away from her door without giving him assistance.
But the cross is the real test of all true fidelity to God;and it was not to be wanting in this home either. A terrible war broke out between England and France. The Baron of Silly and his vassals took the field in defence of their country but the war was disastrous for France.
Mortally wounded, the young Baron was brought to his chateau but hardly had he arrived there, when the English took possession of it and led him away as a prisoner. Through the efforts of his faithful wife, he obtained his freedom but he died not long afterwards.
Her in-laws were unkind to her and blamed her for her husband squandering his fortune for charitable ends and so deprived her of her widow’s inheritance and cut ties with her. completely. She first went to seek shelter at the home of an old ex-servant but the servant treated her with harshness, when realising she was poor. She went to reside with her mother but left when the latter tried to pressure her into finding another husband. Now Jeanne Marie withdrew entirely from the world. She moved to a little house near the Franciscan Church in Tours. Dressed in the ash-grey habit of the Third Order, she went out to nurse the sick and the poor. The remaining time she spent in prayer.
She prayed especially that God might bless the labours of Priests, particularly those who preached the Divine Word. She prayed most of all for the Universal Church, which at that time had to endure one of its severest trials. Christendom was divided into two groups – one pope resided in Italy, another in France and even saintly people did not know which one was the rightful head of the Church. Confusion and many scandals were the inevitable results. Had the Church been the work of human hands, it must certainly have gone to ruin. In answer to the prayers of many pious souls, God came to the assistance of the Church and Jeanne Marie had the consolation, before her death, of seeing the Church again united under one head.
Blessed Jeanne Marie de Maille died in the year 1414, at the age of eighty-two years. When her remains, clothed in the habit of the Third Order, were brought into the Church, the body appeared to have the freshness of youth. The veneration paid to her since her death was approved by Pope Pius IX.
Saint of the Day – 27 August – Feast of the Seven Joys of Our Lady. This Feast is also known as “The Franciscan Crown,” The Seven Joys of the Virgin. Today was kept by the Franciscans as the Feast of the Seven Joys of the Virgin Mary. As an expression of the Seraphic Order’s devotional life, it corresponds to the Feast of the Holy Rosary, which began among the Dominicans and the observance on 15 September of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin,
The devotion to the Seven Joys in and of itself, however,is much older; the story of its origin is told thus in the Manual for Franciscan Tertiaries.
About the year 1420, a young man, deeply devoted to Our Lady, took the habit of St Francis. Before joining the Order, he had, among other practices, been accustomed daily, to make a Chaplet of flowers,and with it, to Crown a Statue of the Blessed Virgin. Having in his novitiate no longer an opportunity of making this Crown for his Most Beloved Queen, he, in his simplicity, thought that she would withdraw her affection from him; this temptation of the devil disturbed his vocation. He resolved to abandon the cloister. The merciful mother appeared to him and gently rebuking him, strengthened him in his vocation by telling him to offer her, instead of the Chaplet of Flowers, a Crown much more pleasing to her, composed of seventy two Ave Marias and a Pater after each decade of Ave Marias. Our Lady instructed him to meditate at each decade upon the seven joys she had experienced, during years of her exile upon the earth.
The novice immediately commenced reciting the new Crown or Chaplet and derived, therefrom, many spiritual and temporal graces.
This pious practice spread quickly through the whole Order, and even throughout the world… St Bernardin of Siena used to say that it was by the Crown of the Seven Joys that he had obtained all the graces which Heaven has heaped upon him.
The Seven Joys listed in the Manual are the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Birth of Christ, the Adoration of the Magi, the Finding of the Christ Child in the Temple, the Resurrection and the Assumption but other version of the list may be found. Two more Aves are added to make the number seventy-two mentioned above and another Pater and Ave for the intentions of the Pope. The recitation concludes with a versicle and response and with the Collect of the Immaculate Conception.
Praying The Franciscan Crown
Using beads for the Franciscan Crown (seven decades), announce the First Mystery and pray the Our Father on the single bead just before the medallion.
Pray one Hail Mary for each of the ten beads. (It seems most fitting to proceed around the beads in a clockwise direction.)
On the single bead between the decades, announce the next Mystery and then pray the Our Father. Continue as in Step 2 for the remaining Mysteries.
After the last Mystery, pray one Hail Mary each on the fourth and third beads from the Cross to complete 72 years of Mary’s Joy.
Pray the Our Father and the Glory Be to the Father (Gloria Patri), for the intention of the Holy Father on the 2nd bead from the Cross.
Pray a Hail Mary on the single bead closest to the Cross.
The recitation concludes with a versicle and response and with the Collect of the Immaculate Conception.
V. In thy Conception, o Virgin, thou wast immaculate. R. Pray for us to the Father, whose Son thou didst bear. Let us pray. O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, prepared a worthy dwelling place for Thy Son; we beseech Thee, that, as by the foreseen death of Thy sam, Son, Thou preserved her from every stain, so Thou may grant us also, through Her intercession, to come to Thee with pure hearts. Through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen.
Saint of the Day – 17 August – St Hyacinth OP (1185-1257) ) Confessor, Priest. “Apostle of Poland” and “Apostle of the North” also known as “the Polish St Dominic.
Saint Hyacinth, Confessor By Fr Francis Xavier Weninger SJ (1805-1888)
St Hyacinth, a great ornament of the celebrated Order of Preachers, was born in Poland. He was the son of illustrious parents, who educated him according to the dictates of Christianity. During the years devoted to his studies, he was an example of innocence, piety and industry. His uncle, the Bishop of Cracow, appointed him Canon in his Cathedral, so that he might employ him in the administration of his See. When he left for Rome, on account of troubles at home, he took Hyacinth with him. St Dominic, so celebrated for his apostolic zeal and for the miracles he wrought, was also in Rome at the time. Hyacinth, observing the wonderful zeal and piety of this holy man and of his companions, felt a growing desire to join them. He and three of his fellow-travellers, who had the same inclination, went to St Dominic and begged him to receive them into his newly founded Order. The Saint received them willingly and instructed them how to lead a religious life, to preach in a Christian spirit and to labour successfully for the spiritual welfare of men. After a few months, the holy founder had so thoroughly imbued them with his spirit that he did not hesitate, after they had taken their vows, to send them into their native country, to preach the word of God and promote the salvation of souls.
At Cracow, where Hyacinth had formerly preached, by his edifying life, he now began to preach with words and God gave them such power that he reformed the most hardened sinners, induced others to become more zealous in the service of the Almighty and animated all, to be more solicitous for the salvation of their souls. That all this might have a more solid foundation, he gathered a number of spiritual co-operators about himself and, having instructed them, according to the maxims of St Dominic, he established a Dominican Monastery at Cracow. Hyacinth, who had been chosen Superior by the new members, was an example to all. Besides the prescribed fast-days of his Order, he fasted all Fridays and vigils, on bread and water. The greater part of the night he passed in fervent prayer, before the Blessed Sacrament. He allowed himself only a very short rest on the bare floor and scourged himself severely every night. The whole day was occupied with hearing confessions, preaching, visiting the sick and similar pious exercises.
He had particular devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin and never undertook anything before offering his work to God and begging the assistance of His Blessed Mother. She appeared to him once, on the eve of the Feast of her Assumption, saying to him: “Be assured, my son, that thou shalt receive everything thou askest from my Son.” The comfort these words afforded the holy man, may be easily imagined. He, however, asked only for what was necessary for the salvation of souls. His own and his companion’s pious labours were all directed to the same end.
When he thought that he had firmly established religious principles and practices among the inhabitants of Cracow and the whole Diocese, he sent his preachers to different places to labour in the same manner. He himself, also left Cracow and it is astonishing, how many Countries he journeyed through, how many Convents he established everywhere for apostolic labourers, how many souls he converted to the true faith or to a more virtuous life. To aid his pious endeavours, God gave him power to work miracles and so great was their number, that he might well be called the Thaumaturgus, or wonder-worker of his age.
A miraculous event occurred in Russia, when the Tartars stormed Kiow, where the Saint had founded a Church and Convent. He was standing at the Altar when they entered the City, spreading destruction and desolation around them. After finishing the Holy Sacrifice, the Saint, still in his Priestly robes, took the Ciborium containing the Blessed Sacrament and telling his Priests to follow him without fear, he went towards the Church door. When passing a large alabaster statue of the Blessed Virgin, before which he had often said his prayers, he distinctly heard a voice saying: “My son Hyacinth, wilt thou leave me here to be at the mercy of my enemies?” The Saint’s eyes filled with tears. “How can I carry thee? ” said he; “the burden is too heavy.” “Only try,” was the response; “my Son will assist thee to carry me without difficulty.” The holy man with streaming eyes, took the statue and found it so light that he could carry it with one hand. Thus, carrying the Ciborium in one hand and the statue in the other, he and his companions passed through the enemy unassailed, to the gates of the City. Not finding any soldiers there, they passed on and reached Cracow in safety.
Whether Almighty God made His servants invisible to the Tartars on this occasion, or in some other manner prevented them from harming them, is not known but, it is a fact that they left the City unmolested. When they reached the river, over which there was no bridge, nor a boat to convey them across, the Saint, trusting in the power of Him Whom he carried in his right hand and, in the intercession of her whom he held in his left, fearlessly stepped upon the water and crossed it with dry feet.
A similar and perhaps, still greater miracle occurred at another time. He was going to Vicegrad to preach but, on reaching the river, found no vessel which he could use to reach the opposite bank. Spreading his cloak on the water, he sat upon it and was floated safely across and brought his companions over in the same manner. By this and many other miracles, God glorified His servant even on earth.
For forty years this holy man had laboured for the salvation of souls, when, in 1257, it was revealed to him that he should assist, in Heaven, at the triumph of the Blessed Virgin, on the Feast of her glorious Assumption. On the Feast of St Mary ad Nives, he was taken ill. On the eve of the Assumption, he gave his last instruction to the Priests of his Order, after which, he prepared for the festival and,, having recited the Office of the day, he fixed his eyes on Heaven and said the psalm, “In thee, O Lord, have I hoped,” to the words, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit,” when he calmly expired, at the age of 74. The innocence and chastity which he possessed at the time of his Baptism, remained unspotted until the end.
After his death, the miracles which the Almighty continued to work through this Saint, were the means of proclaiming to all the world, the sanctity and merits of His blessed servant.
“For this cause I bow my knees to the Father, that you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of this Mystery.” – Ephesians 3:14,18.
“To me, the least of all the saints, is given this grace to preach among the Gentiles and to enlighten all men, what is the dispensation of the Mystery which hath been hidden from eternity in God, Who created all things. For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named, That He would grant you the grace to be strengthened by the power of His Spirit, unto the inward man. That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts, that being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth of this mystery. To know also, the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all human knowledge.”
“With these words to the Ephesians and similar assurance,s in many passages of the Epistles, which St Paul wrote – not only for the faithful of his own day but for those of all future time – the Apostle of Nations exhorts us, in the most expressive manner, to advance in the knowledge of Christ. And, if we wish to comprehend the total height and depth, the entire breadth and length, of the Love of Jesus, we can only do so, by looking into the depths of His Sacred Heart and to make this clear, will be the object of my words today. O Mary, Mother of the Divine Heart, obtain for us the grace to enter into the full knowledge of Christ’s Love for us, that we may meet it with faithful reciprocal love! I speak in the Holy Name of Jesus, for the greater honour and glory of God!
To contemplate in its entire extent the Love of Jesus Christ and to open our hearts, in true reciprocal love to the Lord, that He may dwell therein, we must go to the Sacred Heart and look into its depths. There, ah! there, we can behold, in all its immensity, a Love so mighty, that it drew Him away from the Throne of His Glory in Heaven to earth and urged Him, not only to assume human nature but, by so doing, as St Paul assures us, to annihilate Himself and take the form of a slave. For, appearing as a Man among men, He concealed His Divinity before them and, although He wrought miracles, other men, with the Divine assistance, performed wonders still greater – Moses, for instance, at the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt.
Men, in general, acknowledged Him so little as God, that they threatened to stone Him when He declared that He was! They persecuted ,at every occasion, this meek Lamb of God and at last nailed Him to the Cross. And what brought to such depths of humility, the King of kings and Lord of lords? Because He chose not to appear as a powerful monarch, as a ruler over the whole universe, before whom all nations would tremble but ,as a slave, for He entered this world as the subject of an emperor, who governed only the Romans as free men, while those nations he had conquered, were held in subjection. And, therefore, Christ suffered the Death of the slave – Crucifixion.
Why did He humble Himself so deeply? One glance into the Divine Heart will tell us that it was His Merciful Love to us. Great God! what misery overwhelmed the human race and, what would have become of us, if the Arm of Thy infinite Justice had not been stayed! But Christ the Son of God, equal in essence and nature to His eternal Father, wished, through Love, to celebrate the triumph of His Infinite Mercy and this Love, urged Him,not only to grant pardon to penitent sinners but to make satisfaction for them and take upon Himself, the justification for sin.
Not only, beloved in Christ, did He mean to pardon this or that sin, to forgive this or that sinner but for every sin, that would ever be committed and, for every sinner, if he were truly contrite, a gracious pardon would be found. Christ requires but one thing of the sinner – that he avails himself of those efficacious means of salvation, to be found in the True Church and takes refuge in His Sacred Heart.
Dearly beloved Catholic souls, redeemed by the Blood of God, reflect upon this precious truth and, that you may realise the depth of His Love for you, look at the Sacred Heart – look into Its Bleeding Wound. The Almighty, the Omnipotent God, the gracious and merciful Saviour, comes from the Heaven of His glory to afford us a certain refuge therein – to save us from that pit, which the malice of sin, has prepared for us in hell.
The Deluge prefigured the spiritual ruin which overwhelmed the whole human race. Now, Holy Scripture testifies, that the waters thereof rose to the height of fifteen cubits above the loftiest mountains. This indicates the degree of malice which characterised the wickedness of mankind, it being greater than that of the fallen angels. Their sin was that pride, which led them to wish to be like God; while man, on the contrary, committed Deicide, as St.Peter, in his first sermon, called the Crucifixion, when he said: “The Author of life you have killed.“
This reproach applies, not only to those Jews who personally laid hands on Christ but, to all men as sinners; for St Paul asserts: “Whosoever sins, Crucifies God in his heart, tramples His Precious Blood under foot.” And yet God forgives on account of the merits of Christ! Whom? – The greatest sinner, if he but repent! And what means does He choose for this? Let us adore and wonder, for the commission of the greatest possible si – attempted Deicide – became for us, the source of every grace. What a triumph of Infinite Mercy!
Glance at the Heart of Jesus, opened after His Death: – by this, He opened His Arms to every soul, with the loving words: “I have loved thee unto death and presented the last drop of My Heart’s Blood for thee to draw thee from the abyss of destruction, which thy sins prepared for thee in hell.” Oh, what a depth and, at the same time, what a height of Love! The work of Redemption as consummated by this Love, made fast the gates of hell and rescued us from that fiery pit but, not content with this, our loving Saviour would open the portals of a Heaven, more beautiful, than the one which would have been our portion had Adam never sinned.
And now, as brothers of the Son of God, we may enter that region of bliss,and become, as precious stones, set in the celestial crown of the world of Angels. We may, by our zeal, in the exercise of good works and their union with the Merits of Christ, ascend higher and higher, through new and more brilliant merits, to an immeasurable degree of glory! Look at Mary, whose throne is next to that of Jesus: she was, like us, a child of man and her glory, by far outshines that of the brightest Angel. We, as her children, may hope to attain a place in Heaven, near that of our gracious Queen – for from the Heart of Jesus, came forth the cry: “To him that shall overcome, I will grant to sit with Me on My Throne.”
And how shall we learn the breadth of this love? I answer: By contemplating the generosity which marked Its course and so animated the Sacred Heart in the Breast of the Infant Saviour, in the crib and of the Redeemer, on the Cross. Even now, it beats for us in the Most Holy Sacrament over the whole globe. Think of the generosity of that Love, by which Jesus has communicated to us, the whole Merit of His Life, Passion, and Death.
The words of St Augustine, refer to this in the explanation and answer, given by him, of the words of Christ: “What price could man give for his soul?” “Remember,” exclaims St Augustine, “the price which Christ paid for you through the work of Redemption; you have been purchased by the Life, Passion and Death of Christ, the Son of God.” What He gave for you, He did not give even for the Angels. Oh, how sweetly are we reminded of all this by one loving glance at the Sacred Heart of Jesus! It beats indeed today on earth, for each one of us. Go before the Tabernacle and ask what is that which Jesus confers upon you in every Holy Communion. It is Himself.
And the length of this enduring Love, may be discerned by the unwearied forbearance He shows to man. From the first moment of your conception, Christian soul, He has loved you with an everlasting Love. He has thought of you and longed to bless you for all eternity. And it will be your own fault, if He does not remain, until your very latest breath, the same faithful, loving Jesus, Who will assist you in that last dread passage where time is merged into eternity.
Yes, it is an Article of Faith, that when the greatest sinner turns, with a repentant heart to Jesus, even in his dying hour, he will still be saved through Him. And is this really so? Christian, look at the wounded Heart in the Breast of your Redeemer. It has ceased to beat – it is dead! Yet, from the Wound came Blood and Water, the symbol of the Church, to which Christ gave power to pardon the dying sinner whose heart cries out for mercy – for forgiveness through the Merits of Christ.
Dearly beloved, who have listened to my words today, reflect upon what I have told you of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus – of the height, depth, breadth and length of the Love of Christ. Consider it daily and the wish of St Paul, of which I have already spoken to you, will certainly be fulfilled in you. You will become so strengthened in the love of God, through the Spirit of Christ, that He will abide in your heart and, finding therein, so firm a faith, earnest a hope and ardent a love, will there take up His abode forever. Amen! – Fr Francis Xavier Weninger SJ (1805-1888) (Excerpt -The Feast of the Sacred Heart).
Saint of the Day – 27 December – 27 December – St John the Apostle and Evangelist. Patronages – • against burns; burn victims• against epilepsy• against foot problems• against hailstorms• against poisoning• art dealers• authors, writers• basket makers• bookbinders• booksellers• butchers• compositors• editors• engravers• friendships• glaziers• government officials• harvests• lithographers• notaries• painters• papermakers• publishers• saddle makers• scholars• sculptors• tanners• theologians• typesetters• vintners• Asia Minor (proclaimed on 26 October 1914 by Pope Benedict XV)• 6 Diocese• 7 Cities.
St John, Apostle and Evangelist by Father Francis Xavier Weninger SJ (1805-1888)
St John, Apostle and Evangelist of Jesus Christ, a brother of St James and son of Zebedee and Salome, was born at Bethsaida, a Town in Galilee. Christ, our Lord, called him and his brother James to follow Him, at the time when they were mending their nets in a boat, on the shore of the Sea of Genesareth. John, without delay, left all he possessed, even his own father and, with his brother, followed the Lord. Although the youngest of the Apostles, he was beloved by the Saviour above all the others – whence he is several times mentioned in the Gospel, as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” The cause of this special love of Jesus for him, was, according to the Holy Fathers, his virginal purity, which he kept undefiled and the tender love he bore to the Lord. “He was more beloved than all the other Apostles,” writes St Thomas Aquinas, “on account of his purity.” “For the same reason,” says St. Anselm, “God revealed more mysteries to him, than to the other Apostles. Justly,” says he, “did Christ the Lord reveal the greatest mysteries to him, because he surpassed all in virginal purity.“
Anthony van Dyck
It is evident from the Gospel, that St John was one of the most intimate of the friends of the Lord, and was, in consequence, sometimes admitted into Christ’s presence, when, except Peter and James, no other Apostle was allowed to be near. Thus, he was with Christ when He healed the mother-in-law of Peter; when He raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead and when He was transfigured on Mount Thabor. He also accompanied Christ when He suffered His Agony in the Garden of Olives. The other two above-named Apostles ,shared these favours with John but none was permitted to lean upon the Saviour’s bosom, at the last supper, save John; none was recommended as son to the divine Mother but John. Only he, of all the Apostles, followed Christ to Mount Calvary,and remained there with Him, until His death. To recompense this love, Christ gave him to His Mother as her son, when He said: “Behold thy Mother!” Christ, who had lived in virginal chastity, would trust His Virgin Mother to no-one else but John, who himself lived in virginal purity. As St.Jerome says: “Christ, a virgin, recommended Mary, a virgin, to John, a virgin.” No greater grace could John have asked of Christ; no more evident proof could he have received of His love. The most precious thing which the Lord possessed on earth, His holy Mother, He commended to His beloved disciple. He took him as brother, by giving Him as son to His Mother. Who cannot see from all this, that Christ loved and honoured St John above all others?
How deeply this beloved disciple must have suffered by seeing his Saviour die, so ignominious a death, is easily to be conceived; and St Chrysostom hesitates not to call him, therefore, a manifold Martyr. After Christ had died on the Cross, had been taken from it, and interred with all possible honours, St John returned home with the divine Mother, who was now also his mother, and waited for the glorious Resurrection of the Lord. When this had taken place, he participated in the many apparitions of the Lord, by which the disciples were comforted and, doubtless received again, particular marks of love from the Saviour. He afterwards assisted, with the divine Mother and the Apostles and other disciples of Christ, at the wonderful Ascension of the Lord. With these, also, he received, after a ten days’ preparation, the Holy Ghost, on the great festival of Pentecost.
Soon after this, he and Peter had, before all others, the grace to suffer for Christ’s sake. For when these two Apostles had, in the name of Christ, miraculously healed a poor cripple who was lying at the door of the temple of Jerusalem and used this opportunity, to show to the assembled people, that Jesus of Nazareth was the true Messiah.
Fresco in the Cappella Brancacci, Florence, attributed to Masolino da Panicale (1383 – c.1447). It is part of the cycle of frescoes painted between 1425 and 1427 depicting the life of St. Peter. It shows the Apostle, accompanied by StJohn, giving his hand to a cripple seeking alms. The cripple is instantly cured.
They were seized, at the instigation of the chief priests,and were cast into prison. On the following day, the priests came together and John and Peter were called before them and asked in whose name and by what power, they had healed the cripple. Peter and John answered fearlessly, that it had been done in the Name of Jesus Christ. The high priest dared not do anything further to them but, setting them free, prohibited them from preaching, in future, the Name of Christ. The two holy Apostles, however, nothing daunted, said: “If it be just in the sight of God to hear you rather than God, judge ye: for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.“
Anthony van Dyck
St. John remained for some time in Jerusalem after this and, with the other Apostles, was zealous in his endeavors to convert the Jews. When the Apostles separated, to preach the Gospel over all the world, Asia Minor was assigned to St John. Going thither, he began with great zeal his apostolic functions and, by the gift of miracles, he converted many thousands to the Faith of Christ. The many Bishoprics which he instituted in the principal cities sufficiently prove this. In the course of time, he went also to other countries, preaching everywhere the Word of Christ, with equal success..
Anthony van Dyck
oil, oak
64,5 x 50 cm
The Emperor Domitian, who, after the death of the Emperor Nero, again began to persecute the Christians, ordered his officers to apprehend John and bring him to Rome. Hardly had the holy Apostle arrived there, when he was commanded by the Emperor to sacrifice to the gods. As the Saint refused this and fearlessly confessed Christ, the Emperor had him most cruelly scourged and afterwards, cast into a large caldron, filled with boiling oil. The Saint signed himself and the cauldron with the Holy Cross and remained unharmed, when he was cast into it. This gave him an opportunity to announce, with great energy, to the assembled people, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The tyrant, who could not suffer this, had him taken out of the cauldron, and sentenced him to banishment on the island of Patmos, to work in the mines and perform other hard labour, in company with other Christians. St John had, at that time, reached his ninetieth year but was willing to undergo the unjust sentence.
After his arrival on the island, he had many and wonderful visions, which, by command of God, he put down in writing. The book which contains them, is a part of Holy Writ, called the Apocalypse, or Revelation of St John, a book which,, according to St Jerome, contains almost as many mysteries as words. After the death of Domitian, St John was liberated and returning to Ephesus, remained there until his death. He outlived all the other Apostles, as he reached the age of 100 years. His great labours, wearisome travels and the many hardships he endured, at last enfeebled him to such an extent, that he could not go to the Church without being carried. F
Frequently he repeated, in his exhortations, the words: “My little children, love one another.” Some, annoyed at this, asked him why he so often repeated these words. He answered: “Because it is the commandment of the Lord and if that is done, it suffices.” By this he meant, that if we love each other rightly, we also love God and when we love God and our neighbour, no more is needed to gain salvation – as love to God and to our neighbour contains the keeping of all other commandments.
The holy Apostle, who had suffered and laboured so much for his beloved Master, was, at length, in the year 104, called by Him into heaven to receive his eternal reward.
Besides the Apocalypse, to which we referred above, St John also wrote three Epistles and his Gospel, on account of which, he is called Evangelist. In his Gospel he gives many more facts than the other Evangelists, to prove the Divinity of Jesus Christ; as, at that period, several heretics, as Cerinthus, Ebion and the Nicolaites, fought against this truth. In his Epistles, he exhorts particularly, to love God and our neighbour,and to avoid heretics. In the first, among other things, he explains that love to God consists in keeping the commandments of God, which are not difficult to keep. “For this is the charity of God,” writes he, “that we keep His commandments;and His commandments are not heavy.” Of the love of our neighbour he says, that it must manifest itself in works, that is, we must assist our brethren in their need and, if necessary, give even our lives for them, after the example of Christ. The holy Apostle exemplified his words by his actions.
Several holy Fathers relate the following of him. The Saint had given a youth in charge of a Bishop, with the commendation to instruct him carefully in virtue and sacred sciences. After some years, when the Saint returned to this Bishop and asked for the young man, he heard with deep sorrow, that he had secretly left and had joined the highwaymen and had even become their chief. The holy Apostle set out at once and went, not without danger to his life, into the woods, where the unhappy young man was said, to be. Finding him, he spoke most kindly to him and succeeded in bringing him back. It is touching to read how the holy, man promised to atone for the youth’s sins, if he would repent and lead a better life. The youth followed the Saint’s admonition and did penance with such fervour and zeal, that the Saint hesitated not to give him charge of the Church at Ephesus. (1876)
St John, Pray for Holy Mother Church, Pray for us all!
Saint of the Day – 15 September – Our Sorrowful Mother Mary –
The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary Also known as: • Septem Dolorum. • Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens • Beata Vergine Addolorata • Dolorosa • Maria Santissima Addolorata • Mater Dolorosa • Mother of Sorrows • Our Lady of the Seven Dolours • Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows • Sorrowful Mother
The Seven Sorrows of Mary
The Prophecy of Simeon at the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple: Forty days after Christ’s birth, Mary presented Him in the temple. The aged Simeon, a just and devout servant of the Lord, took Jesus into his arms and inspired by the Holy Spirit, exclaimed:
“Behold, this child is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel and for a sign that shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:34-35
The Flight Into Egypt: No sooner did the heartless Herod hear that Jesus, the Infant King of the Jews, had been born, than he sought His life. But an Angel of the Lord appeared to Saint Joseph in a dream and warned:
“Arise, take the Child and His mother and flee into Egypt and remain there until I tell thee.” – Matthew 2:13
The Loss of Child Jesus for 3 Days: The third sword that pierced Our Lady’s heart was the three-day loss in the temple. At the age of twelve, Jesus went with Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem. Only when Mary and Joseph were travelling home, realise that Jesus was not with them. They hurried back and for three days sought Him among friends and relatives in Jerusalem. Finally, they found Him in the temple, listening and discussing with the teachers there , who were amazed at his knowledge and wisdom.
The Meeting of Jesus on the Way of The Cross: Mary’s fourth great sorrow we remember in the fourth Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary and also the fourth Station of the Cross. Mary meets Jesus carrying His Cross to Calvary. What a mournful meeting. Imagine the pain in Mary’s heart to see her Jesus groaning and staggering under the cruel Cross. What an anguish to see the One she loved so dearly, being tortured by the taunts of the crowd, as well as the weight of the wood. And there is nothing she is able to do to help Him.
The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus: But the sword will plunge still deeper. She must see Him shamefully stripped of His garments, rudely thrown upon the Cross and then hear the sickening strokes of the hammer. Helplessly and heartbroken, she must stand beneath His cross watching Him writhe in torture, listening to His parting words, listening for His parting breath.
The Pieta – Jesus Is Laid In The Arms Of His Mother: And now comes the moment when they take Him down from the Cross. As each nail and each thorn was pulled from His body, it was a new blow to the heart of His Mother. How she must have hugged Him to her heart!
Jesus is Laid in The Tomb: The seventh sword was to witness that broken body laid in the grave. It was a Mother putting her child to bed. What a grief-stricken good-night that was. Mary must have wished that she could bury her heavy heart with Him.
During Passiontide, on the Friday before Palm Sunday, a second feast of Mary’s Dolors is held, which emphasises particularly, the four last mentioned of the seven sorrows above.
Thus the Church reflects on the feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The prayers of the Mass and the Office are indicative of her sorrows.
The first trace of the feast, St Alphonsus Liguori tells us, is found in Germany towards the beginning of the fifteenth century. Archbishop Theodoric’s ordered the keeping of this day at an assembly convened at Cologne in 1413 to wage battle against heresies of the iconoclast “Hussites,” who were very active in destroying images and pictures of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Before the sixteenth century the feast was observed only in the Diocese of North Germany, Scandinavia and Scotland but by the end of the sixteenth century, it extended over the south of Europe. In 1506 the celebration was granted the Friday before Passion Sunday as the feast of the Sorrows of Mary. To the whole German Church this last date was later assigned. On 22 April 1727, Pope Benedict XIII, extended it to the entire Latin Church under the title “Septem dolorum.”
Notre Dame de Brebières / Mother of the Divine Shepherd, France (also known as Le Divine Bergère – The Divine Shepherdess) – 3 September:
The original Statue
Our Lady, Mother of the Divine Shepherd, or Notre Dame de Brebières, is located in the small town of Albert in the Diocese of Amiens, France. At one time, probably sometime in the 12th century and according to local tradition, a shepherd was grazing his sheep at Brebières when he observed that many of the animals were staying in the same area to eat, ripping the grass out by the roots. It must have seemed very odd to the shepherd, who decided that the sheep were trying to uncover something, so he started to dig in the very spot himself. In a short time he uncovered a Statue of the Blessed Virgin sculpted from a single piece of solid stone.
The Statue was fairly large, nearly 1,22 metres tall and represented the Blessed Mother holding the Divine Child in her arm. There was a sheep depicted quietly reclining at Mary’s feet. As has happened so often throughout history, the finding of the Statue increased the enthusiasm and affection of the local populace toward the Mother of God. A small Chapel was built at the site to honour the Statue and receive the pilgrims who had already begun coming to Albert to visit the Holy Mother. Saint Colette can be credited for helping to spread the fame of Our Lady, Mother of the Divine Shepherd. At age fourteen, she was somewhat short and had a delicate constitution. Seeking a remedy through the favour of the Blessed Virgin, Saint Colette prayed to Our Lady of Brebières She not only obtained vigour and good health, she also found that several inches were miraculously added to her height!
In 1637 the Sanctuary was partially burned and IN 1727 the miraculous image was moved to the Parish Church of Albert. During the French Revolution the Church was made into a pagan temple to the goddess of Reason, while the image of the Mother of God was hidden until 1802 when the horrors of the Terror during this supposed time of reason subsided.
This feast is celebrated in a number of places and by certain religious communities and congregations: Capuchins, Marists and others, on widely different dates. It is a special festival of the Shrine of Our Lady of Brebières a very old Sanctuary near Albert in France, formerly much resorted to by the shepherds.
The pilgrimage here was revived after 1870 and a beautiful Basilica was completed in 1887. The Statue was crowned in 1901 and miraculously survived the devastation of both world wars. The Basilica has again been rebuilt. The collect of the Mass prays that by following the Good Shepherd on earth, we may reach the pastures of eternal life with Mary in heaven.
St Chariton St Chrodegang of Séez St Frugentius the Martyr Bl Guala of Brescia St Hereswitha Bl Herman of Heidelberg St Macanisius St Mansuetus of Toul St Marinus (Died c 366) St Martiniano of Como St Natalis of Casale
St Regulus of Rheims St Remaclus St Sandila of Cordoba St Vitalian of Capua (Died 699) Bishop — Martyrs of Aquileia – 4 saints: Four young women, variously sisters and cousins, who were born to the nobility, the daughters of the pagans Valentinianus of Aquileia and Valentius of Aquileia. Each woman converted and made private vows, dedicating themselves to God. They were arrested, tortured and martyred by order of Valentius for becoming a Christian. We know little else but their names – Dorothy, Erasma, Euphemia and Thecla. They were martyred by beheaded in the 1st century in Aquileia, Italy and their bodies were thrown into a nearby river.
Martyrs of Nagasaki – 6 beati: A group of priests and clerics, native and foreign, murdered together in the anti-Christian persecutions in Japan. They were scalded in boiling water and then burned alive on 3 September 1632 in Nishizaka, Nagasaki, Japan and Beatified on 7 May 1867 by Pope Pius IX.
• Anthony Ishida • Bartolomé Gutiérrez Rodríguez • Francisco Terrero de Ortega Pérez • Gabriel Tarazona Rodríguez • Jerome of the Cross de Torres • Vicente Simões de Carvalho
Martyrs of Seoul – 6 saints: A group of Christian lay people martyred together in the persecutions in Korea. They were beheaded on 3 September 1839 at the Small West Gate, Seoul, South Korea and Canonised on 6 May 1984 by Pope John Paul II. • Agnes Kim Hyo-Ch’u • Barbara Kwon Hui • Barbara Yi Chong-hui • Ioannes Pak Hu-jae • Maria Pak K’Un-agi • Maria Yi Yon-hui
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: • Blessed Andrea Calle González • Blessed Concepción Pérez Giral • Blessed Dolores Úrsula Caro Martín • Blessed Joaquim Balcells Bosch • Blessed Pius Salvans Corominas
Nuestra Señora de la Peña / Our Lady of the Rock, Pena de Francia, near Salamanca, Spain (1434) – 23 February: The Abbot Orsini wrote: “Our Lady of Roches, near Salamanca, in Spain; an image is there venerated, which was found miraculously, in the year 434, by Simon Vela, who caused a Church to be built there.”
The Simon mentioned above by the Abbot Orsini, was actually born in the year 1401 in Paris, France. The incident that he states had occurred in the year 434 actually occurred in 1434 but that is getting ahead of our story. Simon was born on4 September 1401, in the City of Paris, France, to pious and wealthy parents. Growing up a good Catholic, Simon despised money and luxury, so that when he grew up and inherited his parents’ money and property, he recognised it for the threat to his eternal welfare that it was and gave all that he owned to the Church and to relieve the poor. Once the money was gone, he went to a Franciscan Monastery and took a position as a chamber boy. Simon naturally spent a great deal of time in prayer and was especially devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Sometimes when he prayed he asked the Mother of God if there was anything he might do, that would be especially pleasing to her. On one of these occasions, he fell asleep while praying. He was suddenly awakened when he heard a voice speak to him from the empty Church: “Simon, wake up; be on the watch…From now on, your name will be Simon Vela. Go to Pena de Francia, for there you will find the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” Simon travelled for five years over fields and mountains, searching through lonely valleys and gloomy caves, in his quest for this place called Pena de Francia but he could not even find anyone who had ever heard of the place. On the verge of giving up in frustration, he had already begun working his way back home from Spain, when the voice spoke to him from the darkness once again: “Simon, do not give up the search, do not give up what you have begun. Persevere and your labours will be recompensed.” Feeling that it was still the will of God, Simon was determined to continue the search. Simon was passing through the market square in Salamanca on his way to the Church of Santiago, when he observed two men who began shouting in a serious disagreement. Weapons flashed and one of the pair fell wounded at Simon’s feet. The other was restrained from finishing the man, by the crowd, who held him back. Unable to reach his adversary, he shouted: “Had I killed my enemy, I would have escaped to Pena de Francia where no-one, not even the king, could find me!” Simon’s heart leapt for joy when he heard this, for it was the first time he had heard the place spoken of, and now he was certain that his search would not be in vain.
THE STORY OF SIMON’S SEARCH SURROUNDS THE IMAGE OF OUR LADY OF THE ROCK
It was a short time later when Simon received a second bit of good news. He was on his way to the Church of Saint Martin when he happened upon a travelling merchant. Simon asked the man where he had come from and he answered, Pena de Francia. Thrilled to hear the name, he felt his search was nearly over but when he asked the man to take him there, he refused. He did not want to go back the way he had come, no matter how much Simon begged him. All he would do was point out the general direction. Simon went down the road from which he had seen the merchant approach, hoping he was not too far from his destination. The road led him to a villa named San Martin de Castanar, which he reached on 14 May 1434. He found a Church there and after Mass, he asked if anyone knew of a place called Pena de Francis. One man knew of it and when Simon kindly asked him to show him where it was, the man walked with him a good distance from the Church and then pointed out a hill in the far distance. That, he said, was Pena de Francia. Simon was elated, thanking God and the man for revealing to him the place that meant the end of his quest.
The place was far off but Simon went off at once, thinking the years he had spent in seeking, were nearly at an end. He gave no thought to his provisions and as the journey was long and arduous, he was far from any help when he realised how weakened his fast had made him. Suffering intense pangs of hunger, Simon did not despair, for he felt certain that God would not forsake him. He continued on his way and soon came across an abandoned pack that contained a loaf of bread and a piece of meat. Refreshed, he turned his attention to finding shelter as the night approached. Finding a suitable cave, he went inside and prayed for guidance until he dropped off into welcome slumber. Waking early in the morning, Simon began to search the area for the Shrine and quickly found that there were caves all over the hill where he had slept. He naturally became discouraged when it became apparent that it could take him weeks or even months to find what he sought and so, feeling that it was almost as if his quest had started all over again, he fell to his knees and prayed for the grace of perseverance. His prayer was quickly answered, as the now familiar voice said: “Simon, be awake: do not sleep.” Simon got up at once and continued his search, awakening with renewed enthusiasm the following morning. As he prepared to leave his cave a brilliant light struck his eyes, the source of which was a spot some distance away on a rocky hill. Trembling with joy, Simon approached the source of that light and found the Blessed Virgin Mary sitting on a golden throne with the Child Jesus in her arms. His heart overflowing with inexpressible joy, he knelt and said: “Oh, Lady, dream of my soul and inspiration of men and women! My labours are now ended. Many years have I travelled far and wide to seek you and to drink in the beauty of your eyes! Do not forsake me but be my protection.”
Our Lady answered sympathetically: “Simon, rejoice! Your constancy will be rewarded. Your dream will be realised. Your labours are now ended. Take heed and keep in your heart what I wish you to do. Dig in this spot and take what you can see and place it on the summit of this rocky hill. Build on this hill a beautiful Shrine. You are to begin it and others will come to finish it. This must come to pass as it has been the wish of my Child.” When the vision ended, Simon remained alone for some time, filled with wonder and awe. On the spot where the apparition of the Holy Virgin had appeared, Simon began the work of excavating. He had barely begun digging when he heard the same voice once again saying: “Simon, do not attempt to undertake this large of a task alone. Undertake it in the presence and with the help of two, three, or more persons.” Evidently this demand was made to ward off any suspicion about the veracity of the coming miracle, as well as Simon’s credibility. So Simon went back to San Martin de Castanar and asked five men to help him, and all of them agreed. Even though Simon told them the truth, these men believed that they were digging for hidden treasure. Simon repeated that they were after an objective worthier than merely worldly goods and that it was something their hearts would forever cherish. They dug for some time, until finally, on 19 May 1434, they removing a huge stone that was barring their way. They found beneath it, sheltered among several smaller rocks, the most coveted image of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Divine Child in her arms, now known as Our Lady of Rocks.
THE IMAGE OF PENA DE FRANCIA,FOUND BY SIMON VELA AND HIS COMPANIONS IN 19 MAY 1434
St Alexander Akimetes St Boswell St Dositheus of Egypt St Felix of Brescia St Florentius of Seville St Giovanni Theristi (1049–1129) Monk Bl Giovannina Franchi Bl John of Hungary St Josephine Vannini (1859-1911) Bl Juan Lucas Manzanares Bl Ludwik Mzyk St Martha of Astorga St Medrald St Milburga Bl Nicolas Tabouillot St Ordonius St Polycarp of Rome Bl Rafaela Ybarra de Villalongo St Romana St Serenus the Gardener (Died 307) Martyr His story: https://anastpaul.com/2019/02/23/saint-of-the-day-23-february-st-serenus-the-gardener-died-307-martyr/ Bl Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski St Willigis of Mainz (c 940-1011) Bishop St Zebinus of Syria — Martyrs of Syrmium – 73 Christians who were martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know no details about them, and only six of their names – Antigonus, Libius, Rogatianus, Rutilus, Senerotas and Syncrotas.
The Translation of the Relics of Saint Mark, the Evangelist – 31 December
The story of how Saint Mark’s relics eventually came to Venice is a remarkable one and it has been the subject of various works of art throughout the centuries. Tintoretto’s Translation of the Body of Saint Mark, a stark, dramatic painting that has the eerie feel of a photo negative, may be one of the most recognisable. Painted between 1562 and 1566 for the Scuola Grande di San Marco, the work is part of the permanent collection of the Accademia Galleries in Venice. Tintoretto himself is portrayed within the work, as the bearded man beside the camel.
Tintoretto’s Translation of the Body of Saint Mark
A companion painting, Discovery of the Body of Saint Mark, is located at the Brera Gallery in Milan.
Tintoretto’s Discovery of the Body of Saint Mark
The glittering mosaics that adorn the exterior of Saint Mark’s Basilica also tell the story, in tessellated form, of the translation of Saint Mark’s relics. For example, the mosaic located above the left doorway (the Door of Saint Alypius) of the west facade depicts Saint Mark’s body being carried into the basilica. The mosaic, known as the Deposition mosaic, is the oldest exterior mosaic on the Basilica and dates to 1260-1270.
According to legend, Saint Mark’s body was taken from Alexandria, Egypt, in 828. Two Venetian merchants travelling in Alexandria, obtained the relics of Saint Mark from Priests at the church of Saint Mark, where the saint’s body was interred. The Priests feared Saint Mark’s relics might be damaged or destroyed by the Saracens during the persecution of the Catholic community in Alexandria. Promising to safeguard the Saint’s relics, the merchants convinced the Priests to allow them to return to Venice with the body of Saint Mark. “The body of Saint Mark was taken out of the sarcophagus and unwrapped from its silk shroud, the relic being substituted by another and less eminent Saint. It was then placed in a chest and taken on board the Venetian ship, the merchants first ensuring, that the Saint’s remains were covered by a layer of pork and cabbage. When the Muslim officials asked to inspect the chest, they cried out ‘Kanzir, kanzir’ (Oh horror) at the sight and smell of the pork. . . . Thus the Evangelist was safely conveyed to Venice but not before a number of miracles eased his passage across the Mediterranean.”
The cargo investigated
Saint Mark’s body was initially kept in a Chapel at the Doge’s palace, a Chapel originally dedicated to Saint Theodore, until a more suitable Church could be built. Begun in 829, the year after the translation of Saint Mark’s relics, the first Church of Saint Mark was completed in 832. This Church was destroyed in 976 during a rebellion against Doge Pietro Candiano IV. And so St Mark’s Basilica was built to house the remains. Unfortunately, two hundred years later, the unthinkable happened, the authorities forgot where they had put them. Various excuses have emerged, all rather contradictory; there had been a fire, there was building work at the Basilica, the people who knew the location died suddenly without passing on the secret. All of Venice despaired but St Mark himself came to the rescue – his arm suddenly appeared from a pillar, no doubt accompanied by a shout of ‘I’m over here!’ The Basilica was completed in 1063 but was only Consecrated in 1094 now that St Mark was found.
Paolo Veneziano: The discovery of the relics of St Mark’s Basilica
In 1835, Giacomo Monico, Patriarch of Venice, exhumed the body of Saint Mark from the Crypt beneath the Basilica and placed it in the high Altar. Before then, the Saint’s body had apparently last been seen in the 12th century, dressed in ecclesiastical robes, when it was placed on display for five months for public veneration.
In 1075, the Doge passed a law requiring all returning ships to bring back something precious to decorate the Basilica, accounting for the more than 500 columns of rare marble, porphyry, alabaster and jasper brought back from the East. The interior is clad with 4,240 square meters of gold mosaics, mostly from the 12th and 13th centuries.
Between 1500 and 1750, some of the old sections were replaced by “modern” mosaics designed by artists including Titian and Tintoretto. The presence of St Mark, the mosaics, golden altar, beautiful chapels and treasury make St Mark’s one of Italy’s best-loved Churches.
Saint Mark’s simple, marble Sarcophagus can only be viewed from behind the high Altar. The exterior of the Sarcophagus is well lit and a short inscription applied to the stone in metallic letters read: “SALUTAT VOS . . . MARCUS FILIUS MEUS.” This inscription was followed by a citation in much smaller letters below the word “MEUS.” The citation read “1 Petri 5.13,” the source of the abbreviated quote on the tomb. The front of the Sarcophagus proclaims “CORPUS DIVI MARCI EVANGELISTAE” (Body of the Divine Mark, Evangelist). Red roses are often placed on top of the Sarcophagus.
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for yourselves…” … Matthew 11:29
REFLECTION – “Dearest sister in Jesus. I, Catherine, servant of the servants of Jesus, write to you in His Precious Blood, wishing only that you feed yourself with God’s love and nourish yourself with it, as at a mother’s breast. Nobody, in fact, can live without this milk! Who possesses God’s love, finds so much joy that every bitterness transforms itself into sweetness and that every great weight becomes light. One must not be astonished because living in charity you live in God – “God is love and he who abides in love, abides in God and God abides in him”(1 John 4:16) Thus, living in God, you can have no bitterness because God is delight, gentleness and never-ending joy! This is why God’s friends are always happy! Even if we are sick, poor, grieved, troubled, persecuted, we are always joyful. … We do not seek joy elsewhere than in Jesus and we avoid any glory which is not that of the Cross. Embrace, then, Jesus crucified, raising to Him the eyes of your desire! Consider His burning love for you, which made Jesus pour out His blood from every part of His body! Embrace Jesus crucified, loving and beloved and in Him you will find true life because He is God made man. Let your heart and your soul burn with the fire of love drawn from Jesus on the Cross! You must, then, become love, looking at God’s love who loved you so much not because He had any obligation towards you but out of pure gift, urged only by His ineffable love. You will have no other desire than to follow Jesus! As if you were drunken with Love, it will no longer matter whether you are alone or in company – do not think about many things but only about finding Jesus and following Him! Run, Bartolomea, do not stay asleep, because time flies and does not wait one moment! Dwell in God’s sweet love. Sweet Jesus, Jesus love.” … St Catherine of Sienna (1347-1380) – Doctor of the Church – From the “Letters” (letter no. 165 to Bartolomea, wife of Salviato of Lucca).
Prayer – Almighty and merciful God, let neither our daily work nor the cares of this life, prevent us from hastening to meet Your Son. Lord, make straight the winding ways within us. Draw us to repent! Enlighten us with Your wisdom and lead us into His company, that we may love Him and do homage to Him. Amen
One Minute Reflection – 16 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Thursday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year A, Readings: Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19, Psalm 102:13-21, Matthew 11:28-30 and the Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and of Blessed Ceslaus Odrowaz OP (c 1184– 1242) (Brother of St Hyacinth)
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for yourselves…” … Matthew 11:29
REFLECTION – “Dearest sister in Jesus. I, Catherine, servant of the servants of Jesus, write to you in His Precious Blood, wishing only that you feed yourself with God’s love and nourish yourself with it, as at a mother’s breast. Nobody, in fact, can live without this milk!
Who possesses God’s love, finds so much joy that every bitterness transforms itself into sweetness and that every great weight becomes light. One must not be astonished because living in charity you live in God – “God is love and he who abides in love, abides in God and God abides in him”(1 John 4:16)
Thus, living in God, you can have no bitterness because God is delight, gentleness and never-ending joy!
This is why God’s friends are always happy! Even if we are sick, poor, grieved, troubled, persecuted, we are always joyful.
… We do not seek joy elsewhere than in Jesus and we avoid any glory which is not that of the Cross.
Embrace, then, Jesus crucified, raising to Him the eyes of your desire! Consider His burning love for you, which made Jesus pour out His blood from every part of His body!
Embrace Jesus crucified, loving and beloved and in Him you will find true life because He is God made man. Let your heart and your soul burn with the fire of love drawn from Jesus on the Cross!
You must, then, become love, looking at God’s love who loved you so much not because He had any obligation towards you but out of pure gift, urged only by His ineffable love.
You will have no other desire than to follow Jesus! As if you were drunken with Love, it will no longer matter whether you are alone or in company – do not think about many things but only about finding Jesus and following Him!
Run, Bartolomea, do not stay asleep, because time flies and does not wait one moment!
Dwell in God’s sweet love.
Sweet Jesus, Jesus love.” … St Catherine of Sienna (1347-1380) – Doctor of the Church – From the “Letters” (letter no. 165 to Bartolomea, wife of Salviato of Lucca).
PRAYER – “Holy God, our Father, we turn to You in confidence as children and pray, give us meekness of heart, make us “poor in spirit” that we may recognise that we are not self-sufficient, that we are unable to build our lives on our own but need You, we need to encounter You, to listen to You, to speak to You. Help us to understand that we need Your gift, Your wisdom, which is Jesus Himself, in order to do the Your will in our lives and thus to find rest in the hardships of our journey.” Hear the prayers we request of the Mother of our Jesus Crucified and our Mother, Our Lady of Carmel, dear Lord and holy God, which we pray through Christ, our Light, in the Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen. … Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, 7 December 2011
“Jesus said to her: Mary! She turned and said to him… Teacher!”… John 20:16
REFLECTION – “The true lover’s delight is centred on his beloved, that is why St Paul treated everything else as “refuse” compared with the high privilege of knowing his Saviour (Phil 3,8). That is why the bride in the Song of Songs thinks only of her beloved: “All mine, my true love and I all his… Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” (2,16; 3,3)…
That illustrious lover, Mary Magdalene, encountered angels at the tomb, surely they addressed her angelically (gently, I mean), anxious to allay her sorrow. Utterly disconsolate as she was, however, she could take no comfort from their kindly greeting, their shining garments, their heavenly bearing, or the wondrous beauty of their features; still weeping, “They have carried away my Lord,” she said, “and I cannot tell where they have taken him.” Turning round, she saw her sweet Saviour but he looked like a gardener, so she was not interested. Loving thoughts of her Master’s death filled her heart, what need had she of flowers, of gardeners? Cross, nails and thorns occupied her thoughts; she was looking for her crucified lover. “If it is you, sir,” she said to the gardener, “if it is you who have carried off my beloved Lord’s body, tell me quickly where you have put him, and I will take him away.”
But no sooner did He breathe her name than her grief dissolved into delight – “Rabboni!” she said, “Master!”… To magnify her royal lover still further, the soul must have eyes only for Him, in other words, with an ever-growing, anxiously eager attentiveness. the soul must study all the details of His beauty, His perfections, must keep on discovering motives for finding ever-increasing gratification in the ineffable Beauty with which it is in love.” … St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) – Bishop of Geneva and Doctor of the Church Treatise on the love of God, 5, 7
PRAYER – Almighty, ever-living God, Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ made Mary of Magdala the first herald of Easter joy. Grant that, following her example and helped by her prayers, we may, in this life, proclaim the living Christ and come to see Him reigning with You in glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.
Feast of Notre-Dame-de-Argenteuil / Our Lady of Argenteuil and the Seamless Tunic (c 500) – 12 February
Our Lady of Argenteuil, Paris, built by King Clovis I containing a portion of the Seamless Garment.
The Abbot Orsini wrote: “This priory preserves a portion of the seamless garment of Our Lord.”
In about the year 500, Clovis was the King of the Franks but he was not yet a Catholic. Years passed as his wife Clotilda prayed for her husband to convert, yet always King Clovis demurred. Then one fateful day Clovis was engaged in a desperate battle, finding himself sorely bested. At the point of ruin he cried aloud to the Christian God to assist him, promising to forsake his pagan gods if he were granted a miraculous victory.
Looking up to heaven, Clovis cried:
“Jesus Christ, whom Clotilda declares to be the Son of the Living God, who it is said gives aid to the oppressed and victory to those who put their hope in Thee, I beseech the glory of Thy aid! If Thou shalt grant me victory over these enemies and I test that power which people consecrated to Thy name say they have proved concerning Thee, I will believe in Thee and be baptised in Thy name. For I have called upon my gods but, as I have proved, they are far removed from my aid. So I believe that they have no power, for they do not succour those who serve them. Now I call upon Thee and I long to believe in Thee – all the more that I may escape my enemies!”
God was pleased to answer Clovis’ petition immediately, for no sooner had he prayed than his enemies fled the field. Clovis won the battle and he was a man of his word. Hating his former error, Clovis converted to the True Faith.
It is related in the Gospels that Christ’s executioners played dice over this tunic. According to legend, that tunic was found in the fourth century by Saint Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine. It was then kept at Constantinople until the eighth century.
In the year 800, the Empress Irene of Byzantium offered Charlemagne the Holy Tunic at his coronation as Emperor of the West. The emperor then gave the relic to the priory of Argenteuil when his daughter, Theodrade, became abbess.
In the year 850 the Normans plundered the village of Argenteuil, including the Basilica of Saint Dennis but the tunic was hidden in a wall before their arrival. When the abbey was rebuilt in 1003, the relic was restored. It is venerated until the 16th century when it was partially burned by Huguenots in 1567.
During the French Revolution the Benedictine priory was destroyed and the relic then given to a parish church for safekeeping. In 1793, a priest found it necessary to cut it into pieces and bury them in his garden to protect them from profanation. In 1795, after the priests imprisonment had ended, the Holy Tunic appeared again and the different fragments were sewn back together.
The Holy Tunic was displayed again in the nineteenth century and pilgrimages resumed. On the 13 of December in 1983, the parish priest of Saint Dennis discovered the tunic had been stolen. On 2 February 1984, Father Guyard received a phone call from a stranger promising to return the treasure to the condition that their names would be kept secret. That same evening the tunic, with its case, was found in the Basilica of Saint Dennis.
The last solemn exposition of the tunic took place during the Easter holiday in 2016. In six days, approximately 80,000 people came to see the tunic.
The Holy Tunic measures nearly 5’ by 3’ in size. The fibres are wool and of a very regular size. It is a soft, lightweight fabric and the weaving is uniform and regular with a twisted “Z,” made on a primitive loom. The tunic is remarkable for a tunic woven manually, as it is made without any seam, including the sleeves. The dark brown fabric is typical of the clothing in the early centuries of the Christian era. The fabric was dyed brown, using a method widely in practice at the time by people of modest means. The construction and dyeing show the tunic to date from the time of Christ. It is the garment worn by Christ after the Flagellation and along the road to Calvary as He carried His cross. Christ’s blood and sweat thus impregnate the fabric. In 1985 a test was done showing the blood was type AB. Pollen common to Palestine have also been found in the fabric.
Saint of the Day – 11 January – St Tommaso da Cori OFM (1655-1729) Franciscan Friar and Priest, Preacher, Spiritual advisor, Evangeliser, Apostle of the Holy Eucharist, Prayer and Charity – known as the “Apostle of the Sublacense” – born Francesco Antonio Placidi on 4 June 1655 in Cori, Latina, Italy as Francesco Antonio Placidi and died on 11 January 1729 at Bellegra, Rome, Italy of natural causes. Patronages – Subiaco, Province of Rome (co-patron), Preachers.
St Tommaso was born in Cori (Latina) on 4 June 1655. He knew a childhood marked by the premature loss first of his mother and then of his father, thus being left alone at the age of 14 to look after his younger sister. Shepherding sheep, he learned wisdom from the simplest things. Once his sister was married, the youth was free to follow the inspiration that for some years he had kept in the silence of his heart – to belong completely to God in the Religious Life of a Franciscan. He had been able to get to know the Friars Minor in his own village at the St Francis convent. Once his two sisters were settled in good marriages and he was rendered free of all other preoccupations, he was received into the Order and sent to Orvieto (PG) to fulfill his novitiate year. After professing his vows according to the Rule of St Francis and completing his theological studies, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1683. He was immediately nominated vice master of novices at Holy Trinity convent in Orvieto, since his superior recognised at once his gifts.
After a short time, Fr Tommaso heard of the hermitages that were beginning to bloom in the Order and the intention of the superiors of the Roman Province to inaugurate one at the convent at Civitella (today Bellegra). His request was accepted and the young friar thus knocked at the door of the poor convent in 1684, saying, “I am Fr Tommaso of Cori and I come here to become holy!” In speech perhaps distant from ours, he expressed his anxiousness to live the Gospel radically, after the spirit of Saint Francis.
From then, Fr Tommaso lived at Bellegra until death, with the exception of six years in which he was Guardian at the convent of Palombara, where he initiated the Hermitage modelled after the one at Bellegra. He wrote the Rule first for one and then for the other, observing it scrupulously and consolidating by word and example the new institution of the two Hermitages.
The long years spent at Saint Francis of Bellegra can be summed up in three points:
Prayer:
St Tommaso of Cori was surely – as is said of St Francis – not so much a man who prayed as a man who became prayer. This dimension animated the entire life of the founder of the Hermitage. The most evident aspect of his spiritual life was undoubtedly the centrality of the Eucharist, as attested by St Tommaso in his celebration of the Eucharist, which was intense and attentive and in the silent prayer of adoration during the long nights at the Hermitage after the Divine Office, celebrated at midnight. His life of prayer was marked by a persistent aridity of spirit. The total absence of sensible consolation in prayer and in his life of union with God was protracted for a good 40 years, finding him always serene and totally in living the primacy of God. Truly, his prayer was configured as a remembrance of God that made concretely possible a unity of life, notwithstanding his manifold activities.
Evangelisation:
St Tommaso did not close himself up in the Hermitage, forgetting the good of his brothers and sisters, and the heart of the Franciscan vocation, which is apostolic. He was called with good reason the Apostle of Sublacense (the Subiaco region), having crossed the territory and its villages with the indefatigable proclamation of the Gospel, in the administration of the sacraments and the flowering of miracles at his passage, a sign of the presence and nearness of the Kingdom. His preaching was clear and simple, convincing and strong. He did not climb the most illustrious pulpits of his time, his personality was able to give its best in an ambit restricted to our territory, living his Franciscan vocation in littleness and in the concrete choice of the poorest.
Exquisite charity:
St Tommaso of Cori was to his brothers, a very gentle father. In the face of the resistance of some brothers before his will to reform and his radicality in living the Franciscan ideal, the Saint knew how to respond with patience and humility, even finding himself alone to mind the convent. He had understood well that every true reform initiates itself.
The considerable correspondence left by him, demonstrates St Tommaso’ attention to the smallest expectations and needs of his Friars and of numerous friends, penitents and Friars who turned to him for his counsel. In the convent, he demonstrated his spirit of charity in his availability for every necessity, even the most humble.
Rich in merits, he fell asleep in the Lord on 11 January 1729. St Tommaso of Cori shines among us and in Rome, of which he is the co-patron, above all in his thirst for a Christian and Franciscan ideal that is pure and lived in its essentials. A inspiration for all of us, not to take lightly the Gospel and its all-encompassing exigencies….Vatican.va
St Tommaso’s body is enshrined in the Franciscan Chapel of Bellagra. He was Beatified on 3 September 1786, at Saint Peter’s Basilica, by Pope Pius VI and Canonised on 21 November 1999, at Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City by St Pope John Paul II.
Saint of the Day – 26 May – St Philip Neri Cong. Orat. (1515-1595) Priest and Founder, Mystic, Missionary of Charity known as “The Third Apostle of Rome”, after Saints Peter and Paul, was an Italian priest noted for founding a society of secular clergy called the Congregation of the Oratory. Patronages – Rome, Gravina, Italy, archdiocese of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy Mandaluyong, US Special Forces, Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, Piczon Vill, Catbalogan, laughter, humour. St Philip Neri was extraordinarily touched by the divine presence and radiated such joy that he was moved to share it with all he met.
St Philip made a life for himself in Rome, becoming a priest at the age of 35 and becoming known as one who had a particular apostolate for giving young men spiritual direction using unconventional ways to challenge the vain young men of the Eternal City. Once a man came to St Philip Neri and asked him if he thought wearing a hair shirt was a good penance. St Philip replied that it would be a good penance if he wore the hair shirt outside his nice clothes.
St Philip had a long history of playing jokes on a distinguished friend of his, Cesare Baronius, who would become a cardinal. St Philip would send Baronius shopping for wine, with the strict instruction that he was to taste every wine in the shop until he found the right one. After taking such great trouble sampling many types of wine, St Philip would tell Baronius casually that he only required half a bottle of wine.
He was greatly unsettled when many Italians started leaving the Church because of a bogus and damaging history of the Church was doing the rounds. He commissioned Baronius to write a factual history of the Catholic Church and when Baronius would give him drafts to read, St Philip would flippantly throw them over his shoulder. St Philip didn’t allow anyone in his circle to take themselves too seriously. It took Baronius 30 years to write a true history of the Church, which was entitled, Ecclesiastical Annals.
The saint’s best-known achievement is that he founded the Roman Congregation of the Oratory. Key to his success was that he used humour as his medicine. He may have made others laugh, from going around Rome with half his beard shaved off, doing humorous dances or setting penances for young men that involved them making fools of themselves in public. But he needed jokes more badly than those around him. He was said to have had an all consuming love of God and in order to concentrate before offering Mass, St Philip would need to hear jokes or read humorous anecdotes which distracted him just a little from total absorption in the glory of God, so that he was able to concentrate on the task at hand, which was to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
He had a phenomenal capacity for love – his heart would hammer so strongly against his chest that it shook furniture. His facility to love so greatly was received on the eve of Pentecost, 1544, when St Philip saw a vision of a ball of fire enter through his mouth and go to his heart. Straightaway he was filled with an intense divine love and fell to the floor, crying out, “Enough, enough, Lord, I can bear no more!”
St Philip Neri is the patron saint of joy and with this in mind, he could become a powerful intercessor for people who have periods of feeling down. We pray a lot to St Valentine and St Raphael – so that these saints may find us romantic partners who will love us. But we might do well to pray to St Philip Neri that he inspires us with the ability to cherish others and to be filled with the joy of love… Perhaps most acutely for our selfie age, he could become an intercessor for people who agonise over how they look, who spend all their free time finding flattering selfies to post on Facebook and fear that that narcissism is beginning to rule their lives.
More on St Philip’s life: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/05/26/saint-of-the-day-26-may-s-philip-neri-cong-orat/
The work of the Oratory continues in Rome and across the world today. The Oratorians take no formal vows but promise to live in charity with one another. Some 500 priests serve more than 70 oratories around the world today. Cardinal Blessed John Henry Newman and St Francis de Sales were both members of this order.
Philip was always in touch with the supernatural—people said that they noticed his face radiating light and he often fell into deep, ecstatic trances while celebrating Mass. In fact, his normal congregations got used to beginning Mass with him, then leaving after the “Lamb of God” to let him experience his rapture and return two hours later to finish the liturgy and receive Communion.
Philip died of a massive heart attack on this date in 1595, which was the feast of Corpus Christi. His relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica and the Shrine contains the sketch below, which depicts him conversing with someone on the streets in Rome.
St Philip Neri, your body and soul were touched with divine love and you shared it with with all others, pray for us!
1. “Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth” (1 Jn 3:18). These words of the Apostle John voice an imperative that no Christian may disregard. The seriousness with which the “beloved disciple” hands down Jesus’ command to our own day is made even clearer by the contrast between the empty words so frequently on our lips and the concrete deeds against which we are called to measure ourselves. Love has no alibi. Whenever we set out to love as Jesus loved, we have to take the Lord as our example; especially when it comes to loving the poor. The Son of God’s way of loving is well-known, and John spells it out clearly. It stands on two pillars: God loved us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:10.19) and he loved us by giving completely of Himself, even to laying down His life (cf. 1 Jn 3:16).
Such love cannot go unanswered. Even though offered unconditionally, asking nothing in return, it so sets hearts on fire that all who experience it are led to love back, despite their limitations and sins. Yet this can only happen if we welcome God’s grace, His merciful charity, as fully as possible into our hearts, so that our will and even our emotions are drawn to love both God and neighbour. In this way, the mercy that wells up – as it were – from the heart of the Trinity can shape our lives and bring forth compassion and works of mercy for the benefit of our brothers and sisters in need.
2. “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him” (Ps 34:6). The Church has always understood the importance of this cry. We possess an outstanding testimony to this in the very first pages of the Acts of the Apostles, where Peter asks that seven men, “full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (6:3), be chosen for the ministry of caring for the poor. This is certainly one of the first signs of the entrance of the Christian community upon the world’s stage: the service of the poor. The earliest community realised that being a disciple of Jesus meant demonstrating fraternity and solidarity, in obedience to the Master’s proclamation that the poor are blessed and heirs to the Kingdom of heaven (cf. Mt 5:3).
“They sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:45). In these words, we see clearly expressed the lively concern of the first Christians. The evangelist Luke, who more than any other speaks of mercy, does not exaggerate when he describes the practice of sharing in the early community. On the contrary, his words are addressed to believers in every generation and thus also to us, in order to sustain our own witness and to encourage our care for those most in need. The same message is conveyed with similar conviction by the Apostle James. In his Letter, he spares no words: “Listen, my beloved brethren. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonoured the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you, and drag you into court? … What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and in lack of daily food and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled”, without giving them the things needed for the body; what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has not works, is dead’ (2:5-6.14-17).
3. Yet there have been times when Christians have not fully heeded this appeal and have assumed a worldly way of thinking. Yet the Holy Spirit has not failed to call them to keep their gaze fixed on what is essential. He has raised up men and women who, in a variety of ways, have devoted their lives to the service of the poor. Over these two thousand years, how many pages of history have been written by Christians who, in utter simplicity and humility and with generous and creative charity, have served their poorest brothers and sisters!
The most outstanding example is that of Francis of Assisi, followed by many other holy men and women over the centuries. He was not satisfied to embrace lepers and give them alms but chose to go to Gubbio to stay with them. He saw this meeting as the turning point of his conversion: “When I was in my sins, it seemed a thing too bitter to look on lepers and the Lord himself led me among them and I showed them mercy. And when I left them, what had seemed bitter to me was changed into sweetness of mind and body” (Text 1-3: FF 110). This testimony shows the transformative power of charity and the Christian way of life.
We may think of the poor simply as the beneficiaries of our occasional volunteer work, or of impromptu acts of generosity that appease our conscience. However good and useful such acts may be for making us sensitive to people’s needs and the injustices that are often their cause, they ought to lead to a true encounter with the poor and a sharing that becomes a way of life. Our prayer and our journey of discipleship and conversion find the confirmation of their evangelic authenticity in precisely such charity and sharing. This way of life gives rise to joy and peace of soul because we touch with our own hands the flesh of Christ. If we truly wish to encounter Christ, we have to touch His body in the suffering bodies of the poor, as a response to the sacramental communion bestowed in the Eucharist. The Body of Christ, broken in the sacred liturgy, can be seen, through charity and sharing, in the faces and persons of the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters. Saint John Chrysostom’s admonition remains ever timely: “If you want to honour the body of Christ, do not scorn it when it is naked; do not honour the Eucharistic Christ with silk vestments and then, leaving the church, neglect the other Christ suffering from cold and nakedness” (Hom. in Matthaeum, 50.3: PG 58).
We are called, then, to draw near to the poor, to encounter them, to meet their gaze, to embrace them and to let them feel the warmth of love that breaks through their solitude. Their outstretched hand is also an invitation to step out of our certainties and comforts and to acknowledge the value of poverty in itself.
4. Let us never forget that, for Christ’s disciples, poverty is above all a call to follow Jesus in His own poverty. It means walking behind Him and beside Him, a journey that leads to the beatitude of the Kingdom of heaven (cf. Mt 5:3; Lk 6:20). Poverty means having a humble heart that accepts our creaturely limitations and sinfulness and thus enables us to overcome the temptation to feel omnipotent and immortal. Poverty is an interior attitude that avoids looking upon money, career and luxury as our goal in life and the condition for our happiness. Poverty instead creates the conditions for freely shouldering our personal and social responsibilities, despite our limitations, with trust in God’s closeness and the support of His grace. Poverty, understood in this way, is the yardstick that allows us to judge how best to use material goods and to build relationships that are neither selfish nor possessive (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, Nos. 25-45).
Let us, then, take as our example Saint Francis and his witness of authentic poverty. Precisely because he kept his gaze fixed on Christ, Francis was able to see and serve Him in the poor. If we want to help change history and promote real development, we need to hear the cry of the poor and commit ourselves to ending their marginalisation. At the same time, I ask the poor in our cities and our communities not to lose the sense of evangelical poverty that is part of their daily life.
5. We know how hard it is for our contemporary world to see poverty clearly for what it is. Yet in myriad ways poverty challenges us daily, in faces marked by suffering, marginalization, oppression, violence, torture and imprisonment, war, deprivation of freedom and dignity, ignorance and illiteracy, medical emergencies and shortage of work, trafficking and slavery, exile, extreme poverty and forced migration. Poverty has the face of women, men and children exploited by base interests, crushed by the machinations of power and money. What a bitter and endless list we would have to compile were we to add the poverty born of social injustice, moral degeneration, the greed of a chosen few, and generalized indifference!
Tragically, in our own time, even as ostentatious wealth accumulates in the hands of the privileged few, often in connection with illegal activities and the appalling exploitation of human dignity, there is a scandalous growth of poverty in broad sectors of society throughout our world. Faced with this scenario, we cannot remain passive, much less resigned. There is a poverty that stifles the spirit of initiative of so many young people by keeping them from finding work. There is a poverty that dulls the sense of personal responsibility and leaves others to do the work while we go looking for favours. There is a poverty that poisons the wells of participation and allows little room for professionalism; in this way it demeans the merit of those who do work and are productive. To all these forms of poverty we must respond with a new vision of life and society.
All the poor – as Blessed Paul VI loved to say – belong to the Church by “evangelical right” (Address at the Opening of the Second Session of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, 29 September 1963) and require of us a fundamental option on their behalf. Blessed, therefore, are the open hands that embrace the poor and help them: they are hands that bring hope. Blessed are the hands that reach beyond every barrier of culture, religion and nationality, and pour the balm of consolation over the wounds of humanity. Blessed are the open hands that ask nothing in exchange, with no “ifs” or “buts” or “maybes”: they are hands that call down God’s blessing upon their brothers and sisters.
6. At the conclusion of the Jubilee of Mercy, I wanted to offer the Church a World Day of the Poor, so that throughout the world Christian communities can become an ever greater sign of Christ’s charity for the least and those most in need. To the World Days instituted by my Predecessors, which are already a tradition in the life of our communities, I wish to add this one, which adds to them an exquisitely evangelical fullness, that is, Jesus’ preferential love for the poor.
I invite the whole Church, and men and women of good will everywhere, to turn their gaze on this day to all those who stretch out their hands and plead for our help and solidarity. They are our brothers and sisters, created and loved by the one Heavenly Father. This Day is meant, above all, to encourage believers to react against a culture of discard and waste, and to embrace the culture of encounter. At the same time, everyone, independent of religious affiliation, is invited to openness and sharing with the poor through concrete signs of solidarity and fraternity. God created the heavens and the earth for all; yet sadly some have erected barriers, walls and fences, betraying the original gift meant for all humanity, with none excluded.
7. It is my wish that, in the week preceding the World Day of the Poor, which falls this year on 19 November, the Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time, Christian communities will make every effort to create moments of encounter and friendship, solidarity and concrete assistance. They can invite the poor and volunteers to take part together in the Eucharist on this Sunday, in such a way that there be an even more authentic celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King, on the following Sunday. The kingship of Christ is most evident on Golgotha, when the Innocent One, nailed to the cross, poor, naked and stripped of everything, incarnates and reveals the fullness of God’s love. Jesus’ complete abandonment to the Father expresses his utter poverty and reveals the power of the Love that awakens him to new life on the day of the Resurrection.
This Sunday, if there are poor people where we live who seek protection and assistance, let us draw close to them: it will be a favourable moment to encounter the God we seek. Following the teaching of Scripture (cf. Gen 18:3-5; Heb 13:2), let us welcome them as honoured guests at our table; they can be teachers who help us live the faith more consistently. With their trust and readiness to receive help, they show us in a quiet and often joyful way, how essential it is to live simply and to abandon ourselves to God’s providence.
8. At the heart of all the many concrete initiatives carried out on this day should always be prayer. Let us not forget that the Our Father is the prayer of the poor. Our asking for bread expresses our entrustment to God for our basic needs in life. Everything that Jesus taught us in this prayer expresses and brings together the cry of all who suffer from life’s uncertainties and the lack of what they need. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he answered in the words with which the poor speak to our one Father, in whom all acknowledge themselves as brothers and sisters. The Our Father is a prayer said in the plural: the bread for which we ask is “ours”, and that entails sharing, participation and joint responsibility. In this prayer, all of us recognise our need to overcome every form of selfishness, in order to enter into the joy of mutual acceptance.
9. I ask my brother Bishops and all priests and deacons who by their vocation have the mission of supporting the poor, together with all consecrated persons and all associations, movements and volunteers everywhere, to help make this World Day of the Poor a tradition that concretely contributes to evangelisation in today’s world.
This new World Day, therefore, should become a powerful appeal to our consciences as believers, allowing us to grow in the conviction that sharing with the poor enables us to understand the deepest truth of the Gospel. The poor are not a problem: they are a resource from which to draw as we strive to accept and practise in our lives the essence of the Gospel.
Prayers to accompany the Holy Rosary By Blessed Bartholomew Longo
First Joyful Mystery: The Annunciation.
O Mary, immaculate lily, through the joy you felt when at the Angel’s message you became the Mother of God: obtain for me the virtue of purity and of humility, that I may become your worthy son/daughter and the brother/sister of Jesus.
Second Joyful Mystery: The Visitation.
O Mary, Mother of grace and of charity, through the joy you felt when, upon visiting Elizabeth, you brought joy to the home of Zechariah and the Baptist was sanctified at the sound of your voice: visit my soul, let it hear your Motherly voice and fill it with love of God and love of neighbour.
Third Joyful Mystery: The Birth of Jesus.
O Mary, mirror of humility and of poverty, through the joy you felt when, turned away by the inhabitants of Bethlehem and forced to take refuge in a stable from the cold and darkness, you gave birth to the Divine Redeemer: grant that by accepting scorn and poverty I remain faithful to grace and gain the reward of eternal salvation by means of good works.
Fourth Joyful Mystery: The Presentation.
O Mary, the perfect model of obedience and of sacrifice, you who offered Jesus to the Eternal Father on our behalf: place your Child upon my bosom, that, together with you, I may offer Him the sacrifice of my passions and of my whole being.
Fifth Joyful Mystery: The Finding in the Temple.
O Mary, a shining example of patience, through the joy you felt when, after three days of anxiously searching, you found Jesus in the Temple: grant that I too, seeking Jesus with love in every moment of my life in imitation of you, may find Him at last in your arms at the hour of my death, never to lose Him again.
First Sorrowful Mystery: The Agony in the Garden.
O Grieving Virgin, through the anguish of that saddest of nights in which Jesus in agony in the garden sweat blood at the sight of my sins and, betrayed, was tied as a criminal: obtain for me the perfect sorrow of my sins and perseverance in prayer, that I may never again betray His most loving Heart.
Second Sorrowful Mystery: The Scourging at the Pillar.
O most grieving Mother, through the pain you felt in knowing that your innocent and holy Son had been publicly stripped and bloodily scourged with biting whips: obtain for me the spirit of true repentance and the virtue of chastity and of the mortification of the senses.
Third Sorrowful Mystery: The Crowning with Thorns.
O Mother of sorrows, through the atrocious torment which pierced your heart when you saw Jesus, the King of glory, then become the King of suffering, crowned with thorns and shame, with a reed in His hands, derided by the crowd: ah!, encircle my intellect and my heart with these very thorns, that I may never offend Him again with evil thoughts and sentiments; and obtain for me pureness in my thoughts and the right intentions in my actions.
Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: The Carrying of the Cross.
O grieving Mother, through the martyrdom of your heart, when you met your Son weighed down beneath the heavy cross, staining the road to Calvary with His blood: grant that I, clinging to Jesus’ cross, follow behind, daily carrying the cross of my troubles with meekness and with perfect conformity to the will of God.
Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: The Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord.
O Queen of the Martyrs, through the extreme spasm of your heart when you witnessed Jesus dying on the cross in the midst of a thousand torments, forsaken and without comfort: grant that I die to myself, to the world and to sin, and live in the heart of Jesus alone, having abandoned myself in His most holy arms.
First Glorious Mystery: The Resurrection.
O Most Holy Mother of God, through the joy you felt in seeing Jesus risen from the dead and surrounded in glory: obtain for me that I too rise from the death of sin to a life of grace and of faith and may persevere in it till my very last breath.
Second Glorious Mystery: The Ascension.
O Queen of the Heavens, through the joy you experienced in seeing Jesus rising to Heaven triumphant as King of the Universe and as our Advocate by His Father: obtain His blessing for me also, so that I be changed by Him from a sinner into a saint; moreover, by separating me from all earthly affection, through the virtue of hope may He kindle in me the desire of paradise.
Third Glorious Mystery: The Descent of the Holy Spirit.
O Queen of the Universe, through the joy you felt when the Holy Spirit descended on you and on the Apostles: grant that He come into my soul and fill it with His holy gifts and the heavenly fruits of charity, of joy, of patience and of peace.
Fourth Glorious Mystery: The Assumption.
O Queen, Lady of the Angels, through the joy you experienced when you were taken into heaven body and soul: come with Jesus to assist me at the hour of my death and lead me with you to everlasting happiness.
Fifth Glorious Mystery: The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
O Queen of all the Saints and the honour and delight of humankind, through the joy you felt when the Most Holy Trinity crowned you as Queen of Heaven and Earth: inflame me with your love and with the love of God, that I may love and serve you on earth and glorify you, O Queen of my heart, in heaven.
AnaStpaul 
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