DOCTORS of the Church – Page 125

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, franciscan OFM, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FAITH, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 11 August – Saturday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 17:14–20

Posted on August 11, 2018 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 11 August – Saturday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 17:14–20

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”…Matthew 17:20

REFLECTION – “The word “faith” has one syllable but two meanings. First of all it is concerned with doctrine and it denotes the assent of the soul to some truth. Faith in this sense brings blessing and salvation to the soul, as the Lord said: “He who hears my word and believes in him who sent me, has eternal life.” (Jn 5:24)…
The word “faith” has a second meaning: it is a particular gift and grace of Christ. “To one is given throu gh the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing” (1Cor 12:8-9). Faith in the sense of a particular divine grace conferred by the Spirit is not, then, primarily concerned with doctrine but with giving a person powers quite beyond their natural capability. Whoever has this faith will say to a mountain: “Move from here to there” and it will move and anyone who can in fact say these words through faith and “believes without hesitation that they will come to pass,” (Mk 11:23) receives this particular grace. It is to this kind of faith that the Lord’s words refer: “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed.” Now a mustard seed is small in size but its energy thrusts it upwards with the force of fire. Small are its roots, great the spread of its boughs and once it is fully grown the birds of the air find shelter in its branches (Mt 13:32). So too, in a flash, faith can produce the most wonderful effects in the soul.
Enlightened by faith the soul gazes at the glory of God so far as human nature allows and, even before the consummation of all things, ranging beyond the boundaries of the universe, it has a vision of the judgement and of God making good the rewards he promised. As far as it depends on you then, cherish this gift of faith that leads you to God and you will then receive the higher gift which no effort of yours can reach, no power of yours attain.”…Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (313-350) Bishop of Jerusalem, Father & Doctor of the Church (Baptismal Catechesis 5)

PRAYER – Holy God, grant we pray, Your Holy Spirit of love and divine grace to grow ever more in faith. By our prayers and love for You and our neighbour, may we merit Your divine assistance. Lord Jesus, help us to dwell often on the manner in which we are following You. Let us strive each day to become more and more like You in all things and, to become beacons of Your Light, to all the world. St Clare of Assisi, you who were a light to all, pray for us, amen. st-clare-of-assisi-pray-for-us-11 aug 2017

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Quote of the Day – 10 August – Feast of St Lawrence, Martyr (died 258) – Today’s Gospel: John 12:24–26

Posted on August 10, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 10 August – Feast of St Lawrence, Martyr (died 258) – Today’s Gospel: John 12:24–26 if anyone serves me - john 12 26 - 10 august 2018

“Jesus brought new hope into the world and He did so in the manner of the seed: He became very small, like a grain of wheat, He left his heavenly glory in order to come among us, He “fell into the earth”.
But this still was not enough.
In order to bear fruit, Jesus experienced love to the fullest, allowing Himself to be split open by death as a seed lets itself split open under the ground. Precisely there, at the lowest point of His abasement — which is also the loftiest point of love — hope burgeoned.
When we choose the hope of Jesus, we gradually discover, that the successful way of life is that of the seed, that of humble love. There is no other way to conquer evil and give hope to the world. But you might tell me: “No, it is a losing rationale!” . It might seem so, seem that it is a losing rationale because those who love, lose power. Have you considered this? Those who love, lose power; those who give, impart something and loving is a gift.
In reality, the rationale of the seed that dies, of humble love, is God’s way and only this bears fruit.”

Pope Francis General Audience, 12 April 2017)

“We must note, therefore,
that he that does things pleasing to God,
serves Christ but he that follows his own wishes,
is a follower, rather of himself and not of God.”

St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444)

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, ON the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 10 August – Feast of St Lawrence, Martyr (died 258) – Today’s Gospel: John 12:24–26

Posted on August 10, 2018August 9, 2018 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 10 August – Feast of St Lawrence, Martyr (died 258) – Today’s Gospel: John 12:24–26

“If anyone serves me, he must follow me and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honour him.”…John 12:26 if anyone serves me - john 12 26 - 10 august 2018

REFLECTION – “Dear brothers, your faith recognises this seed fallen into the earth that death has multiplied. Your faith recognises it because it dwells in your hearts. No christian hesitates to believe what Christ said of Himself. But when this seed died and multiplied, many seeds were scattered on the earth. Saint Lawrence is one of them and today we celebrate the day when he was sown. We see what a tremendous harvest has sprung up from all those seeds scattered over all the earth and the sight fills us with joy, provided only that we ourselves belong to God’s grain store, by His grace.
For not everything that is harvested goes into the grain store. The same necessary and fruitful rain causes both good seed and straw to grow but we don’t store both of them in the barn. Now is the time for us to choose… Listen to me, you holy seed, for I have no doubt that it is here in abundance… Listen to me or, rather, listen to Him in me who was first called a good seed. Do not love your life in this world! If you truly love yourselves do not thus love your life and then you will save your life!.. “Whoever loves his life in this world will lose it.” It is the good seed who said that: the seed thrown into the ground who died that He might bear much fruit. Listen to Him because as He speaks so has He done. He both teaches us and shows us the way by example.
Christ wasn’t attached to the life of this world. He came into the world to be stripped of Himself, to give His life and take it up again when He willed… He, the true man, is true God, a sinless man that He might take away the sin of the world, clothed with power so great that He could truly say: “I have power to lay down my life and power to take it up again. No one can take it from me; it is I who lay it down and I who take it up again” (Jn 10,18)…. St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church (Sermon 305) now is the time for us to choose - st augustine - 10 august 2018

PRAYER – Lord God, You inspired St Lawrence with so ardent a love that his life was renowned for the service of Your people and his death for the splendour of his martyrdom. Help us to love what he loved and to life as he showed us. St Lawrence, Martyr for Christ and His Church, pray for us. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever amen. st lawrence pray for us - 10 august 2018

DOCTORS of the Church, franciscan OFM, MORNING Prayers, SAINT of the DAY

Our Morning Offering – 10 August – Feast of St Lawrence, Martyr (died 258)

Posted on August 10, 2018August 9, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 10 August – Feast of St Lawrence, Martyr (died 258)

O Love Eternal
By St Francis De Sales OFM Cap (1567-1622) Doctor of the Church

O love eternal,
my soul needs
and chooses You eternally!
Ah, come Holy Spirit,
and inflame our hearts with Your love!
To love – or to die!
To die – and to love!
To die to all other love
in order to live in Jesus’ love,
so that we may not die eternally.
But that we may live in Your eternal love,
O Saviour of our souls,
we eternally sing,
“Live, Jesus!
Jesus, I love!
Live, Jesus, whom I love!
Jesus, I love,
Jesus who lives and reigns
forever and ever.
Amen o love eternal - st francis de sales - 10 aug 2018

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SUNDAY REFLECTIONS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, Uncategorized

Sunday Reflection – 5 August – Today’s Gospel: John 6:24-35

Posted on August 5, 2018August 5, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Sunday Reflection – 5 August – Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: John 6:24-35

“Bread is not made from one grain but from many. It’s as though you, who were many were ground. When you were baptised it’s as though you were mixed into dough. When you received the fire of the Holy Spirit, it’s as though you were baked.
Be what you can see and receive what you are.

After all, just as many grains are mixed into one loaf in order to produce the visible appearance of bread, as though what holy scripture says about the faithful were happening: They had one soul and one heart in God (Acts 4:32); so too with the wine. Brothers and sisters, just remind yourselves what wine is made from; many grapes hang in the bunch but the juice of the grapes is poured together in one vessel.”

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

DOCTORS of the Church, MARIAN QUOTES, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Quote of the Day – 5 August – Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major/Our Lady of the Snow

Posted on August 5, 2018August 5, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 5 August – Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major/ Our Lady of the Snow

“Mary is the Divine Page
on which the Father
wrote the Word of God,
His Son.”

St Albert the Great (1206-1280) Doctor of the Church

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 3 August – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 13:54–58

Posted on August 3, 2018August 3, 2018 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 3 August – Friday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 13:54–58 and The Memorial of Bl Augustine Gazotich O.P. (1262-1323)

Is not this the carpenter’s son?…And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief....Matthew 13:55,58

REFLECTION – “For if I do not understand the nature placed at my service, I discern Your goodness from the mere fact that it is there to serve me. I perceive that I do not even understand myself but I wonder at You all the more… You have given me intellect, life and human feeling, the source of so many joys, yet I do not begin to understand how I began to be…
So it is through failing to understand what surrounds me that I grasp what You are and it is through perceiving what You are that I come to adore You. That is why, in what concerns Your mysteries, my incomprehension lessens not a bit my faith in Your omnipotence… Your eternal Son’s birth exceeds even the idea of eternity; it is prior to the times everlasting. Before any other thing that exists, He was Son proceeding from You, O God and Father. He is true God… You have never existed without Him… Before ever time was, You are the eternal Father of Your Sole Begotten One.”…St Hilary (315-368) Bishop of Poitiers, Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – “So long as I enjoy that breath of life granted to me by You, Holy Father, Almighty God, I will proclaim You as God eternal but also as Father eternal. Never will I set myself up as judge of Your almighty power and mysteries; never will I set my limited understanding before the true appreciation of Your infinity; never will I claim You to have existed beforehand without Your Wisdom, Power and Word, God the Only-Begotten, my Lord Jesus Christ. For even though human language is weak and imperfect when it speaks of You, this will not inhibit my mind to the point of reducing my faith to silence for lack of words able to express the mystery of Your being…” (St Hilary) Lord God, You hold out the light of Your Word to those who do not know You. Strengthen in our hearts the faith You have given us, so that no trials may quench the fire Your Spirit kindled within us. Grant that the prayers of Bl Augustine Gazotich, may assist us to grow in love. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen. bl augustine gazotich - pray for us 3 aug 2018

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 3 August – Friday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time

Posted on August 3, 2018August 2, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 3 August – Friday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time

For Your Mercy’s Sake
By St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church

For Your mercy’s sake, O Lord my God,
tell me what You are to me.
Say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
So speak that I may hear, O Lord,
my heart is listening,
open it, that it may hear You
and say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
After hearing this word,
may I come in haste to take hold of You.
Hide not Your face from me.
Let me see Your face even if I die,
lest I die with longing to see it.
The house of my soul
is too small to receive You;
let it be enlarged by You.
It is all in ruins;
do You repair it.
There are thing in it,
I confess and I know,
that must offend Your sight.
But who shall cleanse it?
Or to what others besides You shall I cry out?
From my secret sins cleanse me, O Lord
and from those of others spare Your servant.
Amen

for your mercy's sake - st augustine - 10 april 2018

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, STATIONS of the CROSS

Thought for the Day – 1 August – The Memorial of (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church ST ALPHONSUS DE LIGUORI – REACHING THE PEOPLE

Posted on August 1, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 1 August – The Memorial of (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church
ST ALPHONSUS DE LIGUORI – REACHING THE PEOPLE

With thanks to the C.Ss.R. Baltimore Province

St Alphonsus was a brilliant, articulate, pragmatic preacher. He knew how to reach ordinary people who had limited education and very real needs. They followed this gifted preacher from church to church and town to town to hear him preach the message of hope in Christ for all people.

Three great images, basic to the Christian faith, formed the heart of Alphonsus’ preaching and teaching — Jesus an infant in the crib, Jesus crucified on the Cross, and Jesus vibrantly alive and filled with love for all in the Eucharist. To this he added the image of Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer. When other theologians were opposed to devotion to Mary, Alphonsus invoked her: “Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.”

Alphonsus appreciated how the poor and working class people expressed their realities through song. A gifted musician and composer, he wrote many popular hymns and taught them to the people in parish missions. His compositions continue to be sung around the world and have never lost their charm and popularity. Redemptorists today still follow the cue of their founder. Their message, announcing the abundance of God’s love, is enriched by the spiritual songs they sing in their community and with the people of God.

Alphonsus wrote for the people. Many turned to his spiritual writing, for he wrote in a way that was understandable to anyone with a basic education. On winter evenings in his time, the people in the villages often gathered around a fire in someone’s home. Someone read stories about the Gospels or the lives of the saints, things that nourished their faith and helped them to pray. Alphonsus’ works were frequent choices and they remain so still, his works are a fountain of holiness. Which of us has not, in our home poarishes all over the world, prayed his Stations of the Cross? They will always be one of the treasures of the Church. http://immaculateheartbalornock.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Stations-of-the-Cross-Booklet.pdf

St Alphonsus, Pray for us!

DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, MARIAN QUOTES, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on the CHURCH, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Quote/s of the Day – 1 August – The Memorial of St Alphonsus Liquori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church

Posted on August 1, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 1 August – The Memorial of St Alphonsus Liquori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church

“Your God is ever beside you –
indeed, He is even within you.”

“Know also that you will probably gain more
by praying fifteen minutes
before the Blessed Sacrament
than by all the other spiritual exercises of the day.
True, Our Lord hears our prayers anywhere,
for He has made the promise, ‘Ask, and you shall receive,’
but He has revealed to His servants,
that those who visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament
will obtain a more abundant measure of grace.”

“St Augustine and St Thomas
define mortal sin
to be a turning away from God:
that is, the turning of one’s back upon God,
leaving the Creator for the sake of the creature.
What punishment would that subject deserve who,
while his king was giving him a command,
contemptuously turned his back upon him to go
and transgress his orders?
This is what the sinner does;
and this is punished in hell with the pain of loss,
that is, the loss of God,
a punishment richly deserved by him
who in this life turns his back upon his sovereign good.”

“Let us thank God
for having called us to His holy faith.
It is a great gift
and the number of those,
who thank God for it is small.”

“All others had a Redeemer Who delivered them
from sin with which they were already defiled
but that the most Blessed Virgin had a Redeemer Who,
because He was her Son,
preserved her from ever being defiled by it. “

“Just as there is not one among all the Blessed
who loves God as Mary does, so there is no one,
after God, who loves us as much as this most loving Mother does.
Furthermore, if we heaped together
all the love that mothers have for their children,
all the love of husbands and wives,
all the love of all the angels and Saints for their clients,
it could never equal Mary’s love for even a single soul.”

“Were you to ask, ‘what are the mans of overcoming temptations’, I would answer:

the first means is prayer; the second is prayer; the third is prayer and should you ask me a thousand times, I would repeat the same.”

“Without prayer, we have neither light nor strength, to advance in the way which leads to God.”

“He who prays most receives most.”

St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church

‘

DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on LOVE, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 1 August – The Memorial of St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church

Posted on August 1, 2018 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 1 August – The Memorial of St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church

May the Lord…make you overflow with love for one another and for all.…1 Thessalonians 3:12 1-thes-3-12-2-1 august 2017

REFLECTION – “The means for attaining perfect love is to accomplish frequent acts of love. Fire is kindled by the wood that we cast into it and love is enkindled by acts of love.”….St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – Loving Father, grant me the grace to strive after perfect love. Help me to bring forth frequent acts of love, to all and sundry, to each of my neighbours, so that I may grow in this greatest of virtues… St Alphonsus Liguori pray for us, amen.

DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

Our Morning Offering – 1 August – The Memorial of (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church

Posted on August 1, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 1 August – The Memorial of (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church

The One Thing Necessary
By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church

0 my God, help me to remember
That time is short, eternity is long.
What good is all the greatness of this world at the hour of death?
To love You, my God
and save my soul is the one thing necessary.
Without You, there is no peace, no joy.
My God, I need fear nothing but sin.
For to lose You, my God, is to lose all.
0 my God, help me to remember –
That to gain all I must leave all,
That in loving You
I have all good things,
the infinite riches of Christ
and His Church,
the motherly protection of Mary,
peace beyond understanding,
joy unspeakable!
Eternal Father, Your Son has promised,
that whatever we ask in His Name will be given to us.
In His Name I pray:
give me a burning faith,
a joyful hope,
a holy love for Jesus Christ.
Give me the grace of perseverance
in doing Your will in all things.
Do with me what You will.
I repent of having offended You.
Grant, O Lord, that I may love You always
and never let me be separated from You.
O my God and my All,
make me a saint!
Amen

the one thing necessary - st alphonsus liguori - 24 feb 2018

Against SCRUPELOSITY, for Scrupulous people, All THEOLOGIANS, Moral Theologians, CONFESSORS, DOCTORS of the Church, GOUT, KNEE PROBLEMS, ARTHRITIS, etc, Of a Holy DEATH & AGAINST A SUDDEN DEATH, of the DYING, FINAL PERSEVERANCE, DEATH of CHILDREN, DEATH of PARENTS, REDEMPTORISTS CSSR, SAINT of the DAY, Uncategorized

Saint of the Day – 1 August – St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori C.Ss.R. (1696-1787) – Doctor of the Church

Posted on August 1, 2018July 30, 2023 by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 1 August – St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori C.Ss.R. (1696-1787) – Confessor, Bishop, Doctor of the Church, Founder of the Redemptorists, Spiritual Writer, Composer, Musician, Artist, Poet, Lawyer, Scholastic Philosopher and Theologian. Patronages – against arthritis, against scrupulosity, of Confessors (given on 26 February 1950 by Pope Pius XII), final perseverance, moral theologians, moralists (1950 by Pope Pius XII), scrupulous people, vocations, Diocese of Acerra, Italy, Diocese of Agrigento, Italy,l Pagani, Italy, Sant’Agata de’ Goti, Italy.

The Roman Martyrology states of St Alphonsus today: “At Nocera-de-Pagani, Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Bishop of St Agatha of the Goths and Founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists), distinguished by his zeal for the salvation of souls, by his writings, his preaching and his example.
He was inscribed on the Calendar of the Saints by Pope Gregory XVI in the year 1839, the 52nd after his happy death and , in 1871, was declared Doctor of the Universal Church by Pius IX, according to a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites.“ header image - alphonsus

St Alphonsus was born of noble parents, near Naples, in 1696. His spiritual training was entrusted to the Fathers of the Oratory in that city and from his boyhood Alphonsus was known as a most devout Brother of the Little Oratory. At the early age of sixteen he was made doctor in law and he threw himself into this career with ardour and success.

A mistake, by which he lost an important cause, showed him the vanity of human fame and determined him to labour only for the glory of God. He entered the priesthood, devoting himself to the most neglected souls and to carry on this work he founded later the missionary Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, The Redemptorists.

At the age of sixty-six he became Bishop of St Agatha and undertook the reform of his diocese with the zeal of a Saint. He made a vow never to lose time and, though his life was spent in prayer and work, he composed a vast number of books, filled with such science, unction and wisdom that he has been declared one of the Doctors of the Church. st alphonsus - BEAUTIFUL image!

St Alphonsus wrote his first book at the age of forty-nine and in his eighty-third year had published about 100 volumes, when his director forbade him to write more. Very many of these books were written in the half-hours snatched from his labours as missionary, religious superior and Bishop, or in the midst of continual bodily and mental sufferings. With his left hand he would hold a piece of marble against his aching head while his right hand wrote.

alphonsus

Yet he counted no time wasted which was spent in charity. He did not refuse to hold a long correspondence with a simple soldier who asked his advice, or to play the harpsichord while he taught his novices to sing spiritual canticles. He lived in evil times, and met with many persecutions and disappointments.

For his last seven years he was prevented by constant sickness from offering the Adorable Sacrifice but he received Holy Communion daily and his love for Jesus Christ and his trust in Mary’s prayers sustained him to the end.

He died in 1787, in his ninety-first year. alphonsus 2

For lots more details on St Alphonsus here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/08/01/saint-of-the-day-1-august-st-alphonsus-maria-de-liguori-c-ss-r-doctor-of-the-church/ alphonsus relics

alphonsus by lawrence op

DOCTORS of the Church, JESUIT SJ, SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 1 August

Posted on August 1, 2018July 31, 2018 by AnaStpaul

St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church (Memorial)

Posted here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/08/01/saint-of-the-day-1-august-st-alphonsus-maria-de-liguori-c-ss-r-doctor-of-the-church/

—
Portiuncula Indulgence: An indulgence which may be gained in any church so designated by the bishop, by all the faithful who after Confession and Holy Communion, visit such churches between noon of 1 August and midnight of 2 August, or on the Sunday following. The indulgence is toties quoties and is applicable to the souls in Purgatory.

Feast Saint Peter in Chains: The feast was originally kept in Rome, Italy to commemorate the dedication of the Church of Saint Peter on the Esquiline Hill built by Eudoxia Licinia in 442 and rebuilt by Adrian I in the 8th century. When the chains which Saint Peter had worn in prison and from which he was freed by angelic intervention were later venerated there, the feast received its present name.
The date when these chains were brought from Jerusalem is disputed; some claim they were brought in 116 by travellers sent in search of them by Saint Balbina and her father Saint Quirinus, while others think Saint Eudoxia brought them in 439. St Pope Leo the Great united them to the chains with which Saint Peter had been fettered in the Mamertine Prison, forming a chain about two yards long which is preserved in a bronze safe and guarded by a special confraternity.
Patronage
• diocese of Annecy, France
• Donnas, Italy
—
St Adela Mardosewicz
Bl Aleksy Sobaszek
St Alexander of Perga
St Almedha
St Arcadius
St Attius of Perga
St Buono
St Brogan
St Charity
St Ethelwold of Winchester
St Exuperius of Bayeux
St Faith
St Faustus
St Felix of Gerona
St Friard
Bl Gerhard Hirschfelder
Bl Giovanni Bufalari
St Hope
St Jadwiga Karolina Zak
St Jonatus
St Justin of Paris
St Kenneth of Wales
St Leontius of Perga
St Maur
St Nemesius of Lisieux
Bl Orlando of Vallombrosa
St Peregrinus of Modena

Bl Pierre-Lucien Claverie – Martyr
St Rioch
Bl Rudolph
St Secundel
St Secundus of Palestrina
St Sophia
St Verus of Vienne
—
Holy Maccabees: Jewish dynasty which began with the rebellion of Mathathias and his five sons against the Syrian king, Antiochus IV (168 BC) and ruled the fortunes of Israel until the advent of Herod the Great. Syrian attempts to force Greek paganism on the Jews, the profanation of the Temple at Jerusalem and the massacre which followed, brought the nation to arms under Mathathias, a priest of the sons of Joarib. At the death of Mathathias, Judas Machabeus, his third son, drove the Syrians and Hellenists out of Jerusalem, rededicated the Temple and began an offensive and defensive alliance with the Romans. Before the treaty was concluded, however, Judas, with 800 men, risked battle at Laisa with an overwhelming army of Syrians under Bacchides, and was slain. He was succeeded in command by his youngest brother, Jonathan (161 BC). Jonathan defeated Bacchides, revenged the death of his brother and made peace with Alexander who had usurped the throne of Demetrius, the successor to Antiochus. A period of peace followed in which Jonathan ruled as high priest in Jerusalem but Tryphon, who was plotting for the throne of Asia, treacherously captured him at ptolemais and later put him to death. The captaincy of the armies of Israel then fell to Simon, the second son of Mathathias. Under him the land of Juda flourished exceedingly. He obtained the complete independence of the country and a grateful people bestowed upon him the hereditary kingship of the nation. His rule marked five years of uninterrupted peace. He was treacherously slain by his son-in-law, Ptolemy, about the year 135 BC After Simon the race of the Machabees quickly degenerated. In 63 BC the Romans thought it necessary to interfere in the fratricidal war between Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II. With this interference and the advent of Herod the Great the sceptre passed forever from the land of Juda. The story of the Machabees is written in the two books of the Old Testament which bear that name.

Saints Faith, Hope and Charity: The daughters of Saint Sophia. While still children, they were tortured and martyred for their faith in the persecutions of Hadrian. They were scourged, thrown into a fire, and then beheaded.

Martyrs of Nowogrodek – 11 beati: A group of eleven Holy Family of Nazareth nuns who were murdered by the Nazi Gestapo in exchange for 120 condemned citizens of Nowogrodek, Belarus who were scheduled for revenge killings. They are –
• Adela Mardosewicz
• Anna Kukolowicz
• Eleonora Aniela Józwik
• Eugenia Mackiewicz
• Helena Cierpka
• Jadwiga Karolina Zak
• Józefa Chrobot
• Julia Rapiej
• Leokadia Matuszewska
• Paulina Borowik
• Weronika Narmontowicz
They were machine-gunned by firing squad on 1 August 1943 by the Gestapo about three miles outside Novogrudok (Nowogródek), Hrodzyenskaya voblasts’, in Nazi occupied Belarus and buried on the site of the execution in a common grave. One of their surviving sisters, Maria Malgorzata Banas, located the grave on 19 March 1945 and tended to it until her death in 1966. Their relics have since been re-interred in a common sarcophagus in the chapel of the Novograd Farny Church (the Church of the Transfiguration, also known as Biala Fara or the White Church). They were Beatified on
5 March 2000 by St Pope John Paul II in Rome, Italy.

Martyrs of Philadelphia – 6 saints
Martyrs of Vietnam
Benado Vo Van Due
Ðaminh Nguyen Van Hanh
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War
Benito Iñiguez de Heredia Alzola
Francesc de Paula Soteras Culla
Joan Bonavida Dellá
José de Miguel Arahal
Justino Alarcón Vera
Sebastià Tarragó Cabré
Vicente Montserrat Millán
Nicholas de la Torre Merino

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, SAINT of the DAY

Thought for the Day -30 July – Gold constantly increases in value.

Posted on July 30, 2018July 29, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day -30 July – The Memorial of St Peter Chrysologus “Golden Words” (c 400-450) Father & Doctor

Saint Peter’s great gift to the Church are the words he left behind and the impact those words have upon those who hear them—both while he was alive and in the present day.
His name, meaning “Golden Words” in Greek, comes not from long and intricate homilies given on complex theological issues but rather his humility and the hope that he would not “bore” the faithful.
His teachings on the Annunciation, Prayer, Fasting and Mercy, the Holy Eucharist, the Incarnation and Human Dignity, the Priesthood of All Catholic Believers, the Epiphany, the Love of God and more—as well as around 180 other sermons—survive today, inspiring us and reminding us of the core tenets of our faith.
He is credited as the first to deliver the “short sermon”—morally rich, Gospel-driven, doctrinally sound brief reflections on the Catholic way of being in the world, of living what Christ taught us.
St Peter was called “Golden Words” because his eloquence ‘enriched’ those who listened, though the words themselves have immense value.

The wonder of Gold is that it does not tarnish or lose its value, in fact gold constantly increases in value. Reading today his golden words, we can certainly agree with his nickname, for they are even more valuable in our time possibly, than in his. And, let us not forget that ‘good listening’ is as important as good preaching.

St Peter Chrysologus, Pray for us!

DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on CHASTITY, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on MERCY, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day 30 July – The Memorial of St Peter Chrysologus “Golden Words” (c 400-450) Father & Doctor

Posted on July 30, 2018July 30, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day 30 July – The Memorial of St Peter Chrysologus “Golden Words”

(c 400-450) Father & Doctor

“Each of us is called to be both a sacrifice to God and His priest.
Do not forfeit what divine authority confers on you.
Put on the garment of holiness,
gird yourself with the belt of chastity.
Let Christ be your helmet,
let the cross on your forehead be your unfailing protection.
Your breastplate should be the knowledge of God
that He Himself has given you.
Keep burning continually the sweet smelling incense of prayer.
Take up the sword of the Spirit.
Let your heart be an altar.
Then, with full confidence in God, present your body for sacrifice.
God desires not death but faith;
God thirsts not for blood but for self-surrender;
God is appeased not by slaughter but by the offering of your free will.”

“He is The Bread sown in the virgin,
leavened in the Flesh,
moulded in His Passion,
baked in the furnace of the Sepulchre,
placed in the Churches
and set upon the Altars,
which daily supplies Heavenly Food to the faithful.”

“For he who touches
the Body of Christ unworthily,
receives his damnation.”

“Now that we are reborn,…
in the likeness of our Lord
and have indeed been adopted
by God as his children,
let us put on the complete image
of our Creator
so as to be wholly like Him,
not in the glory that He alone possesses
but in innocence, simplicity, gentleness,
patience, humility, mercy, harmony,
those qualities in which He chose to become
and to be, one with us.”

“The poor stretch out the hand
but God receives what is offered.”

” If you want God to know that you are hungry,
know that another is hungry.
If you hope for mercy, show mercy.
If you look for kindness, show kindness.
If you want to receive, give.
If you ask for yourself what you deny to others,
your asking is a mockery.”

“Anyone who wishes
to frolic with the devil
cannot rejoice with Christ.”

“We exhort you, in every respect, honourable brother,
to heed obediently what has been written
by the Most Blessed Pope of the City of Rome;
for Blessed Peter, who lives and presides in his own see,
provides the truth of faith to those who seek it.”

St Peter Chrysologus “Golden Words”

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 30 July

Posted on July 30, 2018 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 30 July – Monday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time, Year B and The Memorial of St Peter Chrysologus “Golden Words” (c 400-450) Father & Doctor

“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”..Matthew 13:33

REFLECTION – “Let us give the deep meaning of this parable. The woman who took some yeast is the Church; the yeast which she took is the revelation of heavenly doctrine; the three measures with which she mixed the yeast are the Law, the Prophets and the Gospels, where the divine meaning mixes itself and hides itself under symbolic terms, to be understood by the believer but escape those who do not believe. As for these words “until the whole batch was leavened”, they relate to what the apostle Paul says: “Now we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away” (1Co 13:9). The knowledge of God is now in the dough: it spreads to the senses, it inflates hearts, strengthens our minds and like all instruction, widens them, lifts them and opens them up to the dimensions of heavenly wisdom. Everything will soon be leavened. When? at the advent of Christ.”...St Peter Chrysologus

PRAYER – God our Father, You made St Peter Chrysologus a most eloquent preacher of Christ, Your Word. By his intercession, help us top meditate constantly in our hearts, on the mysteries by which You save us and to manifest them faithfully in our lives. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen. st-peter-chrysologus-pray-for-us.30 july 2017jpg

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

Our Morning Offering – 30 July

Posted on July 30, 2018July 29, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 30 July

In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
By St Hilary (315-368) Father & Doctor of the Church

Father, keep us from vain strife of words.
Grant to us constant profession of the Truth!
Preserve us in a true and undefiled faith
so that we may hold fast to that
which we professed when we were baptised
in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
that we may have Thee for our Father,
that we may abide in Thy Son
and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
Amen in the name of the father son and holy spirit - s thilary - father keep us from vain strife of words - 30 july 2018

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, Of the SICK, the INFIRM, All ILLNESS, PATRONAGE - OF DOGS and against DOG BITES and/or RABIES, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 30 July – St Peter Chrysologus (c 400-450) “Golden Words”

Posted on July 30, 2018December 3, 2022 by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 30 July – St Peter Chrysologus (c 400-450) “Golden Words” Father & Doctor of the Church – Bishop of Ravenna, Italy. Patronages – against fever, against mad dogs, of Imola, Italy.

Today we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Peter Chrysologus, a fifth-century Italian bishop known for testifying courageously to Christ’s full humanity and divinity during a period of the heresy called Monophysite.

The saint’s title, Chrysologus, signifies “golden speech” in Greek. Named as a Doctor of the Church in 1729, he is distinguished as the “Doctor of Homilies” for the concise but theologically rich reflections he delivered during his time as the Bishop of Ravenna.

His surviving works (176 of sermons), offer eloquent testimony to the Church’s traditional beliefs about Mary’s perpetual virginity, the penitential value of Lent, Christ’s Eucharistic presence, and the primacy of St Peter and his successors in the Church. header - st peter chyrsologus

Few details of St Peter Chrysologus’ early life are known. He was born in the Italian Town of Imola in either the late fourth or early fifth century but sources differ as to whether this occurred around 380 or as late as 406.

Following his study of theology, Peter was Ordained to the Diaconate by Imola’s local Bishop Cornelius, whom he greatly admired and regarded as his spiritual father. Cornelius not only Ordained Peter but taught him the value of humility and self-denial. The lessons of his mentor inspired Peter to live as a Monk for many years, embracing a lifestyle of asceticism, simplicity and prayer. His simple monastic life came to an end, however, after the death of Archbishop John of Ravenna in 430. After John’s death, the clergy and people of Ravenna chose a successor and asked Cornelius, still the Bishop of Imola, to journey to Rome and obtain Papal approval for the candidate. Cornelius brought Peter, then still a Deacon, along with him on the visit to Pope Sixtus III.

Tradition relates that the Pope had experienced a vision from God on the night before the meeting, commanding him to overrule Ravenna’s choice of a new Archbishop. The Pope declared that Peter, instead, was to be Ordained as John’s successor.

In Ravenna, Peter was received warmly by the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III and his mother Galla Placidia. She is said to have given him the title of “Chrysologus” because of his preaching skills. Throughout the Archdiocese, however, he encountered the surviving remnants of paganism, along with various abuses and distortions of the Catholic faith. Peter exercised zeal and pastoral care in curbing abuses and evangelising non-Christians, during his leadership of the Church in Ravenna. my snip - st peter chrysologus

One of the major heresies of his age, Monophysitism, held that Christ did not possess a distinct human nature in union with His eternal divine nature. Peter laboured to prevent the westward spread of this error, promoted from Constantinople by the monk Eutyches.

The Archbishop of Ravenna also made improvements to the City’s Cathedral and built several new Churches. Near the end of his life he addressed a significant letter to Eutyches, stressing the Pope’s authority in the Monophysite controversy.

Having returned to Imola in anticipation of his death, St Peter Chrysologus died in 450, one year before the Church’s official condemnation of Monophysitism. 176 of his sermons have survived; it is the strength of these beautiful explanations of the Incarnation, the Creed, the place of Mary and John the Baptist in the great plan of salvation, etc., that led to his being proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1729 by Pope Benedict XIII.

DOCTORS of the Church, SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 30 July

Posted on July 30, 2018July 29, 2018 by AnaStpaul

St Peter Chrysologus (c 400-450) (Optional Memorial) “Golden Words” Doctor of the Church
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/07/30/saint-of-the-day-30-july-st-peter-chrysologus-golden-worded-doctor-of-homilies-doctor-of-the-church/

St Abdon
Bl Antonio di San Pietro
Bl Edward Powell
St Ermengyth
St Hatebrand
St Julitta of Caesarea
St Leopold Bogdan Mandic
Bl Manés de Guzmán
St María Natividad Venegas de La Torre
Bl Richard Featherstone
St Rufinus of Assisi
St Senen
St Tatwine of Canterbury
St Terenzio of Imola
Bl Thomas Abel
St Ursus of Auxerre
Bl Vicenta Chavez-Orozco
—
Martyrs of Castelseras: Three Dominicans, two of them priests, one a novice, who were martyred together in the Spanish Civil War for refusing to renounce Christianity.
• Joaquín Prats Baltueña
• José María Muro-Sanmiguel
• Zosimo Izquierdo Gil
They were shot on 30 July 1936 at a farm house outside Castelserás, Teruel, Spain and Beatified on 11 March 2001 by Pope John Paul II.

Martyrs of Tebourba – 3 saints: Three girls martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know little else about them but the names – Donatilla, Maxima and Secunda. 304 at Tebourba in North Africa.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: Thousands of people were murdered in the anti-Catholic persecutions of the Spanish Civil War from 1934 to 1939. Today’s list includes the following:

The Martyred Hospitallers of Spain and
Bl Alejandro Arraya Caballero
Bl Alejandro González Blanco
Bl Bernabé Núñez Alonso
Bl Eugenio García Tribaldos
Bl Francesc Salla Saltó
Bl Guillermo Álvarez Quemada
Bl Jaume Puig Mirosa
Bl Juan Lanz Palanca
Bl Luis Aguirre Bilbao
Bl Luis Herrero Arnillas
Bl Miguel Solas del Val
Bl Pablo Díaz de Zárate y Ortiz de Zárate
Bl Rafael Martí Fugueras
Bl Ramón Palos Gascón
Bl Ricardo Pla Espí
Bl Sebastià Llorens Telarroja
Bl Sergio Cid Paz

DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SUNDAY REFLECTIONS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Sunday Reflection – 29 July – Become the bread of Christ – St Bernard (1090-1153) Doctor of the Church

Posted on July 29, 2018July 29, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Sunday Reflection – 29 July

Become the bread of Christ

St Bernard (1090-1153) Doctor of the Church

Saint Bernard teaches that it is not enough for us to take and eat the Bread from Heaven.
We must also offer ourselves to be eaten.
Holy Communion is a wondrous exchange in which we become the bread of Christ.
Listen to Saint Bernard:

“My penitence, my salvation are His food.
I myself am His food.
I am chewed. as I am reproved by Him;
I am swallowed by Him. as I am taught;
I am digested by Him. as I am changed;
I am assimilated. as I am transformed;
I am made one with Him, as I am conformed to Him.
He feeds upon us and is fed by us
that we may be the more loosely bound to Him.”

Saint Bernard, ever the poet, uses images of eating and assimilation to describe how Christ unites us to Himself.
Our Lord becomes our food that we might become His.
We need the language of poets and preachers in our approach to the Eucharist.

Saint Bernard says, “Christ eats me that He may have me in Himself and Christ in turn is eaten by me that He may be in me and the bond between us, will be strong and the union complete.”

What awaits you in Holy Communion exceeds all that you can desire. Eat, then and offer yourself to be eaten. Receive the Bread of God and become the bread of God. christ eats me - st bernard - 29 july 2018

“I am in you and you are in me!”

i am in you and you are in me - 29 july 2018

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PAPAL SERMONS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on JOY, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 29 July – Today’s Gospel: John 6:1–15 and the Memorial of St Martha

Posted on July 29, 2018July 29, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 29 July – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Today’s Gospel: John 6:1–15 and the Memorial of St Martha

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” – Luke 10:42

“Our Lord’s words teach us that though we labour
among the many distractions of this world,
we should have but one goal.
For we are but travelers
on a journey without as yet a fixed abode;
we are on our way, not yet in our native land;
we are in a state of longing, not yet of enjoyment.
But let us continue on our way
and continue without sloth or respite,
so that we may ultimately arrive at our destination.”

St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor
(Sermo 103, 1-2, 6: PL 38, 613, 615)

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,
“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?”…John 6:8-9

“Before the suffering, loneliness, poverty
and difficulties of so many people,
what can we ourselves do?
Complaining doesn’t resolve anything
but we can offer the little that we have,
like the lad in the Gospel.
We surely have a few hours of time, certain talents, some skills….
Who among us doesn’t have “five loaves and two fish” of his own?
We all have them!
If we are willing to place them in the Lord’s hands,
they will be enough to bring about a little more love,
peace, justice and especially joy in the world.”

Pope Francis – Angelus, 26 July 2015

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 29 July – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Today’s Gospel: John 6:1–15

Posted on July 29, 2018 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 29 July – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Today’s Gospel: John 6:1–15

“This is indeed the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world!”…John 6:14

REFLECTION – “The disciples say that they have only five loaves and two fish. The five loaves signified that they were still subject to the five books of the Law and the two fish that they were fed by the teachings of the prophets and John the Baptist… This was what the apostles had to offer to begin with since this was the point they were at and it was from this point, that the preaching of the Gospel began…
Our Lord took the loaves and the fish. He raised his eyes to heaven, said the blessing and broke them. He gave thanks to the Father because the Good News was being changed into food after centuries of the Law and the prophets… The loaves were then given to the apostles, it was at their hands, that the gifts of divine grace were to be handed out. Then the people were fed with the five loaves and two fish and, when those who were invited were satisfied, the leftovers of bread and fish were so plentiful that twelve baskets were filled with them. What this means is that the crowd was filled with God’s word coming from the teaching of the Law and the prophets. But it is an abundance of divine power, kept aside for the gentiles, that overflows after the provision of the food that lasts forever. It comes to its full complement, that of the number twelve, the same as the number of the apostles. Now, it happens that the number of those who ate is the same as that of those who would come to believe: five thousand men (Mt 14:21; Acts 4:4).”…St Hilary (c 315-367) Bishop of Poitiers, Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – Lord God, protector of those who hope in You, without whom nothing is strong, nothing holy, support us always with Your love. Help us to offer our own ‘loaves and fishes’ our own talents and possessions, to feed all who need our care. May the prayers of St Martha grant us Your grace to serve Christ faithfully in our brethren and guide us so to use the good things of this world, that even now, we may hold fast to what endures forever, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen st-martha-pray-for-us-29 july 2017

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD

Our Morning Offering – 28 July – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Posted on July 29, 2018July 28, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 28 July – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B (and still in the Month of Precious Blood)

Wash Me With Your Precious Blood
By St Peter Canisius (1521-1597) Doctor of the Church

See, O merciful God,
what return
I, Your thankless servant,
have made for the innumerable favours
and the wonderful love
You have shown me!
What wrongs I have done,
what good left undone!
Wash away, I beg You,
these faults and stains
with Your precious blood,
most kind Redeemer,
and make up for my poverty
by applying Your merits.
Give me the protection I need,
to amend my life.
I give and surrender myself wholly to You,
and offer You all I possess,
with the prayer,
that You bestow Your grace on me,
so that I may be able to devote and employ
all the thinking power of my mind
and the strength of my body,
in Your holy service,
who are God blessed
forever and ever.
Amen see o merciful lord - wash me with your precious blood - st peter canisius - 28 july 2018

DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 28 July

Posted on July 28, 2018July 27, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 28 July – Saturday of the Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year B

Lord, I am Yours
By St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Doctor of the Church

Lord, I am Yours,
and I must belong to no one but You.
My soul is Yours,
and must live only by You.
My will is Yours,
and must love only for You.
I must love You as my first cause,
since I am from You.
I must love You as my end and rest,
since I am for You.
I must love You more than my own being,
since my being subsists by You.
I must love You more than myself,
since I am all Yours and all in You.
Amen lord, i am yours by st francis de sales - 28 july 2018

BREVIARY Prayers, DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, ON the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The CHRIST CHILD, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 26 July – The Memorial of Sts Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgina nd Grandparents of Jesus

Posted on July 26, 2018July 26, 2018 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 26 July – The Memorial of Sts Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgina nd Grandparents of Jesus

How wonderful is God among his saints; come, let us adore him…..Psalm 94 how wonderful is godamong his saints - psalm 94 - 26 july 2018

REFLECTION – “Joachim and Anne, how blessed a couple! All creation is indebted to you. For at your hands the Creator was offered a gift excelling all other gifts: a chaste mother, who alone was worthy of Him. Joachim and Anne, how blessed and spotless a couple! You will be known by the fruit you have borne, as the Lord says: “By their fruits you will know them.” The conduct of your life pleased God and was worthy of your daughter. For by the chaste and holy life you led together, you have fashioned a jewel of virginity: she who remained a virgin before, during and after giving birth . She alone for all time would maintain her virginity in mind and soul as well as in body. Joachim and Anne, how chaste a couple! While leading a devout and holy life in your human nature, you gave birth to a daughter nobler than the angels, whose queen she now is.” – from a sermon by Saint John Damascene (675-749) – Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – O Lord, God of our Fathers, who bestowed on Saints Joachim and Anne this grace, that of them should be born the Mother of your incarnate Son, grant, through the prayers of both, that we may attain the salvation you have promised to your people. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Sts Joachim and Anne, pray for us! Amen sts-anne-and-joachim-pray-for-us- 26 july 2017

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS to the SAINTS, Uncategorized

Thought for the Day – 25 July – The Memorial of St Christopher (died c 251) One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers

Posted on July 25, 2018July 25, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 25 July – The Memorial of St Christopher (died c 251) One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers fourteen-holy-helpers-94abfebd-a22d-4068-8082-f47cdecef31-resize-750 fourteen-holy-helpers-8d56c60e-abf4-4a22-b615-9fee194d603-resize-750

The Fourteen “Auxiliary Saints” or “Holy Helpers” are a group of saints invoked because they have been efficacious in assisting in trials and sufferings. Each saint has a separate feast or memorial day and the group was collectively venerated on 8 August until the 1969 reform of the Roman calendar, when the feast was dropped. These saints were often represented together. Popular devotion to these saints often began in some monastery that held their relics. All of the saints except Giles were martyrs. Devotion to some of the saints, such as St George, St Margaret, St Christopher, St Barbara and St Catherine became so widespread that customs and festivals still are popular today.

The Fourteen Holy Helpers are invoked as a group mainly because of the Black Plague which devastated Europe from 1346 to 1349. Among its symptoms were the black tongue, a parched throat, violent headache, fever and boils on the abdomen. The victims were attacked without warning, robbing them of their reason and killed within a few hours; many died without the last Sacraments. No one was immune and the disease wreaked havoc in villages and family circles. The epidemic appeared incurable. The pious turned to Heaven, begging the intervention of the saints, praying to be spared or cured. Each of these fourteen saints had been efficacious in interceding in some aspect for the stricken during the Black Plague. The dates are the traditional feast days; not all the saints are on the Universal Roman Calendar. the fourteen holy helpers - infographic - from wikepeida my image - 25 july 2018

14Nothelfer

The Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (also Basilika Vierzehnheiligen) is a church located near the town of Bad Staffelstein near Bamberg, in Bavaria, southern Germany. The late Baroque-Rococo basilica, designed by Balthasar Neumann, was constructed between 1743 and 1772.

Vierzehnheiligen

The Legend of Building the Basilica
On 24 September 1445, Hermann Leicht, the young shepherd of a nearby Franciscan monastery, saw a crying child in a field that belonged to the nearby Cistercian monastery of Langheim . As he bent down to pick up the child, it abruptly disappeared. A short time later, the child reappeared in the same spot. This time, two candles were burning next to it. In June 1446, the Leicht saw the child a third time. This time, the child bore a red cross on its chest and was accompanied by thirteen other children. The child said: “We are the fourteen helpers and wish to erect a chapel here, where we can rest. If you will be our servant, we will be yours!” Shortly after, Leicht saw two burning candles descending to this spot. It is alleged that miraculous healings soon began, through the intervention of the fourteen saints.

The Cistercian brothers to whom the land belonged erected a chapel, which immediately attracted pilgrims. An altar was consecrated as early as 1448. Pilgrimages to the Vierzehnheiligen continue to the present day between May and October. Holy Helpers triptych - anon

One of the most famous group depictions of the “Fourteen Saints” is a 1503 altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald for the monastery in Lichtenfels in Upper Franconia, unfortunately, I cannot find a complete image of this, below are Panels one and two.

The “fourteen angels” of the lost children’s prayer in the Composer, Engelbert Humperdinck’s (1854-1921) fairy opera, ‘Hansel and Gretel’, are the Fourteen Holy Helpers. The English words are familiar and very beautiful:

When at night I go to sleep,
Fourteen angels watch do keep,
Two my head are guarding,
Two my feet are guiding;
Two upon my right hand,
Two upon my left hand.
Two who warmly cover
Two who o’er me hover,
Two to whom ’tis given
To guide my steps to heaven.

I will pray daily, to the Fourteen Holy Helpers, to Pray for us all, for the world is indeed suffering from a ‘Plague’ of a new kind!

Prayer to the Fourteen Holy Helpers
By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church

Great princes of heaven, Holy Helpers,
who sacrificed to God all your earthly possessions,
wealth, preferment and even life
and who now are crowned in heaven
in the secure enjoyment of eternal bliss and glory;
have compassion on me,
a poor sinner in this vale of tears
and obtain for me from God,
for Whom you gave up all things
and Who loves you as His servants,
the strength to bear patiently all the trials of this life,
to overcome all temptations
and to persevere in God’s service to the end,
that one day I too may be received into your company,
to praise and glorify Him, the supreme Lord,
Whose beatific vision you enjoy
and Whom you praise and glorify forever.
Amen prayer to the 14 holy helpers by st alphonsus - 25 july 2018

BREVIARY Prayers, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MORNING Prayers, ON the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SAINT of the DAY, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS

One Minute Reflection – 25 July – The Memorial of St James the Greater, Apostle of Christ – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 20:20–28

Posted on July 25, 2018 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 25 July – The Memorial of St James the Greater, Apostle of Christ – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 20:20–28

Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.”……Matthew 20:28 matthew-20-28- 25 july 2017

REFLECTION – “Through their mother’s mediation, the sons of Zebedee press Christ as follows in the presence of their fellow apostles: “Command that we may sit, one at your right side and one at your left” (cf. Mk 10:35f.)… Christ hastens to free them from their illusions, telling them they must be prepared to suffer insults, persecutions, even death. “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I shall drink?” Let no one be surprised to see the apostles displaying such imperfect dispositions. Wait until the mystery of the cross has been fulfilled and the strength of the Holy Spirit given to them. If you want to see the strength of their souls, take a look at them later on and you will see them to be above all human weakness. Christ does not conceal their pettiness so you will be able to see what they become later on by the power of the grace that will transform them…”… St John Chrysostom (c 345-407) Father & Doctor of the Church

“…we can learn much from St James: promptness in accepting the Lord’s call even when He asks us to leave the “boat” of our human securities, enthusiasm in following Him on the paths that He indicates to us over and above any deceptive presumption of our own, readiness to witness to Him with courage, if necessary to the point of making the supreme sacrifice of life. Thus James the Greater stands before us, as an eloquent example of generous adherence to Christ. He, who initially had requested, through his mother, to be seated with his brother next to the Master in His Kingdom, was precisely the first to drink the chalice of the passion and to share martyrdom with the Apostles.”…Pope Benedict XVI – General Audience, 21 June 2006

PRAYER – Lord our God, You accepted the sacrifice of St James, the first of Your Apostles to give his life for Your sake. May Your Church find strength in his martyrdom and support in his constant prayer. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. St James the Greater, Apostle of Christ, Pray for us! Amen st-james-pray-for-us-25-july 2017

DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, The WORD

Quote of the Day – 24 July – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 12:46-50

Posted on July 24, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 24 July – Tuesday of the Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 12:46-50

“For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven,
is my brother and sister and mother.”…Matthew 12:50

It is a matter of real sorrow when God has given us strength to break stronger fetters, those of vanity and sin, that we neglect our own progress and the attainment of such great blessings, because we will not detach ourselves from trifles.
Not only do we not advance, we fall back.
For it is well known, that on the spiritual road, not to go on overcoming self, is to go backwards and not to increase our gain, is to lose.
As wood can never be transformed into fire, if one necessary degree of heat is missing, so the soul, that has even one imperfection, can never be perfectly transformed in God.

St John of the Cross (1542-1591) Doctor of the Church

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 24 July 2018 – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 12:46-50

Posted on July 24, 2018July 23, 2018 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 24 July 2018 – Tuesday of the Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 12:46-50 and the Memorial of St Charbel Makhluf (1828-1898)

“For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, is my brother and sister and mother.”…Matthew 12:50

REFLECTION – “His mother is the whole Church, since it is she, who, by God’s grace, gives birth to Christ’s members, that is to say, those who are faithful to Him. Again, His mother is every holy soul who does the Father’s will and whose fruitful charity is made known in those, to whom she gives birth for Him, “until he has been formed in them” (cf Gal 4:19)…St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor

PRAYER – Almighty Father, You made us Your children, You called us from all ages and You formed us by Holy Mother Church. Grant, we pray, that by Your grace, we may be ever faithful to her and be guided by Your Holy Spirit of love. O God may Your holy Saint Charbel Makhluf intercede for us that, being made imitators of the Lord’s Passion, we may merit to be co-heirs of His Kingdom. Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever, amen. st-charbel-pray-for-us 24 july 2017(1)

	Santo Yosef, Suami B… on Saint of the Day – 19 Ma…
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	Sunday 15th March 20… on Saint of the Day – 16 Ma…
	r pingback 14 03… on Quote/s of the Day – 20…

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Pope Francis General Audience, 12 April 2017)

St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444)

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

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St Albert the Great (1206-1280) Doctor of the Church

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St Alphonsus, Pray for us!

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St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church

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St Peter Chrysologus, Pray for us!

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St Peter Chrysologus “Golden Words”

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Become the bread of Christ

St Bernard (1090-1153) Doctor of the Church

“I am in you and you are in me!”

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St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor (Sermo 103, 1-2, 6: PL 38, 613, 615)

Pope Francis – Angelus, 26 July 2015

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I will pray daily, to the Fourteen Holy Helpers, to Pray for us all, for the world is indeed suffering from a ‘Plague’ of a new kind!

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St John of the Cross (1542-1591) Doctor of the Church

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St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor
(Sermo 103, 1-2, 6: PL 38, 613, 615)