Our Morning Offering – 15 August
PRAYER of ST AMBROSE (340-397) Father and Doctor of the Church
O Lord, who has mercy upon all,
take away from me my sins
and mercifully kindle in me
the fire of Your Holy Spirit.
Take away from me the heart of stone
and give me a heart of flesh,
a heart to love and adore You,
a heart to delight in You,
to follow and enjoy You,
for Christ’s sake. Amen
Quote of the Day – 29 July – 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.”
One Minute Reflection – 22 July
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” …….John 20: 13-15
REFLECTION – “When Mary Magdalen came to the tomb and did not find the Lord’s body, she thought it had been taken away and so informed the disciples. After they came and saw the tomb, they too believed what Mary had told them. The text then says: “The disciples went back home,” and it adds: “but Mary wept and remained standing outside the tomb.” We should reflect on Mary’s attitude and the great love she felt for Christ; for though the disciples had left the tomb, she remained. She was still seeking the one she had not found and while she sought she wept; burning with the fire of love, she longed for Him who she thought had been taken away. And so it happened that the woman who stayed behind to seek Christ was the only one to see Him. For perseverance is essential to any good deed, as the voice of truth tell us: “Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved….Jesus says to her: Mary. Jesus is not recognised when He calls her “woman”; so He calls her by name, as though He were saying: ‘Recognise me as I recognise you; for I do not know you as I know others; I know you as yourself.’ And so Mary, once addressed by name, recognises who is speaking. She immediately calls Him ‘Rabboni’, that is to say, teacher, because the one whom she sought outwardly was the one who inwardly taught her to keep on searching.” – from a homily by St Pope Gregory the Great
PRAYER – Almighty, ever-living God, Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ made Mary of Magdala the first herald of Easter joy. Grant that, following her example and helped by her prayers, we may, in this life, proclaimn he living Christ and come to se Him reigning with You in glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 22 July
You are Christ
St Augustine
You are Christ,
my Holy Father,
my Tender God,
my Great King,
my Good Shepherd,
my Only Master,
my Best Helper,
my Most Beautiful
and my Beloved,
my Living Bread,
my Priest Forever,
my Leader to my Country,
my True Light,
my Holy Sweetness,
my Straight Way,
my Excellent Wisdom,
my Pure Simplicity,
my Peaceful Harmony,
my Entire Protection,
my Good Portion,
my Everlasting Salvation.
May the live coal of Your Love grow hot within my spirit
and break forth into a perfect fire;
may it burn incessantly on the altar of my heart;
may it glow in my innermost being;
may it blaze in hidden recesses of my soul;
and in the days of my consummation
may I be found consummated with You!
Amen.
St Mary Magdalen (Feast)
Mother of God of Koloch: The Koloch Icon of the Mother of God manifested itself in the year 1413 during the reign of Basil I, 15 miles from the city of Mozhaisk, in the vicinity of Koloch in the Smolensk governia. A peasant of this village by the name of Luke found the holy icon and took it to his home. One of his household was paralyzed. The sick one put his forehead to the icon with faith and received complete healing.
This became known through the surrounding area and many of the suffering began to flock to the wonderworking icon and they received help from the Mother of God. Luke afterwards took the icon to Mozhaisk and from there to Moscow. At the capital, Metropolitan Photius, together with a gathering of clergy and a multitude of the people, visited the holy icon. As the icon was carried through Moscow many of the sick were healed of their infirmities. Later they returned the icon to Mozhaisk.
At the place where the icon appeared, a church was built in honour of the Mother of God. Here the holy icon was housed. With the offerings of the peasant Luke and others, Prince Andrew Dimitrievich built a monastery on this site called the Kolochsk or Mozhaisk.
—
St Anastasius of Schemarius
St Andrea of Antioch
St Andreas Wang Tianqing
St Anna Wang
Bl Augustine Fangi
St Baudry of Montfaucon
Bl Benno of Osnabruck
St Claudius Marius Victorinus of Saussaye
St Cyril of Antioch
St Dabius
Bl Jacques Lombardie
St John Lloyd
St Joseph of Palestine
St Lewine
St Lucia Wang Wangzhi
Bl Manuela de Jesus Arias Espinosa
St Maria Wang Lishi
St Meneleus of Ménat
St Movean of Inis-Coosery
St Pancharius of Besancon
Bl Paolo de Lara
St Philip Evans
St Plato of Ancyra
St Syntyche of Philippi
St Theophilus of Cyprus
St Wandrille of Fontenelle
—
Martyrs of Marula/Massylis: – 3 saints: Three Christians martyred together. We know nothing else about them but the names – Ajabosus, Andrew and Elian. They were martyred in Massylis (Marula), Numidia (in modern Algeria).
Martyrs of Massilitani: A group of Christians martyred together in northern Africa. Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote about them.
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
Jaime María Carretero Rojas
Bl Joaquin Rodríguez Bueno
José María Mateos Carballido
Juan Durán Cintas
Ramón María Pérez Sousa
Quote/s of the Day – 20 July
“Let sleep find you holding your Bible
and when you head nods let it be resting
on the sacred page.”
St Jerome (343-420) One of the Original 4 Doctors
“The Holy Bible is like a mirror before our mind’s eye.
In it we see our inner face.
From the Scriptures we can learn
our spiritual deformities and beauties.
And there too we discover the progress
we are making and how far we are from perfection.”
St Gregory the Great (540-604) One of the Original 4 Doctors
“The Old Testament is like a radio
with its hidden voice
announcing the One to come.
The New Testament is like a television
because the Word became both audible and visible.”
Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Quote of the Day – 13 July
“Do not say,
this happened by chance,
while this came to be of itself.”
In all that exists’
there is nothing disorderly,
nothing indefinite,
nothing without purpose,
nothing by chance …
How many hairs are on your head?
God will not forget one of them.
Do you see how nothing,
even the smallest thing,
escapes the gaze of God?”
Saint Basil the Great (329-379)
Father & Doctor of the Church
Quote of the Day – 9 July
St Augustine (354-430)
One Minute Reflection – 9 July
Because the loaf of (Eucharist) bread is one,
we, many though we are,
are one body,
for we all partake of the one loaf…………1 Cor 10:17
REFLECTION – “In the Eucharist, all is love. Jesus comes to us and dwells in us.
In doing so, He teaches us how we are to love one another.”………….St Augustine (354-430)
PRAYER – Most loving Father, grant that every Eucharistic Celebration may unit me more closely to Your Divine Son. May it also unite me to all Christians and help me to show greater love for them every day. St Veronica Giuliani, you truly experienced total and supreme love in Holy Communion, pray for us that we might come to understand this immense and ineffable love of our Saviour for us all, as He becomes our food of life, amen.
One Minute Reflection – 8 July
I bear with all of this for the sake of those whom God has chosen..2 Timothy 2:10
REFLECTION – “Patience has distinctive qualities that discourses do not possess. All who bear their cross with patience, eloquently proclaim Jesus Christ.”………….St Alphonsus Liguori
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, teach me to be patient under the crosses that come my way. Let my silent example speak vlumes to others and lead them to faith in Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. St Killian, you worked tirelessly and patiently for the glory of the Kingdom, please intercede for us all, amen.
Quote of the Day – 7 July
Our Morning Offering – 3 July
The Twenty-Four Hour Prayer
By St John Chrysostum (347-407)
Doctor of the Church
[1] O Lord, deprive me not of Your heavenly blessings.
[2] O Lord, deliver me from eternal torment.
[3] O Lord, if I have sinned in my mind or thought, in word or deed, forgive me.
[4] O Lord, deliver me from every ignorance and heedlessness, from pettiness of the soul and stony hardness of heart.
[5] O Lord, deliver me from every temptation.
[6] O Lord, enlighten my heart darkened by evil desires.
[7] O Lord, I, being a human being, have sinned; You, being God, forgive me in Your loving kindness, for You know the weakness of my soul.
[8] O Lord, send down Your grace to help me, that I may glorify Your holy Name.
[9] O Lord Jesus Christ, inscribe me, Your servant, in the Book of Life and grant me a blessed end.
[10] O Lord my God, even if I have done nothing good in Your sight, yet grant me, according to Your grace, that I may make a start in doing good.
[11] O Lord, sprinkle on my heart the dew of Your grace.
[12] O Lord of heaven and earth remember me, Your sinful servant, cold of heart and impure, in Your kingdom.
[13] O Lord, receive me in repentance.
[14] O Lord, leave me not.
[15] O Lord, save me from temptation.
[16] O Lord, grant me pure thoughts.
[17] O Lord, grant me tears of repentance, remembrance of death and the sense of peace.
[18] O Lord, grant me mindfulness to confess my sins.
[19] O Lord, grant me humility, charity and obedience.
[20] O Lord, grant me magnanimity, and gentleness.
[21] O Lord, implant in me the root of all blessings, the fear of You in my heart.
[22] O Lord, vouchsafe that I may love You with all my heart and soul and that I may obey in all things Your will.
[23] O Lord, shield me form evil persons and devils and passions, and all other lawless matters.
[24] O Lord, who knows Your creation and that which You have willed for it, may Your will also be fulfilled in me, a sinner, for You are blessed forevermore. Amen.
ou are blessed forevermore. Amen.
Thought for the Day – 29 June
By their lives and labours, Peter and Paul established the faith and by their deaths they bore witness to is power and truth. They are part of the Church’s own confession of faith – they were the architects of that faith and they have left their mark indelibly upon Christian history and belief. After Christ, these two are the cornerstones of the Church and as such they are enshrined in the Church’s memory. They embody in themselves everything a Christian admires in being a follower of Christ, they are Apostles, Martyrs, Witnesses, Evangelists, Teachers, Prophets and Founders of Churches wherever they went in the footsteps of our Lord. The two great basilicas in Rome are dedicated to them – St Peter’s is the largest Church in Christendom and St Paul’s Outside the Walls, carries the history of all our Popes and is the site of the Martyrdom of St Paul.
We owe our faith to these two great Fathers and hold them in hallowed love and memory.
Like Jesus Himself, their deaths are our lives!
Sts Peter and Paul, pray for us and for the entire universal Church, protect us by your prayers.
Quote/s of the Day – 29 June
“Where Peter is,
there is the Church.
Where the Church is,
there is Jesus Christ.
Where Jesus Christ is,
there is eternal salvation.”
St Ambrose (340-397)
One of the original four Doctors of the Church
“There must be general rejoicing, dearly beloved,
over this holy company whom God has appointed
for our example in patience and for our confirmation in faith.
But we must glory even more in the excellence of their fathers,
Peter and Paul, whom the grace of God has raised
to such a height among all the members of the Church
that He has set them like twin lights
of eyes in that Body whose head is Christ.”
St Pope Leo the Great (400-461) Doctor of the Church’s Unity
One Minute Reflection – 29 June
“Their sound has gone out into all the earth and their words to the ends of the world” ……….Psalm 19
REFLECTION – “There is one day for the passion of two apostles. But these two also were as one; although they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first, Paul followed. We are celebrating a feast day, consecrated for us by the blood of the apostles. Let us love their faith, their lives, their labours, their sufferings, their confession of faith, their preaching.”………St Augustine
PRAYER – Almighty God, whose blessed Apostles Peter and Paul glorified you by their martyrdom: grant that your Church, instructed by their teaching and example and knit together in unity by your Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Sts Peter and Paul, pray for us and for the universal Church, amen.
One Minute Reflection – 28 June
Everyone who looks upon the Son
and believes in him shall have eternal life………….John 6:40
REFLECTION – “The Father made God visible to human beings through numerous mysteries to prevent them from losing everything – even their very lives. For the glory of God is the living person and the life of a person is the vision of God.”………..St Irenaeus – Father of the Church
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, You left us Your Church and Your Vicar the Holy Father our Pope, to insure our contact with You. Let me always cling to Your Church and follow its teachings in every detail and with all my heart. St Irenaeus, please pray for us all the members of Body of Christ, the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, amen.
Thought for the Day – 28 June
The Church is fortunate that St Irenaeus was involved in many of its controversies in the second century. He was a student, well trained no doubt, with great patience in investigating, tremendously protective of apostolic teaching but prompted more by a desire to win over his opponents than to prove them in error.
As bishop of Lyons he was especially concerned with the Gnostics, who took their name from the Greek word for “knowledge.” Claiming access to secret knowledge imparted by Jesus to only a few disciples, their teaching was attracting and confusing many Christians. After thoroughly investigating the various Gnostic sects and their “secret,” Irenaeus showed to what logical conclusions their tenets led. These he contrasted with the teaching of the apostles and the text of Holy Scripture, giving us, in five books, a system of theology of great importance to subsequent times. Moreover, his work, widely used and translated into Latin and Armenian, gradually ended the influence of the Gnostics.
St Irenaeus’ deep and genuine concern for other people will remind us that the discovery of truth is not to be a victory for some and a defeat for others. Unless all can claim a share in that victory, truth itself will continue to be rejected by the losers, because it will be regarded as inseparable from the yoke of defeat. And so, confrontation, controversy and the like might yield to a genuine united search for God’s truth and how it can best be served……….Fr Don Miller, OFM
St Irenaeus pray for us all!
Quotes of the Day – 28 June
“Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist
and the Eucharist in turn, confirms our way of thinking.”
“It is not you that shapes God.
It is God that shapes you.
If then you are the work of God
await the Hand of the artist who does
all things in due season.
Offer Him your heart,
soft and tractable
and keep the form in which the artist
has fashioned you.
Let the clay be moist
lest you go hard
and lose the imprint of His Fingers.”
“The preaching of the Church truly continues
without change and is everywhere the same.
It has the testimony of the Prophets
and Apostles and all their disciples.”
“Being obedient she (Mary)
became the cause of salvation for herself
and for the whole human race.
The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied
by Mary’s obedience:
what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief,
Mary loosened by her faith.”
“As long as any one has the means
of doing good to his neighbours
and does not do so,
he shall be reckoned a stranger
to the love of the Lord.”
St. Irenaeus (c130-c202), pray for us!
Our Morning Offering – 28 June
O Lamb of God
by St Irenaeus
O Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world,
look upon us and have mercy upon us;
You who art Yourself both victim and Priest,
Yourself both Reward and Redeemer,
keep safe from all evil
those whom You have redeemed,
O Saviour of the world.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 27 June – The Memorial of St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father and Doctor of the Incarnation
Theotokos is the official name of Mary and it is well to remember the great battle that was fought (and to my mnd, continues to fought today) over this title. SHE IS the Mother of God – the Son of God was born of her in His human nature, without ceasing to be God. The whole mystery of the Incarnation is bound up in Mary and she is at the very heart of the work of Jesus’ Redemption of mankind!
St Cyril of Alexandria’s battle raged over the combined front of the Divinity of Christ and therefore, Mary the Mother of the Divinity, is summed up thus: “Only if it is one and the same Christ who is consubstantial with the Father and with men can He save us, for the meeting ground between God and man is the flesh of Christ. Only if this is God’s own flesh can man come into contact with Christ’s divinity through His humanity, through his earthy mother, Mary. Because of our kinship with the Word made flesh we are sons of God. The Eucharist consummates our kinship with the word, our communion with the Father, our sharing in the divine nature—there is very real contact between our body and that of the Word.”
St Cyril of Alxandria, pray for us.
Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.
Quote/s of the Day – 27 June – Memorial of St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father and Doctor
“He who receives Communion is made holy and divinised in soul and body
in the same way that water, set over a fire, becomes boiling…
Communion works like yeast that has been mixed into dough
so that it leavens the whole mass;
…Just as by melting two candles together you get one piece of wax,
so, I think, one who receives the Flesh and Blood of Jesus
is fused together with Him by this Communion
and the soul finds that he is in Christ and Christ is in him.”
“Indeed the mystery of Christ runs the risk
of being disbelieved – precisely because
it is so incredibly wonderful.”
“It is like employing a small tool on big constructions,
if we use human wisdom
in the hunt for knowledge of reality.”
“Our Saviour went to the wedding feast
to make holy the origins of human life.”
ST CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA
One Minute Reflection – 27 June
Do you not see that your bodies are members of Christ?………..1 Cor 7:15
REFLECTION – “All of us are united with Christ inasmuch as we have received Him Who is one and indivisible in our bodies. Therefore, we owe the service of our members to Him rather than to ourselves.”………. St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Doctor and Father of the Church (Saint of the Day)
PRAYER – Almighty God and Father, help me to put all my faculties at the disposal of Christ so as to be His link to others and with the world around me. Let me give myself wholly to Him this day and every day. St Cyril of Alexandria, defender of the divinity of Christ and the Mother of God, intercede for us, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 27 June
Prayer to the Mother of God
by St Cyril of Alexandria (Saint of the Day)
Hail, Mother and virgin,
eternal temple of the Godhead,
venerable treasure of creation,
crown of virginity,
support of the true faith,
on which the Church is founded
throughout the world.
Mother of God,
who contained the infinite God
under your heart,
whom no space can contain:
through you
the most Holy Trinity is revealed,
adored, and glorified,
demons are vanquished,
Satan cast down from heaven into hell
and our fallen nature again
assumed into heaven.
Through you the human race,
held captive in the bonds of idolatry,
arrives at the knowledge of Truth.
What more shall I say of you?
Hail, through whom kings rule,
through whom the Only-Begotten
Son of God
has become the Star of Light
to those sitting in darkness
and in the shadow of death. Amen
Saint of the Day – 27 June – St Cyril of Alexandria – Doctor of the Church “The Pillar of Faith” & “Seal of all the Fathers” – Doctor Incarnationis (Doctor of the Incarnation) Added by Pope Leo XIII in 1883 – (376 at Alexandria, Egypt – 444 at Alexandria, Egypt of natural causes, his relics are in Alexandria). Bishop, Confessor, Writer, Defender of the Faith. Patron of Alexandria, Egypt. Attributes – book, pen or scroll, indicative of his work as a writer, the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus, representing his advocacy of the doctrine of Mary as Mother of God.
On June 27, Roman Catholics honour St. Cyril of Alexandria. An Egyptian bishop and theologian, he is best known for his role in the Council of Ephesus, where the Church confirmed that Christ is both God and man in one person.
Cyril was most likely born in Alexandria, the metropolis of ancient Egypt, between 370 and 380. From his writings, it appears he received a solid literary and theological education. Along with his uncle, Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria, he played a role in an early fifth-century dispute between the Egyptian and Greek churches. There is evidence he may have been a monk before becoming a bishop.
When Theophilus died in 412, Cyril was chosen to succeed him at the head of the Egyptian Church. He continued his uncle’s policy of insisting on Alexandria’s preeminence within the Church over Constantinople, despite the political prominence of the imperial capital. The two Eastern churches eventually re-established communion in approximately 418.
Ten years later, however, a theological dispute caused a new break between Alexandria and Constantinople. Cyril’s reputation as a theologian, and later Doctor of the Church, arose from his defense of Catholic orthodoxy during this time.
In 428, a monk named Nestorius became the new Patriarch of Constantinople. It became clear that Nestorius was not willing to use the term “Mother of God” (“Theotokos”) to describe the Virgin Mary. Instead, he insisted on the term “Mother of Christ” (“Christotokos”). During the fourth century, the Greek Church had already held two ecumenical councils to confirm Christ’s eternal preexistence as God prior to his incarnation as a man. From this perennial belief, it followed logically that Mary was the mother of God. Veneration of Mary as “Theotokos” confirmed the doctrine of the incarnation, and Christ’s status as equal to the God the Father. Nestorius insisted that he, too, held these doctrines. But to Cyril, and many others, his refusal to acknowledge Mary as the Mother of God seemed to reveal a heretical view of Christ which would split him into two united but distinct persons: one fully human and born of Mary, the other fully divine and not subject to birth or death.
Cyril responded to this heretical tendency first through a series of letters to Nestorius (which are still in existence and studied today), then through an appeal to the Pope, and finally through the summoning of an ecumenical council in 431. Cyril presided over this council, stating that he was “filling the place of the most holy and blessed Archbishop of the Roman Church,” Pope Celestine, who had authorised it.
The council was a tumultuous affair. Patriarch John of Antioch, a friend of Nestorius, came to the city and convened a rival council which sought to condemn and depose Cyril. Tension between the advocates of Cyril and Nestorius erupted into physical violence at times and both parties sought to convince the emperor in Constantinople to back their position.
During the council, which ran from June 22 to July 31 of the year 431, Cyril brilliantly defended the orthodox belief in Christ as a single eternally divine person who also became incarnate as a man. The council condemned Nestorius, who was deposed as patriarch and later suffered exile. Cyril, however, reconciled with John and many of the other Antiochian theologians who once supported Nestorius.
St. Cyril of Alexandria died on June 27, 444, having been a bishop for nearly 32 years. Long celebrated as a saint, particularly in the Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, he was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1883.
One Minute Reflection – 25 June
Blessed be God the Father . who gave us a new birth to a living hope…..to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you………1 Peter 1:3-4
REFLECTION – “You have within you, everything that you need to purchase the kingdom of heaven.
Joy will be purchased by your sorrow,
rest by your labour,
glory by your humiliation
and eternal life by your passing death.”………………….St Augustine
PRAYER – Loving Father,. teach me how to make every event on earth lay up treasures for me in heaven. Help me to endure sorrows, labour, humiliations, pain and death willingly so as to attain heaven with You, in unity with Your Son, Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. St William of Vercelli, your life was a focused gift to God, pray for us that we too may join you in eternal life. Amen
One Minute Reflection – 15 June
Teach me your paths, my God,
make me walk in your truth………..Psalm 24:4-5
REFLECTION – “Gluttony should be destroyed by self-control; unchastity by desire for God and longing for the blessings held in store; avarice by compassion for the poor; anger by goodwill and love for all men; worldly dejection by spiritual joy; listlessness by patience, perseverance and offering thanks to God; self-esteem by doing good in secret and by praying constantly with a contrite heart; and pride by not judging or despising anyone in the manner of the boastful Pharisee, and by considering oneself the least of all men.”………..St John Damascene (675-749) – Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, teach me Your paths and help me to walk always in Your truth, following ever more closely the way set before me by Your Divine Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. May Your Grace and Your Spirit fill my heart with the love, courage, zeal and strength I need to overcome the world and be a light to my neighbour. Amen
Quote of the Day – 12 June
St John Damascene (675-749) – Doctor of the Church on the Holy Trinity
“Think of the Father as a spring of life
begetting the Son like a river
and the Holy Ghost like a sea,
for the spring and the river and sea are all one nature.
Think of the Father as a root
and of the Son as a branch
and the Spirit as a fruit,
for the substance in these three is one.
The Father is a sun
with the Son as rays
and the Holy Spirit as heat.”
St Augustine, the Holy Trinity, the Child and the SeaShell
Today, 11 June 2017, on the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity, we remember the legend of St Augustine and the Seashell.
The great Doctor of the Church St. Augustine of Hippo spent over 30 years working on his treatise De Trinitate [about the Holy Trinity], endeavouring to conceive an intelligible explanation for the mystery of the Trinity.
He was walking by the seashore one day contemplating and trying to understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity when he saw a small boy running back and forth from the water to a spot on the seashore. The boy was using a sea shell to carry the water from the ocean and place it into a small hole in the sand.
The Bishop of Hippo approached him and asked, “My boy, what are doing?”
“I am trying to bring all the sea into this hole,” the boy replied with a sweet smile.
“But that is impossible, my dear child, the hole cannot contain all that water” said Augustine.
The boy paused in his work, stood up, looked into the eyes of the Saint, and replied, “It is no more impossible than what you are trying to do – comprehend the immensity of the mystery of the Holy Trinity with your small intelligence.”
The Saint was absorbed by such a keen response from that child, and turned his eyes from him for a short while. When he glanced down to ask him something else, the boy had vanished.
Some say that it was an Angel sent by God to teach Augustine a lesson on pride in learning. Others affirm it was the Christ Child Himself who appeared to the Saint to remind him of the limits of human understanding before the great mysteries of our Faith.
Thought for the Day – 11 June 2017 – The Solemnity of the Holy Trinity
The Trinity dogma is not the result of poetic fantasies or of philosophical elucubrations. Nor it is a rational theological formulation that offers the pretext of saying that it is a mystery so detached from our lives that more than one Christian feels quietly authorised to ignore it. The Mystery of the Trinity is a great mystery which surpasses our minds but speaks deeply to our heart because it is, in its essence, nothing but the explication of the profound expression of Saint John: “God is love” (1 Jn 4: 8,16). If God is love, he cannot be loneliness in Himself. In order to have a love affair, it must be at least two. To love only oneself is not love, it is selfishness. God Love is, at least, one who always loves and one who has always been loved and reciprocates love: an eternal Lover, an eternal Beloved and an eternal Love.
The Lover is God, the Father in love, infinitely free and generous in love, motivated to love by no other thing than love.
The eternal Beloved, is the one who always welcomes love: He is eternal gratitude, grace without beginning and end. He is the Son in love.
Love is the Holy Spirit, in whom Their love is always open to self-donation and to “go out of their being”. Therefore, the Spirit is said to be a gift of God, a living source of love, a fire that powers in us the ability to reciprocate Love with love.
This mystery of love is concrete and close to us more than we think and we live it in practice when, above all in the most important or critical times where we most need God, we make the sign of the cross. By marking this holy sign, almost without being fully aware, we call upon the One and Triune God , saying, “In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”. Not only do we invoke God Trinity to help us but we praise with the prayer “Glory to the Father, and to the Son and the Holy Ghost … Amen”. St. Teresa of Calcutta often recited as follows: “Glory to the Father-Prayer and to the Son -Poverty and the Holy Spirit- Zeal for souls. Amen-Mary. “ (JUNE 9, 2017 ARCHBISHOP FRANCESCO FOLLO)
How can we put the sign of the Cross into practice? Here are some ways you can make the sign of the Cross a part of your daily life.
1. Immediately after waking and before sleeping – making the sign of the Cross immediately after waking and before sleeping is as ancient as Christianity. It is a powerful way to consecrate our day to Our Lord.
2. When passing a Catholic Church – there is a beautiful Catholic tradition of crossing oneself while passing a Catholic Church in order to recognize Jesus present in the tabernacle and to show Him honour and love.
2. At the Name of the Holy Trinity – in Catholic prayer, the name of the Holy Trinity is often invoked. To show honour to the Holy Trinity, it is a good idea to Cross yourself when saying the Glory Be or any other time the Name is invoked.
3. In reparation for blasphemy – the name of God is abused frequently in daily conversations. If you want to make an act of reparation to God for this abuse of his Name, you can quietly make the sign of the Cross.
4. Before entering a room or house – G.K. Chesterton, the famous Catholic convert and all around genius, was said to have made the sign of the cross before entering any room. This Catholic custom also applies to entering a house and many have Holy Water fonts next to the door for blessings oneself when entering or leaving the home.
5. Blessing people or things – a small sign of the cross can be traced on the forehead of a child or upon an object which you wish to bless.
6. When afraid – in old movies that involve Catholicism, you will often see people cross themselves when in the presence of death, upon receiving bad news, or when generally afraid. Sadly, this custom has fallen out of use but it is an excellent way to drive away fear and to inspire courage.
There are countless other ways to employ the powerful sign of the Cross. The point is, we should use this powerful sign frequently and reverently, paying attention to what we are doing.
“Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the Cross our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow and in everything; over the bread we eat and the cups we drink; in our comings in and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are in the way and when we are still. Great is that preservative; it is without price, for the poor’s sake; without toil, for the sick, since also its grace is from God. It is the Sign of the faithful and the dread of evils; for He has triumphed over them in it, having made a shew of them openly; for when they see the Cross, they are reminded of the Crucified; they are afraid of Him, Who hath bruised the heads of the dragon. Despise not the Seal, because of the freeness of the Gift; but for this rather honour thy Benefactor.”
– St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Quote of the Day – 11 June 2017 – Solemnity of the Holy Trinity
St Ambrose (340-397) Father & Doctor
AnaStpaul 
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