Category: CATHOLIC Quotes

Posted in GOD ALONE!, HOLY SATURDAY, HOLY WEEK, In the PRESENCE of GOD, LENT 2026, PURGATORY, QUOTES on HELL, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, Thomas Aquinas

Holy Saturday – 4 April – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – Why Our LordDescended into Limbo

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Holy Saturday – 4 April – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

Holy Saturday
Why Our Lord Descended into Limbo

“Wisdom forsook not the just when he was sold but delivered him from sinners; she went down with him into the pit and in bands, she left him not.
Wis x. 13-14

From the descent of Christ to hell, we may learn, 4 lessons for our instruction:

  1. Firm hope in God.
    No matter what the trouble in which a man finds himself, he should always put trust in God’s assistance and rely on it.
    There is no trouble greater than to find oneself in hell.
    If then, Christ freed those who were in hell, any man who is a friend of God, cannot but have great confidence that he too shall be freed from whatever anxiety holds him captive.
    “Wisdom forsook not the just when he was sold but delivered him from sinners; she went down with him into the pit and in bands, she left him not”(Wis x. 13-14).
    And since, to His servants, God gives a special assistance, he who serves God should have still greater confidence.
    “He who fearth the Lord shall tremble at nothing and shall not be afraid: for He is his Hope” (Ecclus xxxiv. 16).
  2. We ought to conceive the fear of God and to rid ourselves of presumption.
    For although Christ suffered for sinners and descended into hell to set them free, He did not set all sinners free but only those who were free of mortal sin.
    Those who had died in mortal sin, He left there. Wherefore, for those who have gone down to hell in mortal sin, there remains no hope of pardon.
    They shall be in hell as the holy Fathers are in Heaven, that is, forever!
  3. We ought to be full of care.
    Christ descended into hell for our Salvation and we should be careful to go down there frequently too, meditating in our minds on hell’s pain and penalties, as did the holy King Ezechias as we read in the prophecy of Isaias, “I said, In the midst of my days, I shall go to the gates of hell” (Isaias xxxviii. 10).

Those, who in their meditations, often descend to hell during life, will not easily succomb at death.
Such meditations are a powerful arm against sin and a useful aid to protect a man and convert him from sin.
Daily we see men kept from evildoing by the fear of the law’s punishments.
How much greater care should they not take, on account of the punishment of hell, greater in its duration, in its bitterness and in its variety.
“Remember thy last end and thou shalt never sin” (Ecclus vii. 40).

  1. The fact is an example of Love for us.
    Christ descended into hell to set those who were His Own free.
    We too, therefore, should descend there to help our own. For those who are in Purgatory are themselves unable to do anything and, therefore, we ought to help them. Truly he would be a harsh man indeed, who failed to come to the aid of a kinsman who lay in prison, here on earth.
    How much harsher then, the man who will not aid the friend who is in Purgatory, for there is no comparison between the pain there and the pains of this world.
    “Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends because the Hand of the Lord hath touched me” (Job xix. 21).

We assist the souls in Purgatory, chiefly by these three means, by Holy Masses, by prayers and by almsgiving.
Is it not wonderful that we can do so, in this world – a friend can make satisfaction for a friend.

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

Posted in APRIL -MONTH of the RESURRECTION and the BLESSED SACAMENT, AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the LIGHT, EASTER, JANUARY month of THE MOST HOLY NAME of JESUS, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, The HOLY NAME, The RESURRECTION

Quote/s of the Day – 4 April – Lumen Christi – Deo Gratias!

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Quote/s of the Day – 4 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament – Holy Saturday – The Lord’s Vigil Mass of Easter – Matthew 28:1-7 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Today a great silence reigns on earth,
a great silence and a great stillness.
A great stillness because the King is asleep.
The earth trembled and is still
because God has fallen asleep in the flesh
and has raised up all who have slept,
since the world began…

I order you, O sleeper, to awake.
I did not create you to be a prisoner in hell.
Rise from the dead, for I am the Life of the dead.”

Ancient Christian Writer (ACW)

“It was very necessary that Christ
should rise during the night because,
His Resurrection has enlightened our darkness! …
Just as our faith,
strengthened by Christ’s Resurrection,
dispels all sleep, so this night,
lightened by our vigils, is filled with brightness.
He, Who has given us the glory of His Name (Ps 28:2)
has also illumined this night.
He to Whom we say “Thou lighten my darkness”
(Ps 18:28) sheds His brightness in our hearts.
Just as our dazzled eyes behold
these shining torches, so our enlightened spirits
enable us to see how luminous is this night,
this holy night in which our Lord
initiated, in His own flesh,
the Life which knows neither sleep nor death!”

“…He Slept,
so that We might be
Awakened,
He Died,
so that We might Live.”

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

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One Minute Reflection – 4 April – He is not here, for He is risen, as He said.

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One Minute Reflection – 4 April – Holy Saturday – The Lord’s Vigil Mass of Easter, Blessing of the Fire, Prophecies, Blessing of the Font, First Mass of Easter – Matthew 28:1-7 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“And the Angel answering, said to the women: Fear not you, for I know that you seek Jesus Who was Crucified, He is not here, for He is risen, as He said.” – Matthew 28:5-6

REFLECTION – “When the third day dawned of the Lord’s Sacred repose in the tomb … Christ, the “power and Wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:24), with the author of death lying prostrate, conquered even death itself and opened to us access to eternity, when He raised Himself from the dead by His Divine Power in order to make known to us the paths of Life.

Then there was a great earthquake, for an Angel of the Lord came down from Heaven, with raiment like snow and his countenance like lightening.   He appeared attractive to the devout and severe to the wicked – for he terrified the soldiers and comforted the timid women, to whom the Lord Himself first appeared after rising because, their intense devotion, so merited.   Then He was seen by Peter, then by the disciples going to Emmaus, then by all the Apostles except Thomas.   Later He presented Himself to be touched by Thomas, who proclaimed his faith:  “My Lord and my God.”   And thus, during forty days, He appeared in many ways to His disciples, both eating and drinking with them.

He enlightened our faith with proofs and lifted up our hope with promises, so as finally, to enkindle our love with gifts from Heaven!” … St Bonaventure (1217-1274) Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – O God, Who dost illuminate this most holy night by the glory of the Lord’s Resurrection, preserve in the new children of Thy family, the spirit of adoption which Thou hast given, that renewed in body and mind, they may render to Thee a pure service. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

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

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

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

Good Friday
The Death of Christ

The Expediency of the Death of Christ:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PRAYER – Deliver us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, from all evils, past, present and to come and by the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God and of the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul and of all the Saints, mercifully grant peace in our days, that through the assistance of Thy mercy we may be always free from sin and secure from all disturbance. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Faithful Cross! above all other, One and only noble Tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom, None in fruit thy peer may be.
Sweetest wood and sweetest iron,
Sweetest weight is hung on thee. (Antiphons).

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

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

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

Maundy Thursday
The Last Supper

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

St Paul … Ephesians 5:1-2

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

Matthew 5:44

“But the wise took oil
in their vessels”

Matthew 25:4

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

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

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

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted in DYING / LAST WORDS, SAINT of the DAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Devotions for the Month of April

The Resurrection and The Blessed Sacrament

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

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

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

John 11:25

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

John 6:51-52

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

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

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

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

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

“Jesus remember me”

Luke 23:42

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PRAYER – O God, Who to drive far from us, the power of the enemy, didst will that Thy Son should suffer for us on the gibbet of the Cross, grant us Thy servants, that we may obtain the grace of the resurrection. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in "Follow Me", DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

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

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

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

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

Posted in LENT 2026, QUOTES on HUMILITY, Thomas Aquinas

Tuesday in Holy Week – 31 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – Christ Preparing to Wash the Apostle’s Feet

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Tuesday in Holy Week – 31 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

Tuesday in Holy Week
Christ Preparing to Wash the Apostle’s Feet

“He riseth from supper and layeth aside His garments, and having taken a towel, girded Himself.”
John xiii. 4

  1. Christ, in His lowly office, shows Himself truly to be a Servant, in keeping with His Own Words, “The Son of Man is not come to be ministered to but to minister and to give His Life as a Redemption for many” (Matt. xx. 28).

Three things are looked for in a good servant or minister:
(i) He should be careful to keep before himself, the numerous details in which his serving may so easily fall short.
Now, for a servant to sit or to lie down during his service is to make this necessary supervision impossible.
Hence it is that servants stand.
And, therefore, the Gospel says of Our Lord, He riseth from supper. Our Lord himself also asks us, “For which is greater, he who sitteth at table or he who serveth?” (Luke xxii. 27).

(ii) He should show dexterity in performing, at the correct moment, all which his particular office calls for. Now, elaborate dress is a hindrance to this. Therefore, Our Lord layeth aside his garments. And this was foreshadowed in the Old Testament when Abraham chose servants who were well appointed (Gen xiv. 14).

(iii) He should be prompt, having ready to hand, all he needs.
St Luke (x. 40) says of Martha that she was busy about much serving. This is why Our Lord, having taken a towel, girded Himself with it. Thus, He was ready, not only to wash their feet but also to dry them.
So He (who came from God and goeth to God–John xiii. 3) as He washes their feet, crushes forever our swollen, human self-importance.

  1. “After that, He putteth water into a basin and began to wash their feet” (John xiii. 5).

We are given for our consideration this Service of Christ and in three ways His Humility is set for our example.
(i) The kind of service this was, for it was the lowest type f all!
The Lord of All Majesty bending to wash the feet of his slaves!
(ii) The number of services it contained, for, we are told, He put water into a basin, He washed their feet, He dried them and so forth.
(iii) The method of performing the Service, for He did not do it through others, nor even with others assisting Him.
He accomplished the Service Himself.
“The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things” (Ecclus iii. 20).

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

Posted in CATECHESIS, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, In the PRESENCE of GOD, Quote on SELF-ABANDONMENT, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, Quotes Self-Oblation, SELF-DISTRUST, St Francis de Sales, St PETER!

Quote/s of the Day – 31 March – Teach us St Peter!

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Quote/s of the Day – 30 March – Tuesday of Holy Week – Jeremias 11:18-20 – Mark 14:32-72; 15, 1-46– – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Before the cock crows twice,
thou shalt thrice deny Me.
And he began to weep …”

Mark 14:72

“The first time Peter denied,
he did not weep because the Lord
had not looked at him.
He denied a second time and did not weep
because the Lord still did not look at him.
He denied a third time;
Jesus looked at him
and he wept very bitterly (Lk 22:62).
… Teach us what use your tears were to you.
But you taught it without delay for,
having fallen before you wept,
your tears caused you to be chosen to guide others,
you who, to begin with, did not know
how to guide yourself!”

St Ambrose (340-397)
Father & Doctor

“ I am very certain,
it was our Lord’s Holy Look
which pierced his heart
and opened his eyes, to make him
recognise his sin (Lk 22:61)…
From that time on, he never stopped weeping,
above all when he heard the cock crow at night
and in the morning…
In this way, from being a great sinner,
he became a great Saint!”

“A person who is conscious of his misery,
can certainly have great confidence in God.
In fact, he cannot have true confidence in Him,
without this consciousness of his misery.
This knowledge and acknowledgement
of our misery, leads us to the Presence of God.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritatis

Posted in "Follow Me", GOD ALONE!, JESUIT SJ, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 31 March – My God, I Love Thee By St Francis Xavier

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Our Morning Offering – 31 March – Tuesday in Holy Week

My God, I Love Thee
By St Francis Xavier (1506-1552) (Attri)
Transr: Fr Edward Caswall CO (1814-1878)

My God, I love Thee, not because
I hope for heav’n thereby,
nor yet for fear, that loving not,
I might forever die
but for that Thou didst all mankind
upon the Cross embrace;
for us didst bear the nails and spear
and manifold disgrace.

And griefs and torments numberless
and sweat of agony;
e’en death itself and all for man,
who was Thine enemy.
Then why, most loving Jesus Christ,
should I not love Thee well?
Not for the sake of winning heav’n,
nor any fear of hell.

Not with the hope of gaining aught,
nor seeking a reward
but as Thyself hast loved me,
O ever loving Lord!
E’en so I love Thee and will love
and in Thy praise will sing,
solely because Thou art my God
and my eternal King!
Amen

Posted in CONFESSION/PENANCE, HOLY WEEK, LENT 2026, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on PURITY, QUOTES on WILL (Reasonable or Superior), QUOTES on Will (Sensual or Inferior), Thomas Aquinas

Monday in Holy Week – 30 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – It is Necessary that We be Wholly Clean

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Monday in Holy Week – 30 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

Monday in Holy Week
It is Necessary that We be Wholly Clean

“If I wash thee not, thou shaft have no part with me”
John xiii. 8

  1. “If I wash thee not, thou shaft have no part with me” (John xiii. 8).
    No-one can be made a sharer in the inheritance of eternity, a co-heir with Christ, unless he is spiritually cleansed, for in the Apocalypse it is so stated.
    “There shall not enter into it anything defiled” (Apoc xxi. 27) and in the Psalms we read, “Lord who shall dwell in Thy tabernacle?” (Ps xiv.) Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord; or who shall stand in His holy place?
    The innocent in hands and clean of heart (Ps xxiii. 3, 4).

It is, therefore, as though Our Lord said, If I wash thee not, thou shalt not be cleansed and if thou art not cleansed, thou shalt have no part with me.

  1. Simon Peter saith to Him: “Lord, not only my feet but also my hands and my head” (John xiii. 9).
    Peter, utterly stricken, offers his whole self to be washed, so confounded is he with love and with fear.
    We read, in fact, in the book called The Journeying of Clement that Peter used to be so overcome by the Physical Presence of Our Lord Whom he had most fervently loved that whenever, after Our Lord’s Ascension, the memory of that dearest Presence and most holy company came to him, he used so to melt into tears that his cheeks seemed all worn out with them.

We can consider three parts in man’s body, the head, which is the highest, the feet, which are the lowest part, and the hands which lie in-between.
In the interior man, i.e. in the soul, there are likewise three parts.
Corresponding to the head – there is the higher reason, the power by means of which the soul clings to God.
For the hands – there is the lower reason, by which the soul operates in good works.
For the feet –there are the senses and the feelings and desires arising from them.
Now Our Lord knew the disciples to be clean, as far as the head was concerned, for He knew they were joined to God by faith and by charity.
He knew their hands also were clean, for He knew their good works.
But as to their feet, He knew that the disciples were still somewhat entangled in those inclinations of earthly things which are derived from the life of the senses.

Peter, alarmed by Our Lord s warning (v. 8), not only consented that his feet should be washed but begged that his hands and his head should be washed too.

Lord, he said, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.
As though to say, “I know not whether hands and head need to be washed. For I am not conscious myself of anything, yet am I not hereby justified (i Cor iv. 4). Therefore, I am ready not only for my feet to be washed that is, those inclinations which arise out of the life of my senses but also my hands, that is, my works and my head too, that is, my higher reason.”

  1. “Jesus saith to him: He that is washed needeth not but to wash his feet but is clean wholly. And you are clean” (John xiii. 10).
    Origen, commenting on this text, says that the Apostles were clean but needed to be yet cleaner. For reason should ever desire gifts which are better still, should ever set itself to achieve the very heights of virtue, should aspire to shine with the brightness of justice itself. “He who is holy, let him be sanctified still” (Apoc xxii. 11).

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

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, franciscan OFM, GOD is LOVE, HOLY WEEK, LENT 2026, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on BLASPHEMY, QUOTES on COURAGE, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, St Francis de Sales, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The PASSION, The SECOND COMING

Quote/s of the Day – 30 March – ‘… For love of Thy Love …’

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Quote/s of the Day – 30 March – Monday of Holy Week

I Beg Thee, Lord
By St Francis of Assisi (c1181–1226)

I beg Thee, Lord,
let the fiery, gentle power
of Thy Love
take possession of my soul
and snatch it away,
from everything under Heaven,
that I may die,
for love of Thy Love,
as Thou saw fit, to die
for love of mine!
Amen

“Now it is that we are to show
an invincible courage towards our Saviour,
serving Him purely for the love of His Will,
not only without pleasure
but amid this deluge of sorrows,
horrors, distresses and assaults,
as did His glorious Mother and St John,
upon the day of His Passion.
Amongst so many blasphemies,
sorrows and deadly distresses,
they remained constant in love …”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritatis

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on HOSPITALITY, QUOTES on MERCY, QUOTES on POVERTY, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on the POOR, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 30 March – ‘ … You do not look at Him even when He faints with hunger …’

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One Minute Reflection – 30 March  – “The Month of Saint Joseph” – Monday in Holy Week – Isaias 50:5-10 – John 12:1-9 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“For the poor you have always with you but Me, you have not always.” – John 12:8

REFLECTION – “The Father did not spare Him for your sake and this, even though He was indeed His Son (Rom 8:32). And yet, you do not look at Him even when He faints with hunger and this too, when you have only to spend for your own food, which is His own! What could be worse than such a breach of law as this?! He was given up for you, slain for you; He lives in hunger for you. You have only to give that which belongs to Him and you, yourself, will get the gain and still, you do not give! What sort of stone is there in place of your heart, besides which these people are not more senseless and who, in spite of such great inducements, continue in this devilish hard-heartedness?

For He was not even satisfied with death and the Cross alone but also, assumed poverty, becoming a stranger and a beggar, naked and cast into prison, undergoing sickness (Mt 25:36) that so, at least, He might call upon you. If you wilt not requite Me, He says, as one Who suffered for your sake, show mercy upon Me for My poverty. And if you are not minded to pity Me for My poverty, at least be moved by My diseases, be softened by My imprisonment . And if, even these do not make you charitable, then for the easiness of the request, comply with Me. For it is no costly gift I ask but bread and lodging and words of comfort … Then I was bound for you, indeed I am so still, so that whether moved on grounds of the former or stirred by the latter, you might be minded to show Me some pity. I fasted for your sake and now, hunger for you; I thirsted when hanging on the Cross and now thirst in the poor, that just as by the former, so also by the latter I may draw you to Myself and make you charitable for your own salvation!..

Indeed, He says: “Whoever welcomes a child such as this, for My Sake, welcomes Me” (Mk 9:37) … For I am able indeed, to crown you even without all these things and yet, I would prefer to be your debtor, so that the crown may make you feel secure. That is why, although I am able to support Myself, yet, I come begging and stand at your door and stretch out My Hand, since My wish is to be supported by you. For I Love you exceedingly and desire to eat at your table!” – St John Chrysostom (347-407) Bishop of Constantinople, Father & Doctor of the Church (Sermon 15 on the Letter to the Romans).

PRAYER – In Thy mercy, O Lord, may this hallowing fast enlighten the hearts of Thy faithful people and since Thou have given them the desire to serve Thee, lend a gracious ear to their prayers.Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, GOOD FRIDAY, HOLY WEEK, HYMNS, LENT 2026, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY CROSS, The LAMB of GOD, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The PASSION, The REDEMPTION

Our Morning Offering – 30 March – Sing, My Tongue, The Saviour’s Glory

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Our Morning Offering – 30 March – Monday in Holy Week

Sing, My Tongue, The Saviour’s Glory
By St Venantius Fortunatus (c530 – c609)
Bishop, Father of the Church
Trans. Fr Edward Caswell CO (1814-1878)

Sing, my tongue, the Saviour’s glory;
Tell His triumph far and wide;
Tell aloud the famous story
Of His Body Crucified;
How upon the Cross a Victim,
Vanquishing in death, He Died.

Thus did Christ to perfect manhood
In our mortal flesh attain:
Then of His free choice He goeth
To a death of bitter pain;
And as a Lamb, upon the altar
Of the Cross, for us is slain.

Lo, with gall His thirst He quenches!
See the thorns upon His Brow!
Nails His tender Flesh are rending!
See, His Side is open’d now!
Whence, to cleanse the whole creation,
Streams of Blood and Water flow.

Faithful Cross, O Tree all beauteous!
Tree all peerless and Divine!
Not a grove on earth can shew us
Such a flower and leaf as thine.
Sweet the nails and sweet the wood,
Laden with so sweet a load!

Lofty Tree, bend down thy branches,
To embrace thy Sacred load;
Oh, relax the native tension
Of that all too rigid wood;
Gently, gently bear the Members
Of thy dying King and God.

Tree, which solely wast found worthy
The world’s great Victim to sustain;
Harbour from the raging tempest!
Ark, which sav’d the world again!
Tree, with sacred Blood anointed
Of the Lamb for sinners slain.

Blessing, honour everlasting,
To the immortal Deity;
To the Father, Son, and Spirit,
Equal praises ever be:
Glory through the earth and Heaven
To Trinity in Unity.

This Hymn is used for Passiontide and on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14 Sept) in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Breviary.
This is the original text as it appears in the Lyra Catholica (1849).
Part I is used for Matins and Part II is used for Lauds.
Tune (Church Hymns): “St Lawrence”

Posted in HOLY WEEK, LENT 2026, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on THE WORLD, The PASSION, Thomas Aquinas

Holy Week Palm Sunday – 29 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – The Example of Christ’s Passion

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Holy Week Palm Sunday – 29 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

Holy Week: Palm Sunday
The Example of Christ’s Passion

“Thinkest thou that I cannot ask My Father and He will give Me presently more than twelve legions of angels?”
Matt xxvi. 53

The Passion of Christ is, of itself, sufficient to form us in every virtue.
For whoever wishes to live perfectly, need do no more than scorn what Christ scorned on the Cross and desire what He there desired.
There is no virtue of which, from the Cross, Christ does not give us an example.

If you seek an example of Charity, “Greater love than this, no man hath, than that a man lay down His life for his friends” (John xv. 13) and this Christ did on the Cross.
And since it was for us that He gave His Life, it should not be burdensome to bear, whatever evils come our way, for His sake.
“What shall I render to the Lord, for all He hath rendered to me” (Ps cxv. 12).

If you seek an example of Patience, in the Cross you find the best of all.
Great patience shows itself in two ways.
Either when a man suffers great evils patiently, or when he suffers what he could avoid and forbears to avoid. Now Christ on the Cross, suffered great evils. “O all ye who pass by the way, attend and see, if there be any sorrow like to My sorrow” (Lam i. 12).
And He suffered them patiently, for, when He Suffered He threatened not (i Pet ii. 23) but led as a sheep to the slaughter, He was dumb as a lamb before His shearer (Isaias liii. 7).

Also it was within His Power to avoid the Suffering and He did not.
“Thinkest thou that I cannot ask My Father and He will give Me presently more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt xxvi. 53).
The Patience of Christ then on the Cross, was the greatest Patience ever shown.
Let us run by patience to the fight proposed to us, looking upon Jesus, the Author and finisher of faith, Who having joy set before Him, endured the Cross, despising the shame (Heb xii. i, 2).

If you seek an example of Humility, look at the Crucified. For it is God Who Wills to be judged and to Die at the will of Pontius Pilate.
“Thy cause hath been judged as that of the wicked” (Job xxxvi. 17).
“Truly as that of the wicked, for let us condemn Him to a most shameful Death” (Wis ii. 20).
The Lord Willed to Die for the slave, the life of the angels, for man.

“If you seek an example of Obedience, follow Him Who became Obedient unto Death” (Phil ii. 8), “ for as by the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners; so also by the Obedience of One, many shall be made just” (Rom v. 19).

If you seek an example in the scorning of the things of this world, follow Him Who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, in Whom are all the treasures of Wisdom. Lo! on the Cross, He hangs naked, fooled, spit upon, beaten, crowned with thorns, sated with gall and vinegar and dead.
“My garments they parted among them; and upon My vesture, they cast lots” (Ps. xxi. 19).

Error to crave for honours, for He was exposed to blows and to mockery.
Error to seek titles and decorations, for platting a Crown of Thorns, they put it upon His Head and a reed in His Right Hand.
“And bowing the knee before Him, they mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews” (Matt, xxvii. 29).

“Error to cling to pleasures and comfort. for they gave Me gall for My food and in My Thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Ps. Ixviii. 22).

ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY WEEK, LENT 2026, QUOTES on JOY, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on WISDOM, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY FACE, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR

Quote/s of the Day – 29 March – Palm Sunday

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Quote/s of the Day – 29 March – Holy Week, Palm Sunday – Philippians 2:5-11, Matthew 26:36-75; 27:1-60 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

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

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

St Nerses Chnorhali (1102-1173)
Armenian Bishop

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

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

Blessed Guerric of Igny (c1080-1157)
Cistercian Abbot

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, franciscan OFM, GOD ALONE!, HOLY WEEK, Our MORNING Offering, QUOTES on CONSOLATION, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The SECOND COMING

Our Morning Offering – 29 March – To Thee, O Jesus, Hosanna! By St Bonaventure

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Our Morning Offering – 29 March – Palm Sunday

To Thee, O Jesus, Hosanna!
By St Bonaventure (1217-1274)
Seraphic Doctor of the Church

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

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, LENT 2026, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on MERCY, QUOTES on PERSECUTION, QUOTES on SPIRITUAL WORKS of MERCY, Thomas Aquinas

Passion Saturday – 28 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – How We Should Wash Each Others’ Feet

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Passion Saturday – 28 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

Passion Saturday
How We Should Wash Each Others’ Feet

“If I then, being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you too ough to wash one another’s feet”
John xiii. 14

Our Lord wishes His disciples to imitate His Example.
He says, therefore, If I, Who am the greater, being your Master and the Lord, have washed your feet, you too, all the more who are the lesser, who are disciples, slaves even, ought to wash each others’ feet.
“Whosoever will be the greater among you, let him be your minister . . . . Even as the Son of Man is not come to be ministered unto but to minister” (Matt xx. 26-28).

St Augustine says, every man ought to wash the feet of his fellowmen, either actually or in spirit.
And, it is by far the best and true beyond all controversy, that we should do it actually, lest Christians scorn to do what Christ did.
For when a man bends his body to the feet of a brother human, emotion is stirred in his very heart, or, if it be there already, it is strengthened.
If we cannot actually wash his feet, at least we can do it in spirit.
The washing of the feet signifies the washing away of stains.
You, therefore, wash the feet of your brother when, as far as lies in your power, you wash away his stains.

And this you may do in three ways:
(i) By forgiving the offences he has done to you. “Forgive one another, if any have a complaint against another: even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also” (Coloss iii. 13).
(ii) By praying for the forgiveness of his sin, as St James bids us, “Pray for one another that you may be saved” (James v. 16).
This way of washing, like the first, is open to all the faithful.
(iii) The third way is for Prelates, who should wash, by forgiving sins through the authority of the Keys, according to the Gospel, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost; those whose sins you shall forgive , they are forgiven them” (John xx. 23).

We can also say that in this one act, Our Lord showed all the Works of Mercy.
He who gives bread to the hungry, washes their feet, as also does the man who harbours the harbourless, or he who clothes the naked.
“Communicating to the necessities of the saints” (Rom xii. 13).

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

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY WEEK, LENT 2026, OUR Cross, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, Quote on SELF-ABANDONMENT, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, QUOTES on THANKSGIVING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on THE WORLD, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, St Francis de Sales, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The WILL of GOD, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 28 March – ‘… Cling to that which we believe. …’

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Quote/s of the Day – 28 March – Saturday in Passion Week – Jeremias18:18-23, John 12:10-36 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“He who loves his life, loses it
and he who hates his life
in this world,
keeps it unto life everlasting.
If anyone serves Me,
let him follow Me
and where I am,
there also shall My servant be.”

John 12:25-26

“For he who will save his life, will lose it
and he who will lose his life
for My sake, will find it. ”

Matthew 16:25

“Let us detach ourselves in spirit
from all that we see
and cling to that which we believe.
This is the Cross
which we must imprint
on all our daily actions and behaviour.”

St Peter Damian (1007-1072)
Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church

O My God, I Thank Thee
An Act of Abandonment
to the Divine Will
By St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritas

O my God, I thank Thee
and I praise Thee
for accomplishing Thy Holy and all-lovable Will
without any regard for mine.
With my whole heart,
in spite of my heart,
do I receive this cross I feared so much!
It is the cross of Thy choice,
the cross of Thy Love.
I venerate it;
nor for anything in the world
would I wish it had not come,
since Thou hast willed it.
I keep it with gratitude and with joy,
as I do everything which comes from Thy Hand
and I shall strive to carry it
without letting it drag,
with all the respect
and all the affection
which Thy works deserve.
Amen

“My soul, live henceforward
amid the scourges and the thorns
of thy Saviour and there,
as a nightingale in its bush, sing sweetly:
Live Jesus, Who didst die
that my soul might live!
Ah, Eternal Father!
What can the world return Thee
for the gift Thou hast made it of Thy only Son?
Alas! to redeem a thing so vile as I,
the Saviour delivered Himself to death
and, unhappy me!
I hesitate to surrender my nothingness to Him,
Who has given me everything!”“

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritas

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, GOD is LOVE, In the PRESENCE of GOD, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on SIN, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 26 March – ‘Forgiven … Because she has loved much …’ Luke 7:47

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Quote/s of the Day – 26 March – Thursday in Passion Week –Ferial Day – Daniel 3:25, 34-45 – Luke 7:36-50 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“She began to bathe His feet with her tears
and wiped them with the hair of her head
and kissed His feet
and anointed them with ointment.”

Luke 7:38

“Wherefore I say to you,
her sins, many as they are,
shall be forgiven her
because she has loved much.
But he, to whom little is forgiven,
loves little.”

Luke 7:47

“A servant of the Lord
stands bodily before men
but mentally,
he is knocking at the Gates of Heaven.
with prayer.”

St John Climacus (c 525-606)
Father of the Church

“For, just as water extinguishes a fire,
just so, does charity blot out our sins.”

St John of God (1495-1550)

“ I shall spend every moment loving.
One who loves, does not notice her trials;
or perhaps, more accurately,
she is able to love them.
I shall do everything for Heaven, my true home.
There, I shall find my Mother,
in all the splendour of her glory.
I shall delight with her
in the joy of Jesus Himself,
in perfect safety.”

St Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879)

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, franciscan OFM, GOD ALONE!, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 26 March – O Holy Lord!

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Our Morning Offering – 26 March – Thursday of Passion Week

O Holy Lord!
By St Bonaventure (1217-1274)
Seraphic Doctor of the Church

O Holy Lord,
Father Almighty, Everlasting God,
for the sake of Thy bounty
and that of Thy Son,
Who for me,
endured Suffering and Death;
for the sake of the most excellent
holiness of His Mother
and the merits of all His Saints,
grant unto me, a sinner,
unworthy of Thy blessings,
that I may love Thee only,
may ever thirst for Thy Love,
may have continually, in my heart,
the benefits of the Passion of Thy Beloved Son,
may acknowledge my own wretchedness
and, may desire to be trampled upon
and to be despised by all men.
Let nothing grieve me,
save my guilt!
Amen

Posted in QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on THE WORLD, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The PASSION, Thomas Aquinas

Passion Wednesday – 25 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – On Being Buried Spiritually

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Passion Wednesday – 25 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

Passion Wednesday
On Being Buried Spiritually

“You are dead with Christ, to the things which are vain and fleeting and your life is hidden with Christ in God”
Col iii. 3

Col iii. 3

The Sepulchre is a figure by which is signified the contemplation of heavenly things.
So, St Gregory, commenting on the words of Job (iii. 22), They rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave, says, “As in the grave the body is hidden away when dead, so in Divine contemplation, there lies concealed the soul, dead to the world. There, at rest from the world’s clamour, it lies, in a three days burial through, as it were, its triple immersion in Baptism. Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy Face from the disturbance of men (Ps xxx. 21). Those in great trouble, tormented by the hates of men, enter the Presence of God in spirit and then, are at rest.”

Three elements are required for this spiritual burial in God, namely, that the mind be perfected by the virtues, that the mind be all bright and shining with purity and that it be wholly dead to this world.
All these are shown figuratively in the Burial of Christ.

The first is shown in St Mark’s Gospel where we read how Mary Magdalene anointed Our Lord for His Burial by anticipation, as it were. “She hath done what she could, she is come beforehand to anoint My Body for the Burial” (Mark xiv. 8).
The ointment of precious spikenard (ibid iii) stands for the virtues, for it is a thing very precious and, in this life, nothing is more precious than the virtues.
The soul who wishes to be holy and to be buried in Divine contemplation, must first then. anoint itself by the exercise of the virtues.
Job (v. 26) says, “Thou shalt enter into the grave in abundance and the Gloss explains the grave as meaning here, ‘divine contemplation’ as a heap of wheat is brought in its season and the explanation given in the Gloss is that eternal contemplation is the prize of a life of action and, therefore, it must be that the perfect, first of all, exercise their souls in the virtues and then, afterwards, bury them in the barn where all quiet is gathered.

The second of the three elements required, is also noted in St Mark, where we read (xv. 46) that Joseph bought a winding sheet that is, a sheet of fine linen which is only brought to its dazzling whiteness with great labour.
Hence, it signifies that brightness of the soul, which also is not perfectly attained except with great labour. “He who is just, let him be justified still”(Apoc xxii. 11).
“Let us walk in newness of life” (Rom vi. 4), going from good to better, through the justice inaugurated by faith to the glory for which we hope.
Therefore, it is that men, bright with a spotless interior life, should be buried in the sepulchre of Divine contemplation. St Jerome, commenting on the words, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God” (Matt v. 8), says, “The clean Lord, is seen by the clean of heart.”

The third point for consideration is given by St John where, in his Gospel (xix. 30), he writes, “Nicodemus came too, bringig a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight.”This hundred pounds weight of myrrh and aloes, brought to preserve the Dead Body, symbolises that perfect mortification of the external senses, the means by which the spirit, dead to the world, is preserved from the vices which would corrupt it.
Although our outward man is corrupted, yet the inward man is renewed day by day (2 Cor. iv. 16), which is as much as to say, the inward man is most thoroughly purified from vices by the fire of tribulation.

Therefore, man’s soul with Christ, must firstly die to this world and then, be buried with Him in the hiding place of Divine contemplation.
St Paul says, “You are dead with Christ, to the things which are vain and fleeting and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col iii. 3).

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