QUOTES on REPENTANCE – Page 16

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Quote/s of the Day – 6 May – Dangerous Affections

Posted on May 6, 2019May 6, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 6 May – Monday of the Third week of Easter, Gospel: John 6:22–29

Speaking of – Dangerous Affections – St Augustine

“Do not love the world
or the things of the world.
If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father, is not in him.”

1 John 2:15

“The honours of this world,
what are they but puff
and emptiness
and peril of falling?”

“What do you possess
if you possess not God?”

“The love of worldly possessions
is a sort of bird line,
which entangles the soul
and prevents it flying to God.”

“This is the business of our life –
by labour and prayer,
to advance in the grace of God,
till we come to that height of perfection
in which, with clean hearts,
we may behold God.”

“Daily advance,
then, in this love,
both by praying
and by well-doing,
that through the help of Him
who enjoined it on you
and whose gift it is,
it may be nourished
and increased,
until, being perfected,
it render you perfect.”

“God does not
command impossibilities
but by commanding,
admonishes you do what you can
and to pray for what you cannot
and aids you,
that you may be able.”

“This very moment,
I may,
if I desire,
become the friend
of God.”

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

DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, POETRY, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on REPENTANCE

Lenten Thoughts – 5 April ‘ But You God”

Posted on April 5, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Thoughts – 5 April – Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent, Year C

And now, my heavy laden soul,
what will you do?
You call with your lips and voice to
God most high,
God, who cares only for deeds and
is not taken in by words.
You, my soul, with a heart always turned toward Egypt,
how can I describe you?

Am I
a Sodom, to be punished likewise with destruction,
or the prosecutor of Ninevah, who was struck dumb?

Am I
more cowardly and barbarous than the
queen of the south,
lower than Canaan,
more stubborn than Amalek,
incurable as the city of idols,
a relic left behind from the rebellion of Israel,
a reminder of the broken covenant of Judah,
more reproachable than Tyre,
more shunned than Zidon,
more immoral than Galilee,
more unpardonable than faithless Capernaum,
maligned like Korazin,
slandered like Bethsaida?

Or am I
immodest as Ephraim as he prayed,
or a dove, whose gentleness seems due to
feeblemindedness and not to inner calm,
or an evil serpent born of lion’s cubs,
or the serpent’s egg filled with decay,
or like the last blow against Jerusalem?

Or am I
in the words of our Lord
and the sayings of the prophets,
an abandoned tabernacle about to collapse,
the unlatched doors of the stronghold,
my speaking edifice stained again,
having given up my rightful inheritance,
my home built by God,
as Moses, David and Jeremiah prophesied?
My thinking body now consumed by disease,
afflicted with carping counsel, rehabilitated by the law,
anointed with the clay of mildness,
incapable of finding my own salvation,
torn away from the maker’s hand,
expelled as just punishment
by order of the Almighty, to an unholy place,
rejected, exiled, greatly shunned, nothing spared,
having buried my gift in the ground,
like the one chastised in the Gospel by
losing his inheritance.

But You, God,
Lord of souls and all flesh,
in the words of one divinely graced,
You are long-suffering and abounding in mercy.
In the voice of blessed Jonah,
grant that I finish to Your delight
this book of prayers, now begun.
And having sown these words with tears
and set forth on this journey toward the dwellings You have prepared,
may I return joyfully in the time of harvest
with the bounty of atonement,
with sheaves of goodness and the fruits of delight.

St Gregory of Narek (950-1003) – Fathe & Doctor of the Church

“If you elevate yourself,
God distances Himself from you.
If you humble yourself,
He leans towards you.”

St Augustine (354-430)

CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, Thomas a Kempis

Lenten Thoughts – 2 April – “If you wish…” Thomas à Kempis

Posted on April 2, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Thoughts – 2 April – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent, Year C

On the Fervent Amendment of our Whole Life

Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

“When a certain anxious person, who often times wavered between hope and fear, once overcome with sadness, threw himself upon the ground in prayer, before one of the altars in the Church and thinking these things in his mind, said “Oh, if I only knew how to persevere,” that very instant he heard within him, this heavenly answer: “And if thou did know this, what would thou do? Do now what you would do and thou shall be perfectly secure.” And immediately being consoled and comforted, he committed himself to the Divine Will and his anxious thoughts ceased. He no longer wished for curious things, searching to find out what would happen to him but studied rather to learn what was the acceptable and perfect will of God for the beginning and the perfection of every good work.”

“If you wish to enter into life, keep My commandments.
If you will know the truth, believe in Me.
If you will be perfect, sell all.
If you will be My disciple, deny yourself.
If you will possess the blessed life, despise this present life.
If you will be exalted in heaven, humble yourself on earth.
If you wish to reign with Me, carry the Cross with Me.
For only the servants of the Cross find the life of blessedness and of true light.”

“MY CHILD, the more you depart from yourself,
the more you will be able to enter into Me.
As the giving up of exterior things, brings interior peace,
so the forsaking of self, unites you to God.
I will have you learn perfect surrender to My will,
without contradiction or complaint.”

Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)
The Imitation of Christ

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Lenten Thoughts – 30 March – The Ladder of Divine Ascent – The Steps

Posted on March 30, 2019March 30, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Thoughts – 30 March – Saturday of the Third week of Lent, Year C and the Memorial of St John Climacus (c 525-606)

The Ladder of Divine Ascent is an ascetical treatise on avoiding vice and practising virtue so that at the end, salvation can be obtained. Written by Saint John Climacus initially for monastics, it has become one of the most highly influential and important works used by the Church as far as guiding the faithful to a God-centred life, second only to Holy Scripture.

Structure and Purpose:
The aim of the treatise is to be a guide for practising a life completely and wholly devoted to God. The ladder metaphor—not dissimilar to the vision that the Patriarch Jacob received—is used to describe how one may ascend into heaven by first renouncing the world and finally ending up in heaven with God. There are thirty chapter,; each covers a particular vice or virtue. They were originally called logoi, but in the present day, they are referred to as “steps.” The sayings are not so much rules and regulations, as with the Law that St Moses received at Sinai, but rather observations about what is being practised. Metaphorical language is employed frequently, to better illustrate the nature of virtue and vice. Overall, the treatise does follow a progression that transitions from start (renunciation of the world) to finish (a life lived in love). the 30 steps of the ladder of divine ascent - 30 march 2019.jpg

The steps are:
On renunciation of the world
On detachment
On exile or pilgrimage – concerning dreams that beginners have
On blessed and ever-memorable obedience (in addition to episodes involving many individuals)
On painstaking and true repentance which constitutes the life of the holy convicts; and about the Prison
On remembrance of death
On joy-making mourning
On freedom from anger and on meekness
On remembrance of wrongs
On slander or calumny
On talkativeness and silence
On lying
On despondency
On that clamorous mistress, the stomach
On incorruptible purity and chastity, to which the corruptible attain by toil and sweat
On love of money, or avarice
On non-possessiveness (that hastens one Heavenwards)
On insensibility, that is, deadening of the soul and the death of the mind before the death of the body
On sleep, prayer and psalmody with the brotherhood
On bodily vigil and how to use it to attain spiritual vigil, and how to practise it
On unmanly and puerile cowardice
On the many forms of vainglory
On mad pride and (in the same Step) on unclean blasphemous thoughts; concerning unmentionable blasphemous thoughts
On meekness, simplicity, and guilelessness which come not from nature but from conscious effort, and about guile
On the destroyer of the passions, most sublime humility, which is rooted in spiritual perception
On discernment of thoughts, passions and virtues; on expert discernment; brief summary of all aforementioned
On holy stillness of body and soul; different aspects of stillness and how to distinguish them
On holy and blessed prayer, the mother of virtues, and on the attitude of mind and body in prayer
Concerning Heaven on earth, or Godlike dispassion and perfection, and the resurrection of the soul before the general resurrection
Concerning the linking together of the supreme trinity among the virtues; a brief exhortation summarising all that has said at length in this book.

Read the book, here

“Repentance is the renewal of baptism.
Repentance is a contract with God for a second life.
A penitent is a buyer of humility.
Repentance is constant distrust of bodily comfort.
Repentance is self-condemning reflection of carefree self-care.
Repentance is the daughter of hope and the renunciation of despair.
A penitent is an undisgraced convict.
Repentance is reconciliation with the Lord
by the practice of good deeds contrary to the sins.
Repentance is purification of conscience.
Repentance is the voluntary endurance of all afflictions.
A penitent is the inflicter of his own punishments.
Repentance is a mighty persecution of the stomach
and a striking of the soul into vigorous awareness.”

CATECHESIS, CONFESSION/PENANCE, LENTEN THOUGHTS, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on GOSSIP, QUOTES on HYPOCRISY, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on REPARATION/EXPIATION, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on TRUTH

Lenten Reflection – 29 March – Repairing the Wrong Done by St John Vianney

Posted on March 29, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Reflection – 29 March – Friday of the Third week of Lent, Year C, Gospel: Mark 12:28–34

“…You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
The second is this,
‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
There is no other commandment
greater than these.”

Mark 12:30-32

St John Vianney (1786-1859)

REPAIRING THE WRONG DONE

Having made satisfaction to God, we must then make satisfaction to our neighbour for the wrong which-either in his body or in his soul — we have done him. I say that it is possible to wrong him in his body, that is to say, in his person, by attacking him either by injurious or insulting words or by bad treatment. If we have sinned against him by injurious words, then we must apologise to him and make our reconciliation with him. If we have done him some wrong by belabouring his animals, as sometimes happens when we find that they have been doing damage among our crops, we are obliged to give him all that we have been the cause of his losing: -we could have got compensation without maltreating these animals. If we have done any harm, we are obliged to repay as soon as we can, otherwise we will be gravely at fault. If we have neglected to do that, we have sinned and we must confess it.

If you have done wrong to your neighbour in his honour, as, for instance, by scandalous talk, you are obliged to make up by favourable and beneficent talk for all the harm you have done to his reputation, saying all the good of him which you know to be true and concealing any faults which he may have and which you are not obliged to reveal. If you have calumniated your neighbour, you must go and find the people to whom you have said false things about him and tell them that what you have been saying is not true, that you are very grieved about it and that you beg them not to believe it.

But if you have done him harm in his soul, it is a still more difficult thing to repair and yet it must be done as far as possible, otherwise God will not pardon you.

You must also examine your conscience as to whether you have given scandal to your children or to your next-door neighbours. How many fathers, mothers, masters and mistresses are there who scandalise their children and their servants, by not saying their prayers morning or evening or by saying them when they are dressing or sitting back in a chair, who do not even make the Sign of the Cross before and after a meal? How many times are they heard swearing, or perhaps even blaspheming?

How many times have they been seen working on Sunday morning, even before Holy Mass?

You must consider, too, whether you have sung bad songs, or brought in bad books, or whether you have given bad counsel, as, for instance, advising someone that he should take his revenge on someone else, should exact satisfaction by force.

Consider, too, whether you have ever taken anything from a next-door neighbour and neglected to pay it back, whether you have neglected to give some alms which you had been told to give or make some restitution which your parents, who are dead, should have made. If you wish to have the happiness of having your sins forgiven, you must have nothing belonging to anyone else, which you should and could pay back. So if you have sullied your neighbour’s reputation, you must do all in your power to repair the damage. You must be reconciled with your enemies, speak to them as if they had never done you anything but good all your life, keeping nothing in your heart but the charity, which the good Christian should have for everyone, so that we can all appear with confidence before the tribunal of God. repairing the wronge done - you must be reconciled - st john vianney 29 march 2019.jpg

ON the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONSCIENCE, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on HUMAN DIGNITY, QUOTES on PEACE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, SAINT of the DAY, The TEN COMMANDMENTS

Thought for the Day – 24 March – An Incarnational Faith must be expressed publicly

Posted on March 24, 2019March 24, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 24 March – The Third Sunday of Lent, Year C and The Memorial of Bl Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (1917–1980) Martyr

The night before he was murdered while celebrating Mass, Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador said on the radio:

“I would like to appeal in a special way to the men of the army and in particular to the troops of the National Guard, the police and the garrisons. Brothers, you belong to our own people. You kill your own brother peasants and in the face of an order to kill that is given by a man, the law of God that says ‘Do not kill!’ should prevail.

No soldier is obliged to obey an order counter to the law of God. No-one has to comply with an immoral law. It is the time now that you recover your conscience and obey its dictates rather than the command of sin. . . . Therefore, in the name of God and in the name of this long-suffering people, whose laments rise to heaven every day more tumultuous, I beseech you, I beg you, I command you! In the name of God: ‘Cease the repression!’”

Simultaneously, Romero had eloquently upheld the gospel and effectively signed his own death warrant.

When a military junta seized control of the national government in 1979, Archbishop Romero publicly criticised the US government for backing the junta. His weekly radio sermons, broadcast throughout the country, were regarded by many as the most trustworthy source of news available.

Romero’s funeral was celebrated in the plaza outside the cathedral and drew an estimated 250,000 mourners.

His tomb in the cathedral crypt soon drew thousands of visitors each year. On 3 February 2015, Pope Francis authorised a decree recognising Oscar Romero as a martyr for the faith. His beatification took place in San Salvador on 23 May 2015. He was canonized on 14 October 2018. archbishop-romero-invites-us-to-good-sense-pope-francis-24-march-2019.jpg

Oscar Romero and many other Latin American martyrs for the faith were falsely accused of advocating a Marxist-inspired “theology of liberation.” Following Jesus always requires choices. Romero’s fiercest critics conveniently dismissed his choices as politically inspired. An incarnational faith must be expressed publicly.

St Oscar Romero, Pray for Us!

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One Minute Reflection – 24 March – The invincible patience of Jesus!

Posted on March 24, 2019March 23, 2019 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 24 March – The Third Sunday of Lent, Year C, Gospel: Luke 13:1-9

And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and I find none. And he answered him, ‘Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure.”...Luke 13:7-8

REFLECTION – “Jesus invites us to change our heart, to make a radical about-face on the path of our lives, to abandon compromises with evil — and this is something we all do, hypocrisy…. I think that nearly all of us has a little hypocrisy — in order to decidedly take up the path of the Gospel. But again there is the temptation to justify ourselves. What should we convert from? Aren’t we basically good people? Unfortunately, each of us strongly resembles the tree that, over many years, has repeatedly shown that it’s infertile. But, fortunately for us, Jesus is like a farmer who, with limitless patience, still obtains a concession for the fruitless vine. The invincible patience of Jesus! Have you thought about the patience of God? Have you ever thought as well of His limitless concern for sinners? How it should lead us to impatience with ourselves! It’s never too late to convert, never. God’s patience awaits us until the last moment. It’s never too late to convert but it is urgent. Now is the time! Let us begin today.”…Pope Francis – Angelus, 28 February 2016

PRAYER – Lord our God, Your Son so loved the world that He gave Himself up to death for our sake. Strengthen us by Your grace and give us a heart willing to live by that same love. We know His excuses for us and His broken heart at our neglect and sin, make us like unto Him O Father, that we might be holy and come to see His Face. May the prayers of the angels, saints and the Blessed Virgin be of assistance to us. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, amen. ave-maria-pray-for-us-28-sept-2018 and 24 march 2019 no 2.jpg

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Lenten Thoughts – 22 March – “Now is the accepted time, now the day of salvation.”

Posted on March 22, 2019March 22, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Thoughts – 22 March – Friday of the Second week of Lent, Year C

“Now is the accepted time, now the day of salvation.”

In Lent, by penance, we join the two great sacraments together. Are you, my brethren, prepared to say,—is there any single Christian alive who will dare to profess—that he has not in greater or less degree, sinned against God’s free mercies as bestowed on him, in Baptism without, or rather against his deserts? Who will say that he has so improved his birthright that the blessing is his fit reward, without either sin to confess, or wrath to deprecate?

See, then, the Church offers you this season for the purpose. “Now is the accepted time, now the day of salvation.”

Now it is that, God being your helper, you are to attempt to throw off from you the heavy burden of past transgression, to reconcile yourselves to Him who has once already imparted to you His atoning merits and you have profaned them.”

Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

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Lenten Reflection – 22 March –

Posted on March 22, 2019March 22, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Reflection – 22 March – Friday of the Second week of Lent, Year C

“Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God
will be taken away from you
and given to a nation producing the fruits of it.”...Matthew 21:43 lent - friday of the second week matthew 21 43 22 march 2019.jpg

Daily Meditation:
Help us open our hearts to you.

We hear of the vineyard owner whose tenants killed his servants and then his son.
Let us open our hearts and lives
to the challenge of Your Gospel.

“Let us serve God but let us do so according to His will.
He will then take the place of everything in our lives.
He will be our strength and the reward of our labours.”

St Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)

“The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel” says the prophet (Is 5:7). We ourselves are this house… and, since we are His Israel, we are the vineyard. So let us take good care that grapes of wrath (Rv 14:19) rather than sweetness do not grow from our branches, so that no one may say to us: “I expected grapes but it yielded wild grapes” (Is 5:4). What fruitless soil! The soil that should have presented its master with fruits of sweetness, pierced Him with its sharp thorns. In the same way His enemies, who ought to have welcomed our Saviour with all the devotion of their faith, crowned Him with the thorns of His Passion. In their eyes this crown expressed insult and abuse but in the Lord’s eyes it was the crown of virtue…

My brethren, take good care that no one says with regard to you: “He expected it to yield grapes but it yielded wild grapes” (Is 5:2)… Let us be careful that our evil deeds do not rub against our Lord’s head like thorns. There are thorns in the heart that have even wounded the word of God, as our Lord says in the gospel when he relates how the sower’s seed fell among thorns that grew and choked what had been sown (Mt 13:7)… So take care that your vineyard does not bring forth thorns instead of grapes and your vintage produce vinegar instead of wine. Anyone who gathers in the grapes, without sharing them with the poor, is collecting vinegar instead of wine and anyone who stores his harvests, without sharing them with the needy, is not setting aside the fruit of almsgiving but the briars of greed.”

Saint Maximus of Turin (c 380-c 420)

Sermon for the feast of Saint Cyprian – CC Sermon 11

Closing Prayer:

Loving God, caring parent,
I am a child who so often turns my back
on Your love.
Please accept my small acts of sorrow today
and help to release me from the self-absorption
that closes my heart to You.
As I journey through Lent,
let me remember the feast You have prepared for me
in the resurrection
and let me be filled with gratitude to You.

May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on JOY, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The TRANSFIGURATION, The WORD

Lenten Thoughts – 17 March – The law was given through Moses grace and truth came through Jesus Christ – St Leo the Great

Posted on March 17, 2019March 17, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Thoughts – 17 March – The Second Sunday of Lent, Year C, Gospel: Luke 9:28-36

The law was given through Moses grace

and truth came through Jesus Christ

St Pope Leo the Great (400-461)
Bishop of Rome and Great Latin Father and Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from Sermo 51

The Lord reveals His glory in the presence of chosen witnesses. His body is like that of the rest of mankind but He makes it shine with such splendour that His Face becomes like the sun in glory and His garments as white as snow.

The great reason for this transfiguration was to remove the scandal of the cross from the hearts of His disciples and to prevent the humiliation of His voluntary suffering from disturbing the faith of those who had witnessed the surpassing glory that lay concealed.

With no less forethought He was also providing a firm foundation for the hope of holy Church. The whole body of Christ was to understand the kind of transformation that it would receive as His gift. The members of that body were to look forward to a share in that glory which first blazed out in Christ their head.

The Lord had himself spoken of this when He foretold the splendour of His coming – Then the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Saint Paul the apostle bore witness to this same truth when He said – I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not to be compared with the future glory that is to be revealed in us. In another place He says: You are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

This marvel of the transfiguration contains another lesson for the apostles, to strengthen them and lead them into the fullness of knowledge. Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets, appeared with the Lord in conversation with Him. This was in order to fulfil exactly, through the presence of these five men, the text which says – Before two or three witnesses every word is ratified. What word could be more firmly established, more securely based, than the word which is proclaimed by the trumpets of both old and new testaments, sounding in harmony and by the utterances of ancient prophecy and the teaching of the Gospel, in full agreement with each other?

The writings of the two testaments support each other. The radiance of the transfiguration reveals clearly and unmistakably the one who had been promised by signs foretelling Him under the veils of mystery. As Saint John says: The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. In Him the promise made through the shadows of prophecy stands revealed, along with the full meaning of the precepts of the law. He is the one who teaches the truth of prophecy through His presence and makes obedience to the commandments possible through grace.

In the preaching of the holy Gospel all should receive a strengthening of their faith. No one should be ashamed of the cross of Christ, through which the world has been redeemed.

No-one should fear to suffer for the sake of justice, no-one should lose confidence in the reward that has been promised. The way to rest is through toil, the way to life is through death. Christ has taken on Himself the whole weakness of our lowly human nature. If then we are steadfast in our faith in Him and in our love for Him, we win the victory that He has won, we receive what He has promised.

When it comes to obeying the commandments or enduring adversity, the words uttered by the Father should always echo in our ears – This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased, listen to Him. transfiguration - listen to him 17 march 2019.jpg

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The SIGN of the CROSS

Lenten Thoughts – 15 March – “When war comes, fight courageously for Him.”

Posted on March 15, 2019March 15, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Thoughts – 15 March – Friday of the First week of Lent, Year C Gospel: Matthew 5:20–26

“Will you refuse to be crucified for Him,
who for your sake was nailed to the cross?”

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

An excerpt from his Catecheses, 13

The Catholic Church glories in every deed of Christ. Her supreme glory, however, is the cross. Well aware of this, Paul says – God forbid that I glory in anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!

At Siloam, there was a sense of wonder and rightly so. A man born blind recovered his sight. But of what importance is this, when there are so many blind people in the world? Lazarus rose from the dead but even this affected only Lazarus. What of those countless numbers who have died because of their sins? Those five miraculous loaves fed five thousand people. Yet this is a small number compared to those all over the world who were starved by ignorance. After eighteen years a woman was freed from the bondage of Satan. But are we not all shackled by the chains of our own sins?

For us all, however, the cross is the crown of victory! It has brought light to those blinded by ignorance. It has released those enslaved by sin. Indeed, it has redeemed the whole of mankind!

Do not, then, be ashamed of the cross of Christ, rather, glory in it. Although it is a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles, the message of the cross is our salvation. Of course it is folly to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it was not a mere man who died for us but the Son of God, God made man.

In the Mosaic law a sacrificial lamb banished the destroyer. But now it is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Will He not free us from our sins even more? The blood of an animal, a sheep, brought salvation. Will not the blood of the only-begotten Son bring us greater salvation?

He was not killed by violence, He was not forced to give up His life. His was a willing sacrifice. Listen to His own words – I have the power to lay down my life and take it up again. Yes, he willingly submitted to His own passion. He took joy in his achievement, in His crown of victory He was glad and in the salvation of man He rejoiced. He did not blush at the cross for by it He was to save the world. No, it was not a lowly man who suffered but God incarnate. He entered the contest, for the reward He would win by His patient endurance.

Certainly in times of tranquillity the cross should give you joy. But maintain the same faith in times of persecution. Otherwise you will be a friend of Jesus in times of peace and His enemy during war. Now you receive the forgiveness of your sins and the generous gift of grace from your King. When war comes, fight courageously for Him.

Jesus never sinned, yet He was crucified for you. Will you refuse to be crucified for Him, who for your sake was nailed to the cross? You are not the one who gives the favour, you have received one first. For your sake He was crucified on Golgotha. Now you are returning His favour, you are fulfilling your debt to Him. jesus never sinned yet he was crucified for you - st cyril of jerusalem 15 march 2019.jpg

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SAINT of the DAY, The SIGN of the CROSS, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 6 March

Posted on March 6, 2019March 6, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 6 March – Ash Wednesday and the Memorial of St Colette (1381-1447)

“Yet even now,” says the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping and with mourning
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful….

Joel 2:12-13

He need not fear anything,
nor be ashamed of anything,
who bears the Sign of the Cross
on his brow.

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

We must faithfully keep
what we have promised.
If through human weakness we fail,
we must always without delay arise again
by means of holy penance
and give our attention to leading a good life
and to dying a holy death.
May the Father of all mercy,
the Son by His holy Passion
and the Holy Spirit,
source of peace, sweetness and love,
fill us with Their consolation.
Amen

Saint Colette

(in her spiritual testament to her sisters)

CONFESSION/PENANCE, LENT 2019, NOVENAS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ALMS, QUOTES on FASTING, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Nine – 5 March 2019 “Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Posted on March 5, 2019March 4, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Nine – 5 March 2019 “Shrove Tuesday”
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday 18 April – Holy Saturday 20 April
Easter Sunday 21 April 2019

You have been crucifying Our Lord!

We come to confession quite preoccupied with the shame that we shall feel. We accuse ourselves with hot air. It is said that many confess and few are converted. I believe it is so, my children because few confess with tears of repentance.

See, the misfortune is, that people do not reflect. If one said to those who work on Sundays, to a young person who had been dancing for two or three hours, to a man coming out of an alehouse drunk, “What have you been doing? You have been crucifying Our Lord!” they would be quite astonished, because they do not think of it. My children, if we thought of it, we should be seized with horror; it would be impossible for us to do evil. For what has the good God done to us that we should grieve Him thus, and put Him to death again — Him, who has redeemed us from Hell?

It would be well if all sinners, when they are going to their guilty pleasures, could, like St Peter, meet Our Lord on the way, who would say to them, “I am going to that place where you are going yourself, to be there crucified again.” Perhaps that might make them reflect.

St Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars (1786-1859)

A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

REFLECTION – “Give back some of God’s gifts to God, that you may safely enjoy the rest. Fast, or watch, or abound in alms, or be instant in prayer, or deny yourselves society, or pleasant books, or easy clothing, or take on you some irksome task or employment; do one or other, or some, or all of these, unless you say that you have never sinned and may go like Esau with a light heart to take your crown”

“But, O ye sons and daughters of men, what if this fair weather but ensure the storm afterwards? what if it be, that the nearer you attain to making yourselves as gods on earth now, the greater pain lies before you in time to come, or even (if it must be said), the more certain becomes your ruin when time is at an end? Come down, then, from your high chambers at this season to avert what else may be.

Sinners as ye are, act at least like the prosperous heathen, who threw his choicest trinket into the water, that he might propitiate fortune. Let not the year go round and round, without a break and interruption in its circle of pleasures.

Give back some of God’s gifts to God, that you may safely enjoy the rest. Fast, or watch, or abound in alms, or be instant in prayer, or deny yourselves society, or pleasant books, or easy clothing, or take on you some irksome task or employment; do one or other, or some, or all of these, unless you say that you have never sinned and may go like Esau with a light heart to take your crown.

Ever bear in mind that Day, which will reveal all things and will test all things “so as by fire” and which will bring us into judgement ere it lodges us in heaven.”

Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Lenten Preparation Novena

DAY NINE

O gracious Father,
infuse in our hearts
the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom
and open the eyes of our mind
that we may understand the teachings of Your Gospel.
Instill in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments,
so that having curbed all carnal desires,
we may lead a spiritual life,
both thinking and doing everything to please You.
Help us to see,
in our ordinary difficulties and duties,
in the trials and temptations of every day,
the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities.
United with Your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intention
………………….
(Mention your intention)
For You, our God,
are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies
and to You we render glory,
together with Your Suffering Son,
and with Your all holy,
life-creating Spirit,
now and ever and forever.
Amen Lenten prep novena day nine - 5 march 2019.jpg

CONFESSION/PENANCE, LENT 2019, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE

Shrove Tuesday – 5 March – Ready?

Posted on March 5, 2019February 16, 2023 by AnaStpaul

Shrove Tuesday – 5 March – Ready?

The English term provides the best meaning for this period – “To shrive” meant to hear confessions. In the Anglo-Saxon “Ecclesiastical Institutes,” recorded by Theodulphus and translated by Abbot Aelfric about 1000, Shrovetide was described as follows:
“In the week immediately before Lent, everyone shall go to his confessor and confess his deeds and the confessor, shall so “shrive him,” as he then may hear by his deeds, what he is to do in the way of penance.”
To highlight the point and motivate the people, special plays or masques were performed which portrayed the passion of our Lord or final judgement. Clearly, this Shrovetide preparation for Lent, included the confessing of sin and the reception of absolution. As such, Lent then would become a time for penance and renewal of faith.

Who needs pancakes, we have far more important things to do! shrove tuesday - time for confession - 5 march 2019.jpg

Beginning of Lent: A Time of Penance, Purification and Conversion

We are at the beginning of Lent, a time of penance, purification and conversion. It is not an easy program but then Christianity is not an easy way of life. It is not enough just to be in the Church, letting the years roll by. In our life, in the life of Christians, our first conversion — that unique moment which each of us remembers, when we clearly understood everything the Lord was asking of us — is certainly very significant. But the later conversions are even more important and they are increasingly demanding. To facilitate the work of grace in these conversions, we need to keep our soul young, we have to call upon our Lord, know how to listen to Him and, having found out what has gone wrong, know how to ask His pardon.

“’If you call upon me, I will listen to you,’ we read in holy scripture. Isn’t it wonderful how God cares for us and is always ready to listen to us — waiting for man to speak? He hears us at all times but particularly now. Our heart is ready and we have made up our minds to purify ourselves. He hears us and will not disregard the petition of a ‘humble and contrite heart.’

The Lord listens to us. He wants to intervene and enter our lives to free us from evil and fill us with good. ‘I will rescue him and honour him,’ he says of man. So we must hope for glory. Here again we have the beginning of the interior movement that makes up our spiritual life. Hope of glory increases our faith and fosters our charity, the three theological virtues, godly virtues which make us like our Father God, have been set in motion.

What better way to begin Lent? Let’s renew our faith, hope and love. The spirit of penance and the desire for purification come from these virtues. Lent is not only an opportunity for increasing our external practices of self-denial. If we thought it were only that, we would miss the deep meaning it has in Christian living, for these external practices are — as I have said — the result of faith, hope and charity.”

Josemaria Escrivá (1902-1975)
Christ is Passing By No 57

Explaining “Shrove” – https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/02/13/the-meaning-of-shrove-tuesday-13-february-2018/ beginning lent - our heart is ready - st josemaria escriva - 5 march 2019.jpg

LENT 2019, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, The LAST THINGS

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Seven – 3 March 2019 “Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Posted on March 3, 2019March 2, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Seven – 3 March 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday 18 April – Holy Saturday 20 April
Easter Sunday 21 April 2019

Litany of Humility
Written by Servant of God Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930),
Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honoured, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, O Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may increase and I may decrease, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, grant me the grace to desire it. litany of humility - card merry del val - 20 june 2018.jpg

A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

REFLECTION – “LET US JUDGE OURSELVES, that we be not judged.
Let us afflict ourselves, that God may not afflict us.”

“And be sure of this – that if He has any love for you,
if He sees aught of good in your soul, He will afflict you,
if you will not afflict yourselves.
He will not let you escape.
He has ten thousand ways of purging those whom He has chosen,
from the dross and alloy with which the fine gold is defaced.
He can bring diseases on you, or can visit you with misfortunes,
or take away your friends, or oppress your minds with darkness,
or refuse you strength to bear up against pain when it comes upon you.
He can inflict on you a lingering and painful death.
He can make “the bitterness of death pass” not.
We, indeed, cannot decide in the case of others,
when trouble is a punishment and when not;
yet this we know – that all sin brings affliction.
We have no means of judging others
but we may judge ourselves.
LET US JUDGE OURSELVES, that we be not judged.
Let us afflict ourselves, that God may not afflict us.
Let us come before Him with our best offerings,
that He may forgive us.”

Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

“To be Christian means,
not starting from death
but rather, from God’s love for us
which has defeated our most bitter enemy.
God is greater than nothingness
and a lit candle is enough to overcome the darkest of nights.
Echoing the prophets, Paul cries,
“O death, where is thy victory?
O death, where is thy sting?”

Pope Francis – General Audience, 19 April 2017

Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY SEVEN

Today Lord I choose Your Light,
I choose Your love
and the challenge to live it and share it,
I choose hope, even in moments of darkness,
I choose faith, accepting You as Lord and God,
I choose to let go of some part of my burdens,
day by day handing them over to You,
I choose to take hold of Your strength and power
ever more deeply in my life.
I choose to judge and afflict myself.
I choose repentance and reparation and suffering,
for all my sins
and those of all the world.
Forgive me my Lord!
May this truly be for me a time of new life,
of change, challenge and growth.
May I come to Easter with a heart open to dying with You
and rising to Your new life, day by day.
Help me to repent of my sins now
and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with Your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
…………………………………………..
(Mention your special intention)
Amen lenten prep novena day 7 3 march 2019.jpg

CONFESSION/PENANCE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, NOVENAS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, The WORD

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Six – 2 March 2019 “Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

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

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Six – 2 March 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday 18 April – Holy Saturday 20 April
Easter Sunday 21 April 2019
A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

“He answered, “I heard you in the garden
but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid.”
Then God asked: Who told you that you were naked?
Have you eaten from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat?”

Genesis 3:10-11

“Do you see, dear friend, how patient God is? For when he said, “Adam, where are you?” and when Adam did not at once confess his sin but said, “I heard your voice, O Lord, and realised that I am naked and hid myself,” God was not angered, nor did He immediately turn away. Rather, He gave him the opportunity of a second reply and said, “Who told you that you are naked? Unless you ate of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat.”
Consider how profound are the words of God’s wisdom. He says, “Why do you say that you are naked but hide your sin? Do you really think that I see only your body but do not see your heart and your thoughts?” Since Adam was deceived he hoped that God would not know his sin. He said something like this to himself, “If I say that I am naked, God in His ignorance will say, ‘Why are you naked?’ Then I shall have to deny and say, ‘I do not know’ and so I shall not be caught by Him and He will give me back the garment that I had at first. If not, as long as He does not cast me out, He will not exile me!”
While he was thinking these thoughts … God, unwilling to multiply his guilt, says, “How did you realise that you are naked? Unless you ate of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat.” It is as though He said, “Do you really think that you can hide from me? Do you imagine that I do not know what you have done? Will you not say, ‘I have sinned?’ Say, O scoundrel, ‘Yes, it is true, Master, I have transgressed your command. I have fallen by listening to the woman’s counsel, I am greatly at fault for doing what she said and disobeying Your word. Have mercy on me!’” But he does not humble himself, he does not bend. The neck of his heart is like a sinew of iron! For had he said this he might have stayed in paradise. By this one word he might have spared himself that whole cycle of evils without number that he endured by his expulsion and in spending so many centuries in hell.”

Saint Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022)
(Discourses, 5)

A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

REFLECTION – “Now is the accepted time, now the day of salvation.”

“These are thoughts, I need hardly say, especially suited to this season. From the earliest times down to this day, these weeks before Easter have been set apart every year, for the particular remembrance and confession of our sins. From the first age downward, not a year has passed but Christians have been exhorted to reflect how far they have let go their birthright, as a preparation for their claiming the blessing. At Christmas, we are born again with Christ, at Easter we keep the Eucharistic Feast. In Lent, by penance, we join the two great sacraments together. Are you, my brethren, prepared to say—is there any single Christian alive who will dare to profess—that he has not in greater or less degree, sinned against God’s free mercies, as bestowed on him, in Baptism without, or rather against his deserts? Who will say that he has so improved his birthright that the blessing is his fit reward, without either sin to confess, or wrath to deprecate? See, then, the Church offers you this season for the purpose.

“Now is the accepted time, now the day of salvation.”

Now it is that, God being your helper, you are to attempt to throw off from you the heavy burden of past transgression, to reconcile yourselves to Him, who has once already imparted to you, His atoning merits and you have profaned them!”

Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

“There is still time for endurance,
for patience,
time for healing,
time for change.
Have you slipped? Rise up.
Have you sinned? Cease.
Do not stand among sinners but leap aside.
For when you turn away and weep, then you will be saved.”

St Basil the Great (329-379)

Father and Doctor of the Church

Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY SIX

O gracious Father,
infuse in our hearts
the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom
and open the eyes of our mind
that we may understand the teachings of Your Gospel.
Instil in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments,
so that having curbed all carnal desires,
we may lead a spiritual life,
both thinking and doing everything to please You.
Help us to see,
in our ordinary difficulties and duties,
in the trials and temptations of every day,
the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities.
United with Your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intention
…………………………………
(Mention your intention)
For You, our God,
are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies;
and to You we render glory,
together with Your Suffering Son,
and with Your all holy,
life-creating Spirit,
now and ever, and forever.
Amen

CONFESSION/PENANCE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, NOVENAS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, The WORD

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Five – 1 March 2019 “Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Posted on March 1, 2019March 1, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Five – 1 March 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday 18 April – Holy Saturday 20 April
Easter Sunday 21 April 2019

“Do not delay turning back to the LORD,
do not put it off day after day.
For suddenly his wrath will come forth;
at the time of vengeance, you will perish…”
Sirach 5:7

Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this verse

“The mind fluctuates between presumption and desperation. You must have fear, otherwise presumption will kill you; you must have fear, that is, rather than counting on the mercy of God, lest you fall into judgement. You also need to have fear, so that desperation does not kill you, when you begin to think, that the horrible sins that you have committed, cannot be forgiven you. In that case, you end up not repenting and incur instead the sentence of Wisdom, which says, “I also will laugh at your destruction.” How then does the Lord treat those who are in danger from both these maladies? To those who are in danger from presumption, He says, “Do not be slow in turning to the Lord. Do not put it off from day to day, for suddenly his anger will come and in the time of vengeance will utterly destroy you.” To those who are in danger from despair, what does He say? “In whatever day the wicked person shall be converted, I will forget all his iniquities.” Accordingly, for the sake of those who are in danger because of despair, He has offered us a refuge of pardon. And for those who are in danger, because of presumption and are deluded by delays, He has made the day of death uncertain. You do not know when your last day may come. You are an ingrate. Why not use the day today that God has given you to repent?”

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

(Tractates on the Gospel of John, 33)

A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

REFLECTION – “The one came for a son’s privileges, the other for a servant’s drudgery.”

“Would you see how a penitent should come to God? turn to the parable of the Prodigal Son. He, too, had squandered away his birthright, as Esau did. He, too, came for the blessing, like Esau. Yes, but how differently he came! he came with deep confession and self-abasement. He said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son, make me as one of thy hired servants” but Esau said, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me.” The one came for a son’s privileges, the other for a servant’s drudgery. The one killed and dressed his venison with his own hand and enjoyed it not; for the other the fatted calf was prepared and the ring for his hand and shoes for his feet and the best robe and there was music and dancing.”

Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

When you feel the temptation to dwell on your own weakness,
raise your eyes to Christ crucified and say:
‘Lord, I am a poor sinner but you can work the miracle of making me a little bit better’.
In the Church, holy yet made up of sinners,
you will find everything you need to grow towards holiness.

Pope Francis – Gaudete et Exscultate

Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY FIVE

Dear Lord,
we are fast approaching the holy season of Lent.
We begin to realise anew that these are the days of salvation,
these are the acceptable days.
We know that we are all sinners.
We know that in many things we have all offended Your infinite majesty.
We know that sin destroys Your life in us
as a drought withers the leaves and chokes the life from the land,
leaving an arid, dusty desert.
Help us now, Lord,
in our feeble attempts to make up for past sin.
Bless our efforts with the rich blessing of Your grace.
Make us realise ever more our need of penance and of mortification.
Help us to see,
in our ordinary difficulties and duties,
in the trials and temptations of every day,
the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities.
Every day we are so often reminded in field and wood,
in sky and stream,
of Your own boundless generosity to us.
Help us to realise that You are never outdone in generosity,
and that the least thing we do for You will be rewarded,
full measure, pressed down, shaken together and flowing over.
Then we shall see, in our own souls,
how the desert can blossom,
and the dry and wasted land can bring forth the rich,
useful fruit that was expected of it from the beginning.
United with Your Son, who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intention
………………………………….
(Mention your intention)
Amen lenten preparation novena day five - 1 march 2019

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, NOVENAS, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, The WORD

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Two – 26 February 2019 “Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Posted on February 26, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Two – 26 February 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday, 18 April, Good Friday, 19 April, Holy Saturday, 20 April
Easter Sunday – 21 April 2019

And he sat down and called the twelve and he said to them,
“If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
Mark 9:35

Reflection:

“Answer those whom the marks of the Passion in Christ’s body plunge into uncertainty and who put the question: “Who is this king of glory?” (Ps 24[23]:8). Answer them that He is the Christ,“the mighty, the valiant” (ibid.) in everything He has done and continues to do…

Is He insignificant because He made Himself humble for your sake? Is He to be despised because, as a Good Shepherd laying down His life for His flock, He came in search of the lost sheep and, having found it, brought it back on the shoulders that bore the cross for its sake and, when He had carried it back to the life on high, set it down amongst the faithful flock who remained in the fold? (cf. Jn 10:11; Lk 15:4).

Do you despise Him because he lighted a lamp, His own flesh and swept His house in search of the lost coin, cleansing the world from sin, while losing the beauty of His royal likeness through His Passion? (Lk 15,8f.; Mk 12,16)…

Do you consider Him less great, because He girds Himself with a linen towel to wash His disciples’ feet, showing them, that the certain way to be exalted, is to humble oneself? (Jn 13:4f.). Do you hold a grievance against God because Christ humbles Himself, turning His mind to earth so as to raise up with Himself those who are bowed beneath the weight of sin? (Mt 11:28).

Do you accuse Him of having eaten with publicans and sinners… for their salvation? (Mt 9:10). How can you take to task a doctor who bends over the sufferings and wounds of the sick to bring them healing?”

St Gregory Nazianzen (330-390)

Father & Doctor of the Church

A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

Do I despise the great gift of God’s Love?

“Is it not, I say, quite a common case for men and for women to neglect religion in their best days? They have been baptised, they have been taught their duty, they have been taught to pray, they know their Creed, their conscience has been enlightened, they have opportunity to come to Church. This is their birthright, the privileges of their birth of water and of the Spirit but they sell it, as Esau did. They are tempted by Satan, with some bribe of this world and they give up their birthright, in exchange for what is sure to perish and to make them perish with it. Esau was tempted by the mess of pottage which he saw in Jacob’s hands. Satan arrested the eyes of his lust and he gazed on the pottage, as Eve gazed on the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve sold their birthright for the fruit of a tree—that was their bargain. Esau sold his for a mess of lentils—that was his.

And men now-a-days often sell theirs, not indeed for any thing so simple as fruit or herb but for some evil gain or other, which at the time they think worth purchasing at any price, perhaps for the enjoyment of some particular sin, or more commonly for the indulgence of general carelessness and spiritual sloth, because they do not like a strict life and have no heart for God’s service. And thus, they are profane persons, for they despise the great gift of God.”

Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

“The world tells us to seek success, power and money.
God tells us to seek humility, service and love.”

Pope Francis

Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY TWO

Lord, during this Lenten Season,
nourish me with Your Word of life
and make me one
with You in love and prayer.

Fill my heart with Your love
and keep me faithful to the Gospel of Christ.
Give me the grace to rise above my human weakness.
Give me new life by Your Sacraments, especially the Mass.

Father, our source of life,
I reach out with joy to grasp Your hand;
let me walk more readily in Your ways.
Guide me in Your gentle mercy,
for left to myself, I cannot do Your Will.

Father of love, source of all blessings,
help me to pass from my old life of sin
to the new life of grace.

Help me to repent of my sins now and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with Your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
…………………………………………..
(Mention your special intention)

Prepare me for the glory of Your Kingdom.
I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever.
Amen lenten prep novena day two - come back to me - 26 feb 2019.jpg

PAPAL SERMONS, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES on CONSCIENCE, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on ENVY, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on GOSSIP, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on PEACE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

Thought for the Day – 18 February – “However, you killed at the beginning”

Posted on February 18, 2019February 18, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 18 February – Monday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, First Reading – Genesis 4:1-15

“Cain said to Abel his brother, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” …Genesis 4:8-12

“Cain favoured instinct – he preferred to let this feeling stew inside him, festering and allowing it to grow. This sin, which he will later commit, which is couching behind the feeling, grows.

This, is how hostilities grow between you – they begin with something small – jealousy, envy and then this grows and I pull away from my brother, saying this person is not my brother, this one is an enemy, this one must be destroyed, driven away… and so people are destroyed -it is thus that animosity destroys families, populations, everything. It is that eating away at you, that being constantly obsessed with that person.

No!… there is no brother.
It is just me; there is no brotherhood – it is just me.
What happened at the beginning, can happen to all of us – it is a possibility. For this reason, it is a process which must be stopped immediately, at the beginning, at the first sign of bitterness. It must be stopped, because bitterness is not Christian – pain, yes, bitterness no.
Indeed, resentment is not Christian – pain yes, resentment no.
Instead, how much hostility and how many cracks exist and it ends in a war that kills.

However, you killed at the beginning. This is the process of blood and today the blood of many people in the world is crying to God from the ground.

And it is all connected – that blood has some connection, perhaps a small droplet of blood that I caused to ooze out with my envy and jealousy when I destroyed a brotherhood.”

Pope Francis – Santa Marta, 13 February 2017

It is not enough to simply “follow the rules” and stay out of trouble. If that is all we do then we are trying to achieve heaven by our own merits. God wants more from us than that. God invites us into a relationship of friends and family, a relationship of love. This type of relationship is a living, dynamic one. To love Christ and to want to be near Him is to be crucified with Him.

It means standing up for the Truth even when it is unpopular. It means finding time to pray. It means that we stay faithful to the teachings of Jesus. And it means that when we fail, we humbly confess our sins as we would apologise to a friend we have hurt, so that that relationship can be restored. It means that we must reflect Christ to the whole world, so that when people look at us they do not see us, they see Christ.

But in the end that is what it means to live for Christ and not for ourselves, to love for Christ and not for ourselves, to give of ourselves for Christ!

Blessed Fra Angelico, you gave your all for Christ, please Pray for Us!

DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES on CONSCIENCE, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on FEAR, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 14 February – “The faith of the Canaanite woman”

Posted on February 14, 2019February 14, 2019 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 14 February – Thursday of the Fifth week in Ordinary Time, Year C – Gospel: Mark 7:24–30 and the Memorial of Sts Cyril and Methodius “Apostles to the Slavs”- Patrons of Europe and St Valentine (176-273) Martyr

But immediately a woman, whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, heard of him and came and fell down at his feet....Mark 7:25

REFLECTION – “O woman, your faith is great. Let it be done to you as you wish” (Mt 15:28). Indeed, she had great enough faith, since she knew neither the ancient miracles, commands and promises of the prophets, nor the more recent ones of the Lord himself. In addition, as often as she was disregarded by the Lord, she persevered in her entreaties and she did not cease knocking by asking him, though she knew only by popular opinion that he was the Saviour. On account of this, she secured the great object for which she implored…
If one of us has a conscience polluted by the stain of avarice, conceit, vain-glory, indignation, irascibility, or envy and the other vices, he has “a daughter badly troubled by a demon” like the Canaanite woman. He should hasten to the Lord, making supplication for her healing… Being submissive with due humility, [such a person] must not judge himself to be worthy of the company of the sheep of Israel (that is, souls that are pure) but instead, he must be of the opinion that he is unworthy of heavenly favours. Nevertheless, let him not, in despair, rest from the earnestness of his entreaty but with his mind free of doubt, let him trust in the goodness of the supreme Benefactor, for the one who could make a confessor from a robber (Lk 23:39f.), an apostle from a persecutor (Acts 9:1-30, an evangelist from a publican (Mt 9:9-13) and who could make sons for Abraham out of stones, could turn even the most insignificant dog into an Israelite sheep.”...St Bede the Venerable (673-735) – Father & Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – Help us Lord, to cleave to You alone and grow in sanctity and charity. Create in us a clean heart O Lord! As we walk in the ways of Your divine Son, our Saviour, may we grow in faith and by our lives and words, be a light in the world. Grant that by the prayers of Sts Valentine and Sts Cyril and Methodius, we may be strengthen and grow in worthiness to receive Your grace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen. st valentine pray for us 14 feb 2019 sts-cyril-and-methodius-pray-for-us-14-feb-2018-no-2

DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SIN, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 5 February …”I say to you, arise.”… Mark 5:41

Posted on February 5, 2019June 10, 2022 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 5 February – Tuesday of the Fourth week in Ordinary Time, Year C – Gospel: Mark 5:21–43 and The Memorial of St Agatha (c 231- c 251)

…”I say to you, arise.”… Mark 5:41

mark 5 41 - i say to you arise - jairus' daughter - 5 feb 2019

REFLECTION – ““He took the child by the hand and said to her: ‘Talitha koum’, which means, ‘Little girl…arise.’” “Since you have been born again, you are to be called ‘little girl’. Little girl, arise for my sake – your healing does not come from you.” “And immediately the little girl arose and walked around.” May Jesus touch us, too and at once we shall walk. We may well be paralysed, our deeds may be evil and we may be unable to walk, we may be lying on the bed of our sins… but if Jesus touches us, then we shall immediately be healed. Peter’s mother-in-law was suffering with fever – Jesus touched her hand and she arose and immediately served Him (Mk 1:31)…

“They were utterly astounded and he gave them strict orders that no one should know this.” Do you see now why He put the people out when He was going to work a miracle? He ordered and not just ordered but strictly ordered, that no one should know of this. He ordered the three apostles and He ordered the parents, too, that no one should know. Our Lord ordered them all but the little girl herself, she who had stood up, could not be silent.

“And he said she should be given something to eat” – so that her resurrection might not be thought to be a ghostly apparition. And He Himself, after His resurrection, ate fish and a piece of honeycomb (Lk 24:42)… Lord, I beseech you, touch our hands as we, too, lie prostrate. Make us rise from our bed of sins and enable us to walk. And when we have walked, make them give us something to eat. We cannot eat when we are lying down- unless we are standing, we shall not be able to receive the Body of Christ.”…St Jerome (347-420) – Father & Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – Increase in us, O Lord, the gift of faith, so that we may arise and offer our praise to You and by Your grace, yield fruit from heaven, for the glory of Your Kingdom. Lord God, let St Agatha, who became precious in Your sight through her pure life and valiant martyrdom, plead for our forgiveness. For, with joy and rejoicing, as though to a feast, St Agatha, went to prison and offered her sufferings to You, with many prayers. Through Jesus Christ, Your divine Son, in unity with the Spirit, one God forever. St Agatha, pray for us, amen.

ArchAngels and Angels, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, MARIAN QUOTES, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ANGELS, QUOTES on FRIENDSHIP, QUOTES on JOY, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Quote/s of the Day – 31 January -The Memorial of St John Bosco (1815-1888)

Posted on January 31, 2019January 31, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 31 January -The Memorial of St John Bosco (1815-1888)

“Do not try to excuse your faults,
try to correct them.”

“Fly from bad companions
as from the bite
of a poisonous snake.”

“Act today in such a way,
that you need not blush
tomorrow.”

“We do not go
to Holy Communion
because we are good,
we go to become good.”

“Ask the Blessed Virgin for the grace
to receive Communion frequently and worthily…
Try to imagine that the Blessed Virgin, herself,
will give you the Sacred Host.
No-one would dare strike at the Heart of Jesus
while He is in Mary’s hands.”

“Be good. This will make your angel happy.
When sorrows and misfortunes, physical or spiritual,
afflict you, turn to your guardian angel
with strong trust and he will help you.”

“Ask your angel
to console and assist you,
in your last moments.”

“Be ever more convinced that,
your guardian angel is really present,
that he is ever at your side.
St Frances of Rome always saw him
standing before her,
his arms clasped at his breast,
his eyes uplifted to Heaven –
but at the slightest failing,
he would cover his face as if in shame
and at times,
turn his back to her!”

“Serve the Lord joyfully!”
“Servite Domino in laetitia!”

St John Bosco (1815-1888)

and more here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/quote-s-of-the-day-31-january-the-memorial-of-st-john-bosco-1815-1888/

DOCTORS of the Church, NOVENAS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY

Novena to St Francis de Sales Day One – 15 January

Posted on January 15, 2019January 14, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Novena to St Francis de Sales
Day One – 15 January

There is no clock, no matter how good it may be, that doesn’t need resetting and rewinding twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. In addition, at least once a year it must be taken apart to remove the dirt clogging it, straighten out bent parts and repair those worn out. In like manner, every morning and evening, a person who really takes care of his heart, must rewind it for God’s service by means of certain practices of piety. At least once a year he must take it apart and examine every piece in detail; that is, every affection and passion, in order to repair, whatever defects there may be. (INT. Part 5, Ch. 1; O. III, p. 340)

O blessed Francis de Sales,
who on earth did excel in a life of virtue,
especially in the love of God and neighbour,
I earnestly ask you to take me
under your compassionate care and protection.
Obtain for me conversion of mind and heart.
Grant that all people,
especially ……………………..
(names of those whom you wish to include)
may experience the depth of God’s redeeming and healing love.
Teach me to fix my eyes on the things of heaven
even as I walk each day with my feet planted firmly on the earth.
Help me, through the practice of virtue and the pursuit of devotion,
to avoid anything that would otherwise cause me to stumble
in my attempt to follow Christ
and to be an instrument of the Holy Spirit.
Encouraged by your prayers and example,
help me to live fully my sacred dignity
with the hope of experiencing my sacred destiny:
eternal life with God.
Receive also this particular need or concern
that I now lift up in prayer………………………………
(mention your particular need).
O God, for the salvation of all,
you desired that St Francis de Sales,
preacher, missionary, confessor, bishop and founder,
should befriend many along the road to salvation.
Mercifully grant that we,
infused with the humility and gentleness of his charity,
guided by his wisdom and sharing in his spirit
may experience eternal life.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

St Francis de Sales, pray for us.

CONFESSION/PENANCE, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, QUOTES "CARPE DIEM" - Seize the Day, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on DIVINE PROVIDENCE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on TIME, QUOTES on WORRY/ANXIETY, SPEAKING of ....., The WORD

Thought for the Day – 11 January – Living the Present Moment and the Joy of Confession

Posted on January 11, 2019January 11, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 11 January – 5th day after Epiphany

Living the Present Moment and the Joy of Confession:

The Wisdom of Venerable Fulton J Sheen (1895-1979)

“All our anxieties relate to time. A human being is the only time-conscious creature. Humans alone can bring the past to mind, so that it weighs on the present moment, with its accumulated heritage and they can also bring the future into the present, so as to imagine its occurrences as happening now. No animal ever says: “I have suffered this pain for six years and it will last until I die.” But, because a human being can unite the past to the present by memory and the future to the present by imagination, it is often necessary to distract him in his sufferings — to break up the continuity of misery. All unhappiness (when there is no immediate cause for sorrow) comes from excessive concentration on the past or from extreme preoccupation with the future. The major problems of psychiatry revolve around an analysis of the despair, pessimism, melancholy and complexes that are the inheritances of what has been or with the fears, anxieties, worries, that are the imaginings of what will be.

…A conscience burdened with the guilt of past sins is fearful of divine judgement. But God in His mercy, has given us two remedies for such an unhappiness. One is the Sacrament of Penance, which blots out the past by remission of our sins and lightens the future by our hope for divine mercy, through continued repentance and amendment of our lives. Nothing in human experience, is as efficacious in curing the memory and imagination, as confession – it cleanses us of guilt and if we follow the admonitions of Our Lord, we shall put completely out of mind our confessed sins: “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Lk 9:62). Confession also heals the imagination, eliminating its anxiety for the future – for now, with Paul, the soul cries out: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). nothing in human experience - ven fulton sheen 11 jan 2019.jpg

The second remedy, for the ills, that come to us from thinking about time, is what might be called the sanctification of the moment — or the Now. Our Lord laid down the rule for us in these words: “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Mt 6:34).

This means, that each day, has its own trials, we are not to borrow troubles from tomorrow, because that day too will have its cross. We are to leave the past to divine mercy and to trust the future, whatever its trials, to God’s loving providence. Each minute of life has its peculiar duty — regardless of the appearance that minute may take. The Now-moment is the moment of salvation. Each complaint against it is a defeat, each act of resignation to it is a victory.”

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ABORTION, QUOTES on ALMS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on the CHURCH, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 2 January – St Basil & St Gregory

Posted on January 2, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 2 January – The Memorial of St Basil the Great and St Gregory of Nazianzen

Two are better than one:
they get a good wage for their toil.
If the one falls, the other will help the fallen one.
But woe to the solitary person!
If that one should fall, there is no other to help…

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

“Let us raise ourselves from our fall
and not give up hope, as long as we are free from sin.
Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners.
‘Come, let us adore and prostrate ourselves and weep before him’ (Psalm 95:6).
The Word calls us to repentance, crying out:
‘Come to me, all you who labour and are heavily burdened and I will refresh you’ (Matthew 11:28).
There is, then, a way to salvation
if we are willing to follow it”
(from a letter by Saint Basil the Great)

“A tree is known by its fruit;
a man by his deeds.
A good deed is never lost,
he who sows courtesy, reaps friendship
and he who plants kindness, gathers love.”

“The bread which you use
is the bread of the hungry;
the garment hanging in your wardrobe
is the garment of him who is naked;
the shoes you do NOT wear,
are the shoes of the one who is barefoot;
the acts of charity that you do NOT perform,
are so many INJUSTICES that you commit.”

“The hairsplitting difference between
formed and unformed makes no difference to us.
Whoever deliberately commits abortion
is subject to the penalty for homicide.”

St Basil the Great (329-379) Father & Doctor of the Church

“Give something, however small,
to the one in need.
For it is not small to one who has nothing.
Neither is it small to God,
if we have given what we could.”

“If anyone does not believe
that Holy Mary
is the Mother of God,
such a one is a stranger
to the Godhead.”

“Let us not esteem worldly prosperity,
or adversity, as things real or of any moment
but let us live elsewhere
and raise all our attention to Heaven,
esteeming sin as the only true evil
and nothing truly good
but virtue, which unites us to God.”

St Gregory of Nazianzen (330-390) Father & Doctor of the Church

ADVENT, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HYMNS, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, The CHRIST CHILD, The INCARNATION, The WORD

Thought for the Day – 16 December 2018

Posted on December 16, 2018December 16, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 16 December 2018 – The Third ‘Gaudete’ Sunday of Advent

Saint Augustine (354-430)
Bishop and Great Western Father and Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from his Sermon 293

John is the voice but the Lord is the Word who was in the beginning. John is the voice that lasts for a time, from the beginning, Christ is the Word who lives forever.

Take away the word, the meaning and what is the voice? Where there is no understanding, there is only a meaningless sound. The voice without the word strikes the ear but does not build up the heart.

However, let us observe what happens when we first seek to build up our hearts. When I think about what I am going to say, the word or message is already in my heart. When I want to speak to you, I look for a way to share with your heart what is already in mine.

In my search for a way to let this message reach you, so that the word already in my heart may find a place also in yours, I use my voice to speak to you. The sound of my voice brings the meaning of the word to you and then passes away. The word which the sound has brought to you is now in your heart and yet it is still also in mine.

When the word has been conveyed to you, does not the sound seem to say – the word ought to grow and I should diminish? The sound of the voice has made itself heard in the service of the word and has gone away, as though it were saying – my joy is complete. Let us hold on to the word; we must not lose the word conceived inwardly in our hearts.

Do you need proof that the voice passes away but the divine Word remains? Where is John’s baptism today? It served its purpose and it went away. Now it is Christ’s baptism that we celebrate. It is in Christ that we all believe, we hope for salvation in Him. This is the message the voice cried out.

Because it is hard to distinguish word from voice, even John himself was thought to be the Christ. The voice was thought to be the word. But the voice acknowledged what it was, anxious not to give offence to the word. I am not the Christ, he said, nor Elijah, nor the prophet. And the question came: Who are you, then? He replied: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness – Prepare the way for the Lord!

The voice of one crying in the wilderness is the voice of one breaking the silence. Prepare the way for the Lord, he says, as though he were saying: “I speak out in order to lead Him into your hearts but He does not choose to come where I lead Him, unless you prepare the way for Him.”

To prepare the way means to pray well – it means thinking humbly of oneself. We should take our lesson from John the Baptist. He is thought to be the Christ, he declares he is not what they think. He does not take advantage of their mistake to further his own glory.

If he had said, “I am the Christ,” you can imagine how readily he would have been believed, since they believed he was the Christ even before he spoke. But he did not say it, he acknowledged what he was. He pointed out clearly who he was; he humbled himself.

He saw where his salvation lay. He understood that he was a lamp and his fear was that it might be blown out, by the wind of pride.”

I speak out in order to lead Him - st augustine - 16 dec 2018

“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

Come, O Come, Emmanuel!

come o come emmanuel - 16 dec 2018

ADVENT, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SIN, REDEMPTORISTS CSSR, The WORD

Advent and Christmas Wisdom with St Alphonsus Liguori

Posted on December 14, 2018December 14, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Advent and Christmas Wisdom with St Alphonsus Liguori

14 December – Friday of the Second week of Advent

Jesus suffers so much in order to gain our hearts

“Consider that Jesus suffered for our love. During His entire life, He had no other purpose than the glory of God and our salvation. Even though He could have saved us without suffering, He chose to embrace a life of suffering. He was poor, despised and deprived of every comfort, with a death that was more desolate and bitter than any death ever endured by a martyr or penitent. All of this, was done for the sole purpose of helping us understand the greatness of His love for us.

Saint Bonaventure exclaims, ‘It is a wonder to see a God endure such sufferings, shedding tears in a stable, poor in a workshop, languishing on a cross, in short afflicted and troubled His whole life, all because of His love for sinful humanity.'”

Scripture
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you to profit,
who leads you in the way you should go.”
Isaiah 48:17

Prayer (St Alphonsus)

“O sovereign God,
help me not to be ungrateful
for all that You have given me.
Help me to die in love with You.
Mary, my hope, help me.
Pray to Jesus for me.”

Advent Action
“O my Lord Jesus, whose love for me has been so great as to bring You down from heaven to save me, teach me, dear Lord, my sin—teach me its heinousness—teach me truly to repent of it—and pardon it in Your great mercy! I beg You, O my dear Saviour, to recover me! Your grace alone can do it. I cannot save myself. I cannot recover my lost ground. I cannot turn to You, I cannot please You, or save my soul without You. I shall go from bad to worse, I shall fall from You entirely, I shall quite harden myself against my neglect of duty, if I rely on my own strength. I shall make myself my centre instead of making it in You. I shall worship some idol of my own framing instead of You, the only true God and my Maker, unless You hinder it by Your grace. O my dear Lord, hear me! I have lived long enough in this undecided, wavering, unsatisfactory state. I wish to be Your good servant. I wish to sin no more. Be gracious to me and enable me to be what I know I ought to be.”…Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, PAPAL SERMONS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on FEAR, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, SAINT of the DAY

Thought for the Day – 7 December – The Memorial of St Ambrose (c 340-397)- Father and Doctor of the Church

Posted on December 7, 2018December 7, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 7 December – The Memorial of St Ambrose (c 340-397)- Father and Doctor of the Church

“Holy Bishop Ambrose – about whom I shall speak to you today – died in Milan in the night between 3 and 4 April 397. It was dawn on Holy Saturday. The day before, at about five o’clock in the afternoon, he had settled down to pray, lying on his bed with his arms wide open in the form of a cross. Thus, he took part in the solemn Easter Triduum, in the death and Resurrection of the Lord. “We saw his lips moving”, said Paulinus, the faithful deacon who wrote his Life at St Augustine’s suggestion, “but we could not hear his voice”. The situation suddenly became dramatic. Honoratus, Bishop of Vercelli, who was assisting Ambrose and was sleeping on the upper floor, was awoken by a voice saying again and again, “Get up quickly! Ambrose is dying…”. “Honoratus hurried downstairs”, Paulinus continues, “and offered the Saint the Body of the Lord. As soon as he had received and swallowed it, Ambrose gave up his spirit, taking the good Viaticum with him. His soul, thus refreshed by the virtue of that food, now enjoys the company of Angels” (Life, 47).

On that Holy Friday 397, the wide open arms of the dying Ambrose expressed his mystical participation in the death and Resurrection of the Lord. This was his last catechesis – in the silence of the words, he continued to speak with the witness of his life.

Like the Apostle John, Bishop Ambrose – who never tired of saying: “Omnia Christus est nobis! To us Christ is all!” – continues to be a genuine witness of the Lord. Let us thus conclude our Catechesis with his same words, full of love for Jesus: “Omnia Christus est nobis! If you have a wound to heal, He is the doctor; if you are parched by fever, He is the spring; if you are oppressed by injustice, He is justice; if you are in need of help, He is strength; if you fear death, He is life; if you desire Heaven, He is the way; if you are in the darkness, He is light…. Taste and see how good is the Lord, blessed is the man who hopes in Him!” (De Virginitate, 16, 99). Let us also hope in Christ. We shall thus be blessed and shall live in peace.”

Pope Benedict – Excerpt, General Audience, Catechesis on St Ambrose, 24 October 2007

St Ambrose, Pray for us!

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Thought for the Day – 27 November – The Little Number of Those Who Are Saved by St Leonard of Port Maurice OFM (1676-1751)

Posted on November 27, 2018November 27, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 27 November – The Little Number of Those Who Are Saved by St Leonard of Port Maurice OFM (1676-1751)

“Conclusion”
Brothers, I want to send all of you away comforted today. So if you ask me my sentiment on the number of those who are saved, here it is: Whether there are many or few that are saved, I say that whoever wants to be saved, will be saved and that no one can be damned if he does not want to be. And if it is true that few are saved, it is because there are few who live well. As for the rest, compare these two opinions – the first one states that the greater number of Catholics are condemned, the second one, on the contrary, pretends that the greater number of Catholics are saved. Imagine an Angel sent by God to confirm the first opinion, coming to tell you that not only are most Catholics damned but that of all this assembly present here, one alone will be saved. If you obey the Commandments of God, if you detest the corruption of this world, if you embrace the Cross of Jesus Christ in a spirit of penance, you will be that one alone who is saved.

Now imagine the same Angel returning to you and confirming the second opinion. He tells you that not only are the greater portion of Catholics saved but that out of all this gathering, one alone will be damned and all the others saved. If after that, you continue your usuries, your vengeances, your criminal deeds, your impurities, then you will be that one alone who is damned.

What is the use of knowing whether few or many are saved? Saint Peter says to us, “Strive by good works to make your election sure.” When Saint Thomas Aquinas’s sister asked him what she must do to go to heaven, he said, “You will be saved if you want to be.” I say the same thing to you and here is proof of my declaration. No one is damned unless he commits mortal sin – that is of faith. And no one commits mortal sin unless he wants to – that is an undeniable theological proposition. Therefore, no one goes to hell, unless he wants to – the consequence is obvious. Does that not suffice to comfort you?

Weep over past sins, make a good confession, sin no more in the future and you will all be saved. Why torment yourself so? For it is certain, that you have to commit mortal sin to go to hell and that to commit mortal sin, you must want to and that consequently, no one goes to hell, unless he wants to. That is not just an opinion, it is an undeniable and very comforting truth – may God give you to understand it and may He bless you. Amen.”

The Little Number of Those Who Are Saved
by St Leonard of Port Maurice
Full Sermon here: https://www.olrl.org/snt_docs/fewness.shtml

St Leonard of Port Maurice, Pray for Us!

CHRIST the KING, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, GOD the FATHER, MARIAN QUOTES, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SIN, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Quote/s of the Day 25 November – The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Posted on November 25, 2018November 25, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day 25 November – The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

“Hers was the happiness of first bearing in her womb
Him whom she would obey as her master.”

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

“The kingdom of God, in the words of our Lord and Saviour,
does not come for all to see; nor shall they say:
Behold, here it is, or behold, there it is;
but the kingdom of God is within us,
for the word of God is very near, in our mouth and in our heart.
Thus it is clear that he who prays for the coming of God’s kingdom,
prays rightly to have it within himself,
that there it might grow and bear fruit and become perfect.
For God reigns in each of his holy ones.
Anyone who is holy obeys the spiritual laws of God,
who dwells in Him as in a well-ordered city.
The Father is present in the perfect soul
and with Him Christ reigns, according to the words:
We shall come to him and make our home with him.”

“The kingdom of God cannot exist alongside the reign of sin.
Therefore, if we wish God to reign in us,
in no way should sin reign in our mortal body;
rather we should mortify our members which are upon the earth
and bear fruit in the Spirit.
There should be in us a kind of spiritual paradise where God may walk
and be our sole ruler with His Christ.
In us the Lord will sit at the right hand of that spiritual power
which we wish to receive.
And He will sit there until all His enemies,
who are within u,. become His footstool
and every principality, power and virtue in us is cast out.”

Origen (c185-253) Father of the Church

“The Word of God, as consubstantial with the Father,
has all things in common with Him and, therefore,
has necessarily supreme and absolute dominion,
over all things created.”

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