QUOTES of the SAINTS – Page 30

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Quote/s of the Day – 7 December – Our ‘Daily Bread’

Posted on December 7, 2019December 7, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 7 December – The Memorial of St Ambrose (c 340-397) Father and Doctor of the Church and St Maria Giuseppa Rosello FdM (1811-1880)

“Let your door stand open
to receive Him,
unlock your soul to Him,
offer Him a welcome in your mind
and then you will see
the riches of simplicity,
the treasures of peace,
the joy of grace.
Throw wide the gate of your heart,
stand before the sun of the everlasting light.”

“If it is “daily bread,”
why do you take it once a year? . . .
Take daily what is to profit you daily.
Live in such a way that you may deserve
to receive it daily.
He who does not deserve to receive it daily,
does not deserve to receive it once a year.”

St Ambrose (c 340-397)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“Go to Jesus.
He loves you
and is waiting for you,
to give you many graces.
He is on the Altar,
surrounded by angels adoring and praying.
Let them make some room for you
and join them in doing what they do.”

St Maria Giuseppa Rosello (1811-1880)

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Advent Reflection – 7 December – ‘He had compassion for them…’

Posted on December 7, 2019December 7, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Advent Reflection – 7 December – Saturday of the First week of Advent, Year A – Readings: Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26, Psalm 147:1-6, Matthew 9:35–10:1, 5-8

Let us adore the Lord, the king who is to come.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. … Matthew 9:36 matthew 9 36 when he saw the crowds he had compassion 7 dec 2019

REFLECTION – “A person is counselled to his face, so to speak, when he is created for righteousness and receives the precepts of rectitude. When he despises these precepts, it is as if he is turning his back to his Creator’s face. But He still follows behind us and counsels us, that we have despised Him but He still does not cease to call us. We turn our backs on His face, so to speak, when we reject His words, when we trample His commandments underfoot but He who sees that we reject Him, still calls out to us by His commandments and waits for us by His patience, stands behind us and calls us back when we have turned away.” … St Gregory the Great (540-604) Father & Doctor of the Church – Forty Gospel Homilies, 34

MEDITATION – “The great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins or our indifference and, therefore, it is quite relentless in it’s determination, that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him.” … Prof C S Lewis (1898-1963)

ADVENT ACTION – Freely you have received, freely give – forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Let us offer our hand to those who hurt us.

PRAYER – Lord, to free man from his sinful state, You sent Your only Son into this world. Grant to us, who in faith and love, wait for His coming, Your gift of grace and the reward of true freedom. Be born in us O Lord! We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen. he still follows behind us and counsels us - st gregory the great - sat of the first week of advent be born in us o lord 7 dec 2019

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Thought for the day – 6 December – Each is the Administrator of Their Own Grace

Posted on December 6, 2019December 6, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the day – 6 December – Friday of the First week of Advent, Year A – Readings: Isaiah 29:17-24, Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14, Matthew 9:27-31 and the Memorial of St Nicholas (270-343)

Each is the Administrator of Their Own Grace

Saint Maximus the Confessor (c 580-662)
Monk and Theologian

Fifth Century on Theology, nos. 34-35, 42, 45

“Each one of us possesses the manifest energy of the Spirit in proportion to the faith within them (cf Rm 12:6). And so, each is the administrator of their own grace. Someone, who is well disposed, could never be envious of anything, in the one who is honoured with graces, provided that the disposition towards receiving God’s graces, rests upon him. What determines that the gifts of God dwell in us, is the measure of each one’s faith. Because it is to the extent that we believe, that the enthusiasm to act is given us. And so those who act, reveal the measure of their faith proportionate to their action, they receive their measure of grace according to what they have believed. (…)

By means of the incomplete elevations of the virtues, we make the charisms that have been shared out to us, converge towards their cause, with the help of God, so that, by letting ourselves drift little by little into negligence, we might make our faith blind and sightless, deprived of the lights that the works of the Spirit gives us and may be justly punished for endless ages, for having blinded the divine eyes of faith in ourselves, insofar as it was in our power. (…)

The person who does not fulfil the divine commands of faith, has a faith that is blind. For if God’s Commands are lights (cf Is 26:9), this means, that whoever does not fulfil the Commands of God, is without divine light. He leaves the divine call without an answer. He does not really respond to him.”

Nicholas was loved for one reason. He loved. He loved God and God’s people so much that he would do anything for them. He was so grateful for the life God had given him that he just couldn’t stop giving joy and hope to others—no matter how far he had to travel or how many roofs he had to climb!

St Nicholas, Pray for Us!

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Quote/s of the Day – 6 December – Faith and Hope

Posted on December 6, 2019December 6, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 6 December – Friday of the First week of Advent, Year A – Readings: Isaiah 29:17-24, Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14, Matthew 9:27-31

“According to your faith be it done to you.”

Matthew 9:30

“Faith lifts the soul.
Hope supports it.
Experience says it must.
And Love says let it be!”

St Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821)

“Pray, hope and don’t worry.”

St Pius of Pietrelcina/Padre Pio (1887-1968)

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Thought for the Day – 4 December – The Statement of Faith by St John Damascene, Priest

Posted on December 4, 2019December 4, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 4 December – The Memorial of St John Damascene (676-749) – Father and Doctor of the Church

From The Statement of Faith by St John Damascene, Priest

You have called me, Lord, to minister to Your people. O Lord, You led me from my father’s loins and formed me in my mother’s womb. You brought me, a naked babe, into the light of day, for nature’s laws always obey Your commands.

By the blessing of the Holy Spirit, You prepared my creation and my existence, not because man willed it or flesh desired it but by Your ineffable grace . The birth You prepared for me, was such, that it surpassed the laws of our nature You sent me forth into the light by adopting me as Your son and You enrolled me among the children of Your holy and spotless Church.

You nursed me with the spiritual milk of Your divine utterances. You kept me alive with the solid food of the body of Jesus Christ, Your only-begotten Son for our redemption. And He, undertook the task willingly and did not shrink from it. Indeed, He applied Himself to it as though destined for sacrifice, like an innocent lamb. Although He was God, He became man and in His human will, became obedient to You, God His Father, unto death, even death on a cross.

In this way You have humbled Yourself, Christ my God, so that You might carry me, Your stray sheep, on Your shoulders. You let me graze in green pastures, refreshing me with the waters of true teaching at the hands of Your shepherds. You pastured these shepherds and now they, in turn, tend Your chosen and special flock. Now, You have called me, Lord, by the hand of Your bishop to minister to Your people. I do not know why You have done so, for You alone know that.

Lord, lighten the heavy burden of the sins through which I have seriously transgressed. Purify my mind and heart. Like a shining lamp, lead me along the straight path. When I open my mouth, tell me what I should say. By the fiery tongue of Your Spirit make my own tongue ready. Stay with me always and keep me in Your sight.

Lead me to pastures, Lord and graze there with me . Do not let my heart lean either to the right or to the left but let Your good Spirit guide me along the straight path. Whatever I do, let it be in accordance with Your will, now until the end.

And you, O Church, are a most excellent assembly, the noble summit of perfect purity, whose assistance comes from God. You in whom God lives, receive from us, an exposition of the faith that is free from error, to strengthen the Church, just as our Fathers handed it down to us.

St John Damascene, Pray for our Priests,

Pray for Us All!
Amen!

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Quote/s of the Day – 4 December – St John Damascene

Posted on December 4, 2019December 4, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 4 December – The Memorial of St John Damascene (676-749) – Father and Doctor of the Church

“Think of the Father as a spring of life begetting the Son,
like a river and the Holy Ghost like a sea,
for the spring and the river and sea are all one nature.
Think of the Father as a root and of the Son as a branch
and the Spirit as a fruit, for the substance in these three is one.
The Father is a sun with the Son as rays and the Holy Ghost as heat.”

“‘How can this come about?’ Mary asked.
‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you,’ the angel answered’
and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow.’
And now you are the one who puts the question:
‘How can bread become Christ and wine His Blood?’
I answer:
‘The power of the Holy Spirit will be at work
to give us a marvel which surpasses understanding.’”

“If the Word of God is living and powerful
and if the Lord does all things whatsoever he wills;
if he said, “Let there be light” and it happened;
if he said, “let there be a firmament” and it happened;
…if finally the Word of God Himself willingly became man
and made flesh for Himself, out of the most pure
and undefiled blood of the holy and ever Virgin,
why should He not be capable of making bread,
His Body and wine and water, His Blood?…
God said
“This is my Body”
and “This is my Blood.”

St John Damascene (676-749)

Father and Doctor of the Church

ADVENT QUOTES, ADVENT REFLECTIONS, JESUIT SJ, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on DISCIPLESHIP, QUOTES on EVANGELISATION, QUOTES on MISSION, SAINT of the DAY

Thought for the Day – 3 December – Woe to Me if I do not Preach the Gospel

Posted on December 3, 2019December 3, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 3 December – Tuesday of the First week of Advent, Year A and The Memorial of St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552)

Woe to Me if I do not Preach the Gospel

Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552)
Priest and Missionary

An excerpt from Letters to Saint Ignatius

“We have visited the villages of the new converts who accepted the Christian religion a few years ago. No Portuguese live here—the country is so utterly barren and poor. The native Christians have no priests. They know only that they are Christians. There is nobody to say Mass for them, nobody to teach them the Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Commandments of God’s Law.

I have not stopped since the day I arrived. I conscientiously made the rounds of the villages. I bathed in the sacred waters all the children who had not yet been baptised. This means that I have purified a very large number of children so young that, as the saying goes, they could not tell their right hand from their left. The older children would not let me say my Office or eat or sleep until I taught them one prayer or another. Then I began to understand – the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.

I could not refuse so devout a request, without failing in devotion myself. I taught them, first the confession of faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, then the Apostles’ Creed, the Our Father and Hail Mary. I noticed among them persons of great intelligence. If only someone could educate them in the Christian way of life, I have no doubt, that they would make excellent Christians.

Many, many people hereabouts, are not becoming Christians for one reason only – there is nobody to make them Christians. Again and again, I have thought of going round the universities of Europe, especially Paris and everywhere crying out like a madman, riveting the attention of those with more learning than charity – “What a tragedy, how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!”

I wish they would work as hard at this as they do at their books and so settle their account with God, for their learning and the talents entrusted to them.

This thought would certainly stir most of them to meditate on spiritual realities, to listen actively to what God is saying to them. They would forget their own desires, their human affairs and give themselves over entirely to God’s will and His choice. They would cry out with all their heart – Lord, I am here! What do you want me to do? Send me anywhere you like—even to India.”

How can we too fail!

It is Advent. All our answers remain fragmentary.
The first thing we have to accept is, ever and again,
the reality of an enduring Advent.
If we do that, we shall begin to realise
that the borderline between “before Christ” and “after Christ”
does not run through historical time, in an outward sense
and cannot be drawn on any map,
it runs through our own hearts.
Insofar, as we are living on a basis of selfishness, of egoism,
then even today, we are “before Christ.”
But in this time of Advent, let us ask the Lord to grant
that we may live less and less “before Christ”
and certainly not “after Christ”
but truly “with Christ and in Christ” –
with Him who is indeed Christ yesterday, today and forever.

Joseph Ratzinger (1964)
aka Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

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Quote/s of the Day – 3 December – St Francis Xavier

Posted on December 3, 2019February 6, 2020 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 3 December – The Memorial of St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552)

“Leave your country, your people
and your father’s household
and go to the land I will show you.”

Genesis 12:1

“I am in a country
where all the niceties of life are lacking.
But I am filled with many inner consolations.
Indeed, I run the risk of crying my eyes out
because of my tears of joy”

“When trying to evangelise,
no tool is more effective,
than that of personal witness.
…People can argue with points of doctrine
but no-one can argue,
with a personal testimony!”

“Prayer is powerful!
It fills the earth with mercy,
it makes the Divine clemency
pass from generation to generation,
right along the course of the centuries.
wonderful works have been achieved.
through prayer.”

St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552)

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, franciscan OFM, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The HOLY GHOST, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Day Two – 2 December

Posted on December 2, 2019December 1, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day Two – 2 December

By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

OPENING PRAYER

How fair you are, 0 Mary!
The original stain is not in you.
You are the boast of Jerusalem,
You are the joy of Israel.
You are the pride of our people.
You are the advocate of sinners.
0 Mary!
You are the wisest of virgins.
You are the kindest of mothers.
Pray for us.
Intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy Virgin, you were spotless
from the very moment of your conception.
Because you bore His Son, pray to the Father for us.
Through the spotless conception of the Virgin, 0 God,
You made ready a dwelling place worthy of Your Son.
In anticipation of Your Son’s death,
You preserved her from every stain.
Please purify us by her intercession,
so that we might find our way to You.
We ask this through Christ our lord.
Amen

Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.

Day 2: The Immaculata as Spouse of the Holy Spirit

Reading:
United to the Holy Spirit as His Spouse, the Immaculata is one with God in an incomparably more perfect way than can be predicated of any other creature. What sort of union is this? It is above all an interior union, a union of her essence with the “essence” of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in her, lives in her. This was true from the first instant of her existence. It was always true, it will always be true.

In what does this life of the Spirit in Mary consist? He himself is uncreated Love in her, the Love of the Father and of the Son, the Love by which God loves Himself, the very love of the most Holy Trinity. He is a fruitful love, a “Conception.” Among creatures made in God’s image the union brought about by married love is the most intimate of all (cf. Mt 19:6). In a much more precise, more interior, more essential manner, the Holy Spirit lives in the soul of the Immaculata, in the depths of her very being. He makes her fruitful, from the very first instant of her existence, all during her life and for all eternity (“Sketches for a book,” 17 February 1941).

Meditation:
To grow in daily awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence within us is a constant challenge that God gives to each and all of us. May the Immaculata’s perfect life in the Holy Spirit, cause a sharpening, of our own attentiveness, to His presence at the core of our inner selves.

Closing prayers:

Novena Prayer to the Immaculata

I greet you, ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God throne of grace,
miracle of almighty power!
I greet you, sanctuary of the most Holy Trinity
and Queen of the universe,
Mother of mercy and refuge of sinners!
Most loving Mother,
attracted by your beauty and sweetness
and by your tender compassion,
I confidently turn to you
and beg of you, to obtain for me of your dear Son
the favour I request in this novena
………………………… (here mention you request).
Obtain for me also, Queen of Heaven,
the most lively contrition for my many sins
and the grace to imitate closely,
those virtues which you practised so faithfully,
especially humility, purity and obedience.
Above all I beg you to be my mother
and protectress,
to receive me into the number of your devoted children
and to guide me from your high throne of glory.
Do not reject my petitions, Mother of mercy!
Have pity on me and do not abandon me
during life or at the moment of my death.

Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Mother of the Eternal Son,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Temple of the adorable Trinity,
pray for me.
Immaculate and tender Heart of Mary,
refuge of the needy and hope of sinners,
filled with the most lively respect, love and gratitude,
I devote myself forever to your service
and I offer you my heart,
with all that I am and all that belongs to me.
Accept this offering,
sweet Queen of Heaven and earth
and obtain for me of your dear Son, Jesus Christ,
the favours I ask, through your intercession in this novena.
Obtain for me also a tender, generous, constant love of God,
perfect submission to His adorable will,
the true spirit of a Christian
and the grace of final perseverance.
Amen

Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata

O Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother,
live in me, act in me, speak in and through me.
Think your thoughts in my mind,
love through my heart.
Give me your own dispositions and feelings.
Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus.
Correct, enlighten and expand my entire personality and life.
Replace me with yourself.
Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving,
pray in and through me.
Let me live in you
and keep me in this union always.
Amen

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Thought for the Day – 13 December – The Season of Advent by St Charles Borromeo

Posted on December 2, 2019December 2, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 13 December – Monday of the First week of Advent, Year A

The Season of Advent

Saint Charles Borromeo (1538-1584)
Bishop of Milan

An excerpt from A Pastoral Letter

Beloved, now is the acceptable time spoken of by the Spirit, the day of salvation, peace and reconciliation – the great season of Advent. This is the time eagerly awaited by the patriarchs and prophets, the time that holy Simeon rejoiced at last to see. This is the season that the Church has always celebrated with special solemnity. We too should always observe it with faith and love, offering praise and thanksgiving to the Father, for the mercy and love He has shown us in this mystery. In His infinite love for us, though we were sinners, He sent His only Son, to free us from the tyranny of Satan, to summon us to heaven, to welcome us into its innermost recesses, to show us truth itself, to train us in right conduct, to plant within us the seeds of virtue, to enrich us with the treasures of His grace and to make us children of God and heirs of eternal life.

Each year, as the Church recalls this mystery, she urges us to renew the memory of the great love God has shown us. This holy season teaches us, that Christ’s Coming was not only for the benefit of His contemporaries, His power has still to be communicated to us all. We shall share His power, if, through holy faith and the sacraments, we willingly accept the grace Christ earned for us and live by that grace and in obedience to Christ.

The Church asks us to understand that Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come again. When we remove all obstacles to His presence He will come, at any hour and moment, to dwell spiritually in our hearts, bringing with Him the riches of His grace.

In her concern for our salvation, our loving mother the Church uses this holy season to teach us through hymns, canticles and other forms of expression, of voice or ritual, used by the Holy Spirit. She shows us how grateful we should be for so great a blessing and, how to gain its benefit, our hearts should be as much prepared for the Coming of Christ as if He were still to come into this world. The same lesson, is given us for our imitation, by the words and example, of the holy men of the Old Testament.

Almighty and merciful God,
let neither, our daily work, nor the cares of this life,
prevent us from hastening to meet Your Son.
Enlighten us with Your wisdom
and lead us into His Company.
We make our prayer,
through Christ, our Lord,
with the Holy Spirit,
God forever, amen.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!

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Quote of the Day – 2 December – ‘He it is who comes …’

Posted on December 2, 2019December 2, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 2 December – Monday of the First week of Advent, Year A

“The very Son of God,
older than the ages,
the invisible,
the incomprehensible,
the incorporeal,
the beginning of beginning,
the light of light,
the fountain of life and immortality,
the image of the archetype,
the immovable seal,
the perfect likeness,
the definition and word of the Father:
He it is who comes to His own image
and takes our nature for the good of our nature
and unites Himself to an intelligent soul
for the good of my soul,
to purify like by like.”

St Gregory of Nazianzen (330-390)

Father and Doctor of the Church

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, The MOST HOLY & BLESSED TRINITY

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Day One – 1 December

Posted on December 1, 2019November 30, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Novena in Preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Day One – 1 December

By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

OPENING PRAYER

Daily Readings and Meditations for each day of the Novena are given here, followed by two closing Novena Prayers for each day.

Day 1: The Immaculata’s Relationship to the Trinity

Reading:
From all eternity the Father begets the Son and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son. This life of the most Holy Trinity is re-echoed in numberless and various ways, by the creatures that issue from God’s hands. . . . Every act of love in God comes forth from the Father through the Son and the Holy Spirit.
God creates, maintains in existence, gives life and growth in the natural as well as in the supernatural order. In His love, God supports in existence all His innumerable limited created resemblances and the love-reaction that is provoked in the creature, can return to the Father only through the Holy Spirit and the Son.. .
Among creatures, the summit of this love that goes back to God is the Immaculata, the one being totally without any stain of sin, all beautiful, all divine. At no time did her will ever deviate from God’s will. With all its strength, her will was always at one with His. In her there came about the marvellous union of God with creation.
(Kolbe’s “Sketches for a Book,” 1940).

Meditation:
Cultivating a personal relationship with each member of the Holy Trinity is an obligation for every individual. May the Immaculata’s love-response to each of the Three Divine Persons, serve as a model and stimulus for each of us.

Closing prayers:

Novena Prayer to the Immaculata

I greet you, ever-blessed Virgin,
Mother of God throne of grace,
miracle of almighty power!
I greet you, sanctuary of the most Holy Trinity
and Queen of the universe,
Mother of mercy and refuge of sinners!
Most loving Mother,
attracted by your beauty and sweetness
and by your tender compassion,
I confidently turn to you
and beg of you, to obtain for me of your dear Son
the favour I request in this novena
………………………… (here mention you request).
Obtain for me also, Queen of Heaven,
the most lively contrition for my many sins
and the grace to imitate closely,
those virtues which you practiced so faithfully,
especially humility, purity and obedience.
Above all I beg you to be my mother
and protectress,
to receive me into the number of your devoted children
and to guide me from your high throne of glory.
Do not reject my petitions, Mother of mercy!
Have pity on me and do not abandon me
during life or at the moment of my death.

Daughter of the Eternal Father,
Mother of the Eternal Son,
Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Temple of the adorable Trinity,
pray for me.
Immaculate and tender Heart of Mary,
refuge of the needy and hope of sinners,
filled with the most lively respect, love and gratitude,
I devote myself forever to your service
and I offer you my heart,
with all that I am and all that belongs to me.
Accept this offering,
sweet Queen of Heaven and earth
and obtain for me of your dear Son, Jesus Christ,
the favours I ask through your intercession in this novena.
Obtain for me also a tender, generous, constant love of God,
perfect submission to His adorable will,
the true spirit of a Christian
and the grace of final perseverance.
Amen

Closing Prayer of Identification with the Immaculata

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Thought for the Day – 1 December – On the Twofold Coming of Christ – St Cyril of Jerusalem

Posted on December 1, 2019December 1, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 1 December – The First Sunday of Advent, Year A

On the Twofold Coming of Christ

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (315-387)
Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from Catechetical Instruction, Catechesis 15

We do not preach only one coming of Christ but a second as well, much more glorious than the first. The first coming was marked by patience, the second will bring the crown of a divine kingdom.

In general, whatever relates to our Lord Jesus Christ has two aspects. There is a birth from God before the ages and a birth from a virgin at the fullness of time. There is a hidden coming, like that of rain on fleece and a coming before all eyes, still in the future.

At the first coming He was wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. At His second coming He will be clothed in light as in a garment. In the first coming He endured the cross, despising the shame; in the second coming He will be in glory, escorted by an army of angels. We look then beyond the first coming and await the second. At the first coming we said – Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. At the second we shall say it again, we shall go out with the angels to meet the Lord and cry out in adoration – Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
The Savior will not come to be judged again, but to judge those by whom he was judged. At His own judgement He was silent, then He will address those who committed the outrages against Him when they crucified Him and will remind them – You did these things and I was silent.

His first coming was to fulfil His plan of love, to teach men by gentle persuasion. This time, whether men like it or not, they will be subjects of His kingdom by necessity. Malachi the prophet speaks of the two comings. And the Lord whom you seek will come suddenly to His temple – that is one coming.

Again he says of another coming – Look, the Lord almighty will come and who will endure the day of His entry, or who will stand in His sight? Because he comes like a refiner’s fire, a fuller’s herb and He will sit refining and cleansing.

These two comings are also referred to by Paul in writing to Titus – The grace of God the Saviour has appeared to all men, instructing us to put aside impiety and worldly desires and live temperately, uprightly and religiously in this present age, waiting for the joyful hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Notice how he speaks of a first coming for which he gives thanks and a second, the one we still await.

That is why the faith we profess has been handed on to you in these words: He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father and He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end.

Our Lord Jesus Christ will therefore come from heaven. He will come at the end of the world, in glory, at the last day. For there will be an end to this world and the created world will be made new.

Grant, almighty Father,
that when Christ comes again,
we may go out to meet Him,
bearing the harvest of good works,
achieved by Your Grace.
We pray, that He will receive us
into the company of the saints
and call us into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Through Christ, our Lord,
with the Holy Spirit,
God for all eternity,
Amen first sun advent - grant almighty father that when your son comes again 1 dec 2019 be prepared.jpg

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Quote/s of the Day – 1 December – St Edmund Campion and Bl Charles of Jesus

Posted on December 1, 2019November 30, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 1 December – The Memorial of St Edmund Campion (1540-1581) and Bl Charles of Jesus de Foucauld (1858-1916) Both Martyrs

“To be a Catholic is my greatest glory.”

St Edmund Campion SJ (1540-1581)

“In order to save us,
God came to us
and lived among us,
from the Annunciation
to the Ascension,
in a close and familiar way.
God continues to come to us
and to live with us
in a close and familiar way,
each day and at every hour,
in the holy Eucharist.
So we too must go
and live among
our brothers and sisters
in a close and familiar way.”

“Whether our life
be that of Nazareth,
the Public Life
or the Desert…
it should cry the Gospel..”

“To pray,
is to think about Jesus
and love Him.
The more we love,
the better we pray.”

“God who is infinite, all powerful,
has become man,
the least of men.
My way is always to seek the lowest place,
to be as little as my Master,
to walk with Him,
step-by-step as a faithful disciple.
My way, is to live with my God
who lived this way all His life
and, who has given me,
such an example,
from His very birth.

Blessed Charles of Jesus de Foucauld (1858-1916)

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Sunday Reflection – 1 December – ‘You were not nearer to the Blessed Virgin … than You are to me…’

Posted on December 1, 2019December 1, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Sunday Reflection – 1 December – The First Sunday of Advent, Year A and the Memorial of Bl Charles of Jesus de Foucauld (1858-1916) Martyr

Lord Jesus, You are in the Holy Eucharist. You are there a yard away in the Tabernacle. Your body, Your soul, Your human nature, Your divinity, Your whole being is there, in its twofold nature. How close You are, my God, my Saviour, my Spouse, My Beloved!

You were not nearer to the Blessed Virgin during the nine months that she carried You, than You are to me, when You rest on my tongue in Holy Communion. You were no closer to the Blessed Virgin and St Joseph in the caves at Bethlehem, or in the flight into Egypt, or at any moment of that divine family life, than you are to me at this moment – and so many others – in the Tabernacle.

Mary… was no closer to you when she sat at your feet at Bethany, than I am here, at the foot of this altar. You were no nearer to Your apostles when you were sitting in the midst of them than You are to me now, my God. How blessed I am!

(Bl Charles was martyred 103 years ago today, 1 December 1916)

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Advent Reflection – 1 December – The First Sunday of Advent

Posted on December 1, 2019November 30, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Advent Reflection – 1 December – The First Sunday of Advent, Year A –
Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122:1-9, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:37-44

“So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

Matthew 24:44

St Bernard (1091-1153)
Doctor of the Church
Sermons 4 and 5 for Advent

“It is only right, my brothers, to celebrate our Lord’s coming with all possible devotion, so greatly does His comfort gladden us… and His love burn within us. But do not just think about His first coming when He came “to seek and save the lost” (Lk 19:10), think, too, of that other coming when He will come to take us with Him. I should like to see you constantly occupied in meditating on these two comings… “resting among the sheepfolds” (Ps 68[67]:14), for they are the two arms of the Bridegroom in which the Bride of the Song of Songs took her rest: “His left arm is under my head and his right arm embraces me” (2:6)…

But there is a third coming between the two to which I have just referred and those who know of it, can rest in it for their greater happiness. The other two are visible but this one is not. In the first, “ the Lord has appeared on earth and has spoken to us” (Bar 3:38)… in the last, “all mankind shall see the salvation of God” (Lk 3:6; Is 40:5)… But the one that comes between them is secret, it is that in which the elect alone see the SavioUr within themselves and their souls find salvation.

In His first coming, Christ came in our flesh and in our weakness; in His coming in the midst of time, He comes in Spirit and power; in His final coming, He will come in His glory and majesty. But it is by the strength of the virtues, that we attain to glory, as it is written: “The Lord, the king of armies, he is the king of glory” (Ps 24[23]:10) and, in the same book: “That I may see your power and your glory” (Ps 63[62]:3). And so the second coming is like a road leading from the first to the last. In the first, Christ has been our redemption, in the last, He will appear as our life, in His coming between, He is our rest and our consolation.”

Prayer for the Advent Wreath

Lord, our God,
we praise You for Your Son, Jesus Christ,
for He is Emmanuel, the Hope of all people.
He is the Wisdom that teaches and guides us.
He is the Saviour of us all.
O Lord,
let Your blessing come upon us
as we light the first (purple) candle of this wreath.
May the wreath and its light
be a sign of Christ’s promise of salvation.
May He come quickly and not delay.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Amen.

Waiting

We light a advent candle today, a small dim light against a world that often seems forbidding and dark. But we light it because we are a people of hope, a people whose faith is marked by an expectation that we should always be ready for the coming of the Master. The joy and anticipation of this season is captured beautifully in the antiphons of hope from the monastic liturgies:

See! The ruler of the earth shall come,
the Lord who will take from us the heavy burden of our exile
The Lord will come soon, will not delay.
The Lord will make the darkest places bright.

We must capture that urgency today in the small flame of our candle. We light the candle because we know that the coming of Christ is tied to our building of the kingdom. Lighting the flame, feeding the hungry, comforting the sick, reconciling the divided, praying for the repentant, greeting the lonely and forgotten – doing all these works hastens His coming.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

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Thought for the Day – 30 November – We Must Stoop beneath the Veil

Posted on November 30, 2019November 30, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 30 November – The Feast of St Andrew, Apostle of Christ, Martyr for Christ

We Must Stoop beneath the Veil

St John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

“St Andrew was the first convert among the Apostle; he was especially in our Lord’s confidence; thrice is he described as introducing others to Him; [but] he is little known in history; while the place of dignity and the name of highest renown, have been allotted to his brother Simon, whom he was the means of bringing to the knowledge of his Saviour ….

These men, are not necessarily, the most useful men in their generation, not the most favoured by God, who made the most noise in the world and who seem to be principals in the great changes and events recorded in history ….

His marvellous Providence works beneath a veil, which speaks but an untrue language. And, to see Him who is the Truth and the Life, we must stoop underneath it and so, in our turn, hide ourselves from the world.”

St Andrew, Apostle of Christ, Pray for Us!

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Quote of the Day – 30 November – Hail, O Cross, yes, hail indeed!

Posted on November 30, 2019November 30, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 30 November – The Feast of St Andrew, Apostle of Christ, Martyr on the Cross for Christ

This is what the Apostle is claimed to have said on that occasion, according to an ancient story (which dates back to the beginning of the sixth century), entitled The Passion of Andrew:

“Hail, O Cross, inaugurated by the Body of Christ and adorned with His limbs as though they were precious pearls. Before the Lord mounted you, you inspired an earthly fear. Now, instead, endowed with heavenly love, you are accepted as a gift.

Believers know of the great joy that you possess and of the multitude of gifts you have prepared. I come to you, therefore, confident and joyful, so that you too may receive me, exultant as a disciple of the One who was hung upon you…. O blessed Cross, clothed in the majesty and beauty of the Lord’s limbs!…

Take me, carry me far from men and restore me to my Teacher, so that, through you, the One who redeemed me by you, may receive me.

Hail, O Cross, yes, hail indeed!”

o blessed cross - st andrew - 30 nov 2019.jpg

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Thought for the Day – 29 November – “You are in me and I in you.”

Posted on November 29, 2019November 29, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 29 November – The Memorial of Blessed Bernardo Francisco de Hoyos SJ (1711-1735) – First apostle of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Spain.

“On that day you will realise that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.”

John 14:20

Today’s young Saint and Mystic, Blessed Bernardo’s devotion led him to the most exquisite union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus … the spiritual marriage. Yes. It is no less strange however, that the Word, left His Father, to become one with man, to become Bread from Heaven.

I read someplace that Bl Bernardo’s intercession is especially helpful to those who struggle with the vice of impurity. I think Bernardo’s devotion to the Sacred Heart – the complete surrender of all his affections – is an antidote to all impurity. The grace of espousal seems to me, to be similar to the consummate love of Jesus in the Eucharist for us, whereby He gives us His body, blood, soul and divinity at every Communion. Isn’t it like that? Isn’t that total union what we are called to? At every Communion – even when I feel nothing, see nothing, hear nothing – it seems especially then, that faith supplies.

I never had experiences such as those Bl Bernardo participated in – I’m just grateful to be able to be recollected after each Communion and sometimes, to receive immense consolation too. Knowing He is there and I am with Him. I like the way Bl Bernardo put it: “I see that everything in my heart is moving towards God, drawn like iron to a magnet. It desires only God, searches only for God and longs only for God….” For Bernardo, that was his constant state – and he remained faithful to the graces he received. For me, perhaps this desire is only imperfectly experienced in the thanksgiving after Communion. Which is why I never want to waste those moments of recollection.

“Always holding my right hand, the Lord had me occupy the empty throne, then He fitted on my finger a gold ring…. “May this ring be an earnest of our love. You are Mine and I am yours. You may call yourself and sign Bernardo de Jesus, thus, as I said to my spouse, Santa Teresa, you are Bernardo de Jesus and I am Jesus de Bernardo. My honour is yours, your honor is Mine. Consider My glory that of your Spouse, I will consider yours, that of My spouse. All Mine is yours and all yours is Mine. What I am by nature you share by grace. You and I are one!” – The Visions of Bernard Francis De Hoyos, S.J. by Henri Bechard, S.J.

In the ascetic-mystical life of the saints, God Himself purifies the soul of disordered passions in and through purifying trials and temptations. Thus proving true Christ’s words, ‘what is impossible for man is possible for God.’ Blessed Bernardo was no exception.

As Catholics, we are not at all surprised by the ‘mystical marriage of today’s young Saint with Jesus’. However, it seems the rest are prone to think this an unusual and strange occurrence and regard it as an aberration, so please if you search Blessed Bernardo you might be horrified at some nasty statements – don’t be – you know the better part!

For “I am in You and You are in Me”

Blessed Bernardo, Pray for Us!

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Quote/s of the Day – 29 November – Lord Jesus, May we seek Your Face

Posted on November 29, 2019November 29, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 29 November – Friday of the Thirty Fourth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 21:29–33

“The issue is now clear.
It is between light and darkness
and every one must choose his side.”

G K Chesterton (1874-1936)

(Chesterton’s last words)

“Each and everyone of us,
at the end of the
journey of life,
will come,
face to face
with either one
or the other
of two faces…
And one of them,
either, the
merciful face of Christ
or the
miserable face of Satan,
will say,
“Mine, mine.”

May we be Christ’s!”

Ven Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)

“Many who plan
to seek God
at the eleventh hour
die at 10:30.”

Bumper Sticker

Lord Jesus, May we Seek Your Face
By Pope Benedict XVI

Lord Jesus,
grant us restless hearts,
hearts which seek Your Face.
Keep us from the blindness of heart
which sees only the surface of things.
Give us the simplicity and purity
which allows us to recognise
Your Presence in the world.
When we are not able
to accomplish great things,
grant us the courage
which is born of humility and goodness.
Impress Your Face on our hearts.
May we encounter You along the way
and show forth Your image to the world.
Amen

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Thought for the Day – 28 November – It’s time to Hope! Advent is nearly upon us.

Posted on November 28, 2019November 28, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 28 November – It’s time to Hope! Advent is nearly upon us

This year, as before, I will post daily Advent Reflections drawn from diverse Saints and Holy people – please join me in prayer and in awakening our souls to hope.

advent reflections - o come o come emmnuel - begins 1 dec - posted 28 nov 2019.jpg

Memory Awakens Hope

By Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
(Pope Benedict XVI)

In one of his Christmas stories Charles Dickens tells of a man who lost his emotional memory, that is, he lost the whole chain of feelings and thoughts he had acquired in the encounter with human suffering. This extinction of the memory of love is presented to him as liberation from the burden of the past but it becomes clear, immediately, that the whole person has been changed, now, when he meets with suffering, no memories of kindness are stirred within him… Since his memory has dried up, the source of kindness within him has also disappeared. He has become cold and spreads coldness around him.

Goethe deals with the same ideas as Dickens, in his account of the first celebration of the feast of Saint Roch in Bingen, after the long interruption caused by the Napoleonic wars. He observes the people as they press, tightly packed, through the church past the image of the saint and he watches their faces – the faces of the children and the adults are shining, mirroring the joy of the festal day. But with the young people, Goethe reports, it was otherwise. They went past unmoved, indifferent, bored. And he gives an illuminating explanation – they were born in evil times, had nothing good to remember and consequently had nothing to hope for. In other words, it is only the person who has memories who can hope. The person who has never experienced goodness and kindness simply does not know what such things are.

Recently a counsellor who spends much of his time talking with people on the verge of despair, was speaking in similar terms about his own work, if his client succeeds in recalling a memory of some good experience, he may once again be able to believe in goodness and thus relearn hope, then there is a way out of despair. Memory and hope are inseparable. To poison the past does not give hope, it destroys its emotional foundations.

Sometimes Charles Dickens’ story strikes me as a vision of contemporary experience. This man who let himself be robbed of the heart’s memory by the delusion of a false liberation — do we not find him with us today, in a generation whose past has been poisoned by a particular program of liberation that has stifled hope? When we read of the pessimism with which our young people look toward the future, we ask ourselves, Why? Is it that, in the midst of material affluence, they have no memory of human goodness that would allow them to hope? By outlawing the emotions, by satirising joy, have we not trampled on the root of hope?

These reflections bring us straight to the significance of the Christian season of Advent. For Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to man. Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God Who became a Child. This is a healing memory, it brings hope. The purpose of the Church’s year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart’s memory so that it can discern the star of hope. All the feasts in the Church’s calendar are events of remembrance and hence events of hope. These events, of such great significance for mankind, which are preserved and opened up by faith’s calendar, are intended to become personal memories of our own life history, through the celebration of holy seasons by means of liturgy and custom. Our personal memories are nourished by mankind’s great memories, in turn, it is only by translating them into personal term,s that these great memories are kept alive. Man’s ability to believe always depends in part on faith having become dear on the path of life, on the humanity of God having manifested itself through the humanity of men. No doubt each of us could tell his own story here as to what the various memories of Christmas, Easter or other festivals mean in his life.

It is the beautiful task of Advent, to awaken in all of us, memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.

“Those who run
toward the Lord,
will never lack space…
One who is climbing
never stops,
he moves from
beginning to beginning,
according to beginnings,
that never end.”

St Gregory of Nyssa (c 335–c 395)
Brother of St Basil the Great

QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on SILENCE, SAINT of the DAY

Quote of the Day – 28 November – ‘Listen to Him’

Posted on November 28, 2019November 28, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 28 November – The Memorial of St Catherine Labouré DC (1806-1876)

“If you listen to Him,
He will speak to you also
because with the good God,
it is necessary to speak
and to listen.”

St Catherine Labouré

CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, FATHERS of the Church, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONSCIENCE, QUOTES on COURAGE, QUOTES on DISCIPLESHIP, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on PERSECUTION, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on PURITY, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

Thought for the Day – 27 November – What is the surest kind of witness?

Posted on November 27, 2019November 27, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 27 November – Wednesday of the Thirty Fourth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 21:12–19

“But not a hair of your head shall perish.” … Luke 21:9

What is the surest kind of witness?

St Ambrose (340-397) Father & Doctor of the Church

“You can be a witness to Christ every day. You were tempted by the spirit of impurity but… you considered that chastity of spirit and body should not be soiled – you are a martyr or, in other words, a witness to Christ… You were tempted by the spirit of pride but, seeing the poor and needy, you were seized by tender compassion and preferred humility to arrogance – you are a witness to Christ. Better still – you have not given your witness in word alone but in deed as well.
What is the surest kind of witness? “Anyone who acknowledges that Jesus Christ came among us in the flesh” (cf. 1Jn 4,2) and who keeps the commands of the Gospel… How many there are each day of these hidden martyrs of Christ who confess the Lord Jesus! The apostle Paul knew that kind of martyrdom and witness of faith rendered to Christ, he who said: “Our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience” (2Cor 1,12). For how many people have made a confession of faith exteriorly but denied it interiorly!… So be faithful and courageous in interior persecutions so that you may also win the victory in exterior persecutions. There are “kings and rulers,” judges of formidable power, in the persecutions within, likewise. You have an example of these in the temptations undergone by our Lord (Mt 4,1ff.)”… (Sermon 20 on Psalm 118) what-is-the-surest-kind-of-witness-st-ambrose-13-july-2019 and 27 nov 2019

“When I feel overwhelmed by misfortune,
the greatest joy that the Lord can give me,
is to go to the altar, to put my forehead against it
(as on the day of my ordination to the priesthood)
and to feel the presence of the only reality.
Not only does calm return
but my body seems to be annihilated,
the only true life begins,
the life of that which is intangible.”

Blessed Leonid Feodorov (1879-1935) Martyr

CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on COURAGE, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on DISCIPLESHIP, QUOTES on MARTYRDOM, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 27 November – “But not a hair of your head shall perish.” … Luke 21:19

Posted on November 27, 2019November 22, 2021 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 27 November – Wednesday of the Thirty Fourth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 21:12–19

“Blessed are you
when men revile you
and persecute you …
on my account”

Matthew 5:11

But to bear with insult,
patiently undergo humiliation,
pray for those who persecute us (Mt 5,39.44) –
that is the Lord’s cup,
that is the Lord’s feast.“

Saint Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church

“Sheltered under the name of
Jesus Christ,
I do not fear these pains ….”

Saint Lawrence (Died 258), Deacon and Martyr

“One doesn’t suffer
when one suffers
for Christ.”

Bl Jerzy Popiełuszko (1947-1984) Priest and Martyr

“So everyone who acknowledges me before men,
I also will acknowledge before my Father,
who is in heaven…”

Matthew 10:32

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One Minute Reflection – 27 November – In Thy Hands

Posted on November 27, 2019November 27, 2019 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 27 November – Wednesday of the Thirty Fourth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 21:12–19 and the Memorial of Saint Virgilius of Salzburg (c 700-784)

“But not a hair of your head shall perish.” … Luke 21:9

REFLECTION – “I cry out to Thee and entreat Thee, first that Thou would keep me from myself and from following any will but Thine.
Next, I beg of Thee, that in Thy infinite compassion Thou would temper Thy will to me, that it may not be severed but imdulgent to me.
Visit me not, O my loving Lord – if it be not wrong so to pray – visit me not those trying visitations which saints alone can bear!
Still, I leave all in Thy hands, my dear Saviour – I bargain for nothing. Only, if Thou shall bring heavier trial on me, give me more grace – flood me with the fulness of Thy strength and consolation, that they may work in me, not death but life and salvation. Amen” … St John Henry Newman (1801-1890), Priest, Founder of the Oratory in England, Theologian, Writer, Poet, Apologist luke 21 9 but not a hair of your head - visit me not loving lord - st john henry newman 27 nov 2019

PRAYER – Shed Your clear light on our hearts O Lord, so that walking continually in the way of Your commandments, we may never be afraid, never be deceived or misled but by Your strength, stand firm in our faith. For Your Son, walks before us, beside us and behind us. The Holy Spirit of Your love fills us. Let nothing put us to shame. Grant that by the prayers of St Virgilius of Salzburg and all Your saints, we may be strengthened for the journey. Through our Lord Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, God eternally and forever, amen. st virgilius of salzburg pray for us 27 nov 2019

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SOLDIERS/ARMOUR of CHRIST, The WORD

Thought for the Day – 26 November – Put on the armour of light

Posted on November 26, 2019November 26, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 26 November – Tuesday of the Thirty Fourth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 21:5–11

“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified” … Luke 21:9

Saint John Chrysostom (c 345-407)
Father & Doctor

The nearer the king approaches, the more we should pray. The nearer the moment arrives for bestowing the trophy on the combatant, the harder we should struggle. This is what they do at the race – as the end of the course nears and they are reaching the goal, they stir up the horses’ enthusiasm even more. In the same way Saint Paul says: “Now is salvation nearer to us than when first we believed. The night is far gone, the day is at hand” (Rm 13:11-12).

Since night is disappearing and day is coming to view, let us carry out the works of day and leave behind the works of darkness. This is what we do in the course of life – when we see night giving way to dawn and hear the swallows singing, then we rouse one another even though it is still dark… We hurry to our daily tasks; we get dressed after being snatched from sleep so that the sun will find us ready. What we do then, let us do now. Let us shake off our dreams, rouse ourselves from thoughts of this present life, leave our heavy slumber and put on the garment of virtue. This is what the apostle clearly says to us: “Cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light” (v.12). For day is calling us to the battle, to the fight.

But don’t be afraid when you hear these words about fighting and combat! For if it is uncomfortable to put on heavy material armour, it is pleasant, on the other hand, to put on spiritual armour, for this is an armour of light. In this way you will shine more brightly than the sun and, even as you sparkle brightly, you will be safe because these are weapons… weapons of light. So then? Are we excused from fighting? Not at all! We are to fight but without being overcome by fatigue and without pain. For it is not so much a war to which we are being summoned, as a feast and celebration.

O Yes, Lord Jesus,
come and reign!
Let my body
be Your temple,
my heart,
Your throne,
my will,
Your devoted servant,
let me be Yours forever,
living only in You
and for You!
Amen

CATHOLIC Quotes, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on DISCIPLESHIP, QUOTES on HERESY, SPEAKING of ....., The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 26 November – Speaking of: False Prophets – The Culture of our Times

Posted on November 26, 2019November 26, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 26 November – Tuesday of the Thirty Fourth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 21:5–11

“Speaking of: False Prophets – The Culture of our Times”

“Take heed that you are not led astray,
for many will come in my name,
saying, ‘I am he!’“

Luke 21:8

“If you believe what you like in the Gospels
and reject what you don’t like,
it is not the Gospel you believe
but yourself.”

Saint Augustine (354-430)

“If you only follow the teachings of the Church
that you like and reject what you don’t like,
then it is not Christ and the Catholic faith
that you claim to believe in but yourself.
The creed that we profess
does not begin by saying,
“I believe in me…”

“A dead thing goes with the stream
but only a living thing can go against it.”

G K Chesterton (1874-1936)

“Really great moral teachers
never do introduce new moralities,
it is quacks and cranks who do that.”

C S Lewis (1898-1963)

Mere Christianity really great moral teachers - c s lewis crancks and quacks 26 nov 2019.jpg

“We are no longer able to hear God.
There are too many frequencies filling our ears.”

Pope Benedict VXI

“No age has been more prone
to confuse the sin with the sinner,
not by hating the sinner along with the sin
but by loving the sin along with the sinner.
We often use “compassion”
as an equivalent for moral relativism.”

Peter Kreeft

“We have laws against polluting our rivers
but not against polluting our minds!”

Bishop Robert Barron

“I ask you, instead, to be revolutionaries,
to swim against the tide,
yes, I am asking you
to rebel against this culture.”

Pope Francis

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, HYMNS, Lady POVERTY, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on MERCY, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, The BEATITUDES, The WORD

Thought for the Day – 25 November – Give us a pure and lowly heart, a temple fit for Thee…

Posted on November 25, 2019November 25, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 25 November – Monday of the Thirty Fourth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 21:1-4

Blessed Frédéric Ozanam (1813–1853)
“Servant to the Poor”
and Founder of the St Vincent de Paul Society

“Society today seems to me to be not unlike the wayfarer described in the parable of the Good Samaritan. For while journeying along the road, mapped out for it by Christ, it has been set upon by thieves of evil human thought. Bad men have despoiled the wayfarer of all his goods, of the treasures of faith and love… . The priests and the Levites have passed him by. But this time, being real priests and true Levites, they have approached the suffering, wretched creature and attempted to cure him. But in his delirium he has not recognised them and has driven them away. Then we, weak Samaritans, outsiders as we are, have dared to approach this great sick patient. Perhaps he will be less affrighted by us? Let us try to measure the extent of his wounds, in order to pour oil into them. Let us make words of peace and consolation ringing in his ears. Then, when his eyes are opened, we will hand him over to the tender care of those, whom God has chosen, to be the guardians and doctors of souls.” society today seems to me - bl frederic ozanam - 25 nov 2019 speaking of mercy luke 21 1-4 the widow's mite.jpg

Blest are the pure in heart,
for they shall see our God,
the secret of the Lord is theirs,
their soul is Christ’s abode.

The Lord, who left the heavens,
our life and peace to bring,
to dwell in lowliness with men,
their pattern and their King.

Still to the lowly soul,
He does Himself impart
and for His dwelling and His throne,
chooses the pure in heart.

Lord, we Thy presence seek,
May ours this blessing be:
give us a pure and lowly heart,
a temple fit for Thee.

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ALMS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on DISCIPLESHIP, QUOTES on HUMAN DIGNITY, QUOTES on JUSTICE, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on MERCY, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on VOCATIONS, SPEAKING of .....

Quote/s of the Day – 25 November – Speaking of: Mercy

Posted on November 25, 2019November 25, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 25 November – Monday of the Thirty Fourth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 21:1-4

Speaking of: Mercy

“What sort of people are we?
When God gives, we want to receive,
when He asks, we refuse to give?
When a poor man is hungry,
Christ is in need, as He said Himself:
“I was hungry and you gave me no food” (v. 42).
Take care not to despise the hardship of the poor,
if you would hope, without fear,
to have your sins forgiven…
What He receives on earth,
He returns in heaven!”

“I put you this question, dearly beloved –
what is it you want,
what is it you are looking for,
when you come to church?
What indeed if not mercy?
Show mercy on earth and you will receive mercy in heaven.
A poor man is begging from you
and you are begging from God,
he asks for a scrap, you ask for eternal life…
And so when you come to church
give whatever alms you can to the poor
in accordance with your means.”

“So hold fast to the sweet and salutary bond of love,
without which,
the rich are poor
and with which the poor are rich.
What do the rich possess if not charity? (…)
And since “God is love,” (1 Jn 4:8) as John the evangelist says,
what can the poor lack,
if they merit to possess God by means of charity? (…)
So love, dearest brethren
and hold fast to charity.
without which no-one
will ever see God.”

Saint Caesarius of Arles (470-543)

“When we attend to the needs of those in want,
we give them what is theirs, not ours.
More than performing works of mercy,
we are paying a debt of justice.”

St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604)
Father & Doctor of the Church
“Father of the Fathers”

“The poor are our masters,
let us love them and serve them,
as we would serve
Jesus Christ Himself. “

Blessed Vincenza Maria Poloni (1802-1855)

“Yours must be a work of love, of kindness,
you must give your time, your talents, yourselves.
The poor person is a unique person of God’s fashioning
with an inalienable right to respect.
You must not be content with tiding the poor over the poverty crisis,
You must study their condition
and the injustices which brought about such poverty,
with the aim of a long term improvement.”

“It is our vocation to set people’s hearts ablaze,
to do what the Son of God did,
who came to light a fire on earth
in order to set it ablaze with His love.”

“I would like to embrace
the whole world
in a network of charity.”

Blessed Frédéric Ozanam (1813–1853)
“Servant to the Poor”
and Founder of the St Vincent de Paul Society

“True friendship with Jesus
is expressed in how one lives,
in the goodness of one’s heart,
in one’s humility, kindness and mercy,
in one’s love for justice and truth,
in one’s sincere commitment
to peace and reconciliation.
This, we might say, is the ‘identity card’
that qualifies us as true ‘friends,’
it is the ‘passport’
that will let us enter eternal life.”

Pope Benedict XVI
Angelus, 26 August 2007

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ALMS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on MERCY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 25 November – ‘No mercy is worthless before God.’

Posted on November 25, 2019November 25, 2019 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 25 November – Monday of the Thirty Fourth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 21:1-4

“… for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.” … Luke 21:4

REFLECTION – “Although the spite of some people does not grow gentle with any kindness, nevertheless the works of mercy are not fruitless and kindness never loses what is offered to the ungrateful. May no-one, dearly beloved, make themselves strangers to good works. Let no-one claim, that his poverty scarcely sufficed for himself and could not help another. What is offered from a little is great and in the scale of divine justice, the quantity of gifts is not measured but the steadfastness of souls. The “widow” in the Gospel put two coins into the “treasury” and this surpassed the gifts of all the rich. No mercy is worthless before God. No compassion is fruitless. He has given different resources to human beings but He does not ask different affections.” … St Pope Leo the Great (400-461) Father & Doctor of the Church (Sermon 20) luke 21 4 but she has offered her whole wealth-let no-one claim st leo the great 25 nov 2019.jpg

PRAYER – God our Father, You give us a share in the one bread and the one cup and make us one in Christ. Help us to live as Your children and by our lives to bring Your salvation and joy to all the world. May the Holy Spirit fill us with all His gifts and virtues so that we may await the coming of Your Son, guided by His Light and may Mary, the blessed Virgin, accompany us, guarding and giving us her prayerful help. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen. mother-mary-trusted-guide-pray-for-us-1-nov-2018and 2019.jpg

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St Ambrose (c 340-397) Father and Doctor of the Church

St Maria Giuseppa Rosello (1811-1880)

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Each is the Administrator of Their Own Grace

Saint Maximus the Confessor (c 580-662) Monk and Theologian

St Nicholas, Pray for Us!

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Matthew 9:30

St Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821)

St Pius of Pietrelcina/Padre Pio (1887-1968)

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From The Statement of Faith by St John Damascene, Priest

St John Damascene, Pray for our Priests,

Pray for Us All! Amen!

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St John Damascene (676-749)

Father and Doctor of the Church

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Woe to Me if I do not Preach the Gospel

Joseph Ratzinger (1964) aka Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

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Genesis 12:1

St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552)

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By St Maximillian Kolbe OFM (1894-1941) Martyr

Day 2: The Immaculata as Spouse of the Holy Spirit

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The Season of Advent

Saint Charles Borromeo (1538-1584) Bishop of Milan

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!

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St Gregory of Nazianzen (330-390)

Father and Doctor of the Church

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On the Twofold Coming of Christ

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (315-387) Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church

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St Edmund Campion SJ (1540-1581)

Blessed Charles of Jesus de Foucauld (1858-1916)

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(Bl Charles was martyred 103 years ago today, 1 December 1916)

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O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

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We Must Stoop beneath the Veil

St John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

St Andrew, Apostle of Christ, Pray for Us!

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“On that day you will realise that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.”

John 14:20

Blessed Bernardo, Pray for Us!

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G K Chesterton (1874-1936)

(Chesterton’s last words)

Ven Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)

Bumper Sticker

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Memory Awakens Hope

By Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

St Gregory of Nyssa (c 335–c 395) Brother of St Basil the Great

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St Catherine Labouré

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What is the surest kind of witness?

St Ambrose (340-397) Father & Doctor of the Church

Blessed Leonid Feodorov (1879-1935) Martyr

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Matthew 5:11

Saint Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church

Saint Lawrence (Died 258), Deacon and Martyr

Bl Jerzy Popiełuszko (1947-1984) Priest and Martyr

Matthew 10:32

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“Speaking of: False Prophets – The Culture of our Times”

Luke 21:8

St Ambrose (c 340-397)
Father and Doctor of the Church

Saint Maximus the Confessor (c 580-662)
Monk and Theologian

Pray for Us All!
Amen!

Joseph Ratzinger (1964)
aka Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

Saint Charles Borromeo (1538-1584)
Bishop of Milan

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (315-387)
Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church

“On that day you will realise that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.”

By Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
(Pope Benedict XVI)

St Gregory of Nyssa (c 335–c 395)
Brother of St Basil the Great

Blessed Frédéric Ozanam (1813–1853)
“Servant to the Poor”
and Founder of the St Vincent de Paul Society

St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604)
Father & Doctor of the Church
“Father of the Fathers”

Blessed Frédéric Ozanam (1813–1853)
“Servant to the Poor”
and Founder of the St Vincent de Paul Society

Pope Benedict XVI
Angelus, 26 August 2007