One Minute Reflection – 19 May – “Mary’s Month” – Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 20:28-38, Psalm 68:29-30, 33-36, John17:11-19
“ They are not of the world, as I also, am not of the world.” – John 17:16
REFLECTION – “Listen everybody, Jews and Gentiles … Listen, all the kingdoms of the earth! I am not preventing you from ruling over this world, “my kingdom is not of this world.” (Jn 18:36) So don’t be afraid with that senseless fear which seized Herod when My birth was announced to him … “No,” the Saviour says, “my kingdom is not of this world.” All of you, come to a kingdom, which is not of this world, come by faith. May you not be made cruel by fear. It is true, that the Son of God, speaking of the Father, says in a prophecy: “Through him, I was established as king on Zion, his holy mountain.” (Ps 2:6) But that Zion and that mountain, are not of this world.
And what is His kingdom? It is they who believe in Him, those to whom He says: “You are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” But He, nevertheless, wants them to be in the world – He prays to His Father: “I am not asking you to take them out of the world but, to protect them from the evil one.”For He did not say: “My kingdom is not in this world,” but rather: “It is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over.” (Jn 18:36) – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop, Father and Doctor of Grace of the Church – Homilies on St John, no 115
PRAYER – Give us the grace Holy God to ever serve You and be faithful to You alone. Nothing of this world is worthy of our love and alone in You do we have life and light. May Your divine Son be our Guide and our Hope and may He always be with us as we make our way to our home country, together with His Mother and ours, the Blessed Virgin. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.
Deign, O Immaculate Virgin By St Paschasius Radbertus (785–865)
Deign, O Immaculate Virgin, Mother most pure, to accept the loving cry of praise which we send up to you from the depths of our hearts. Though they can but add little to your glory, O Queen of Angels, you do not despise, in your love, the praises of the humble and the poor. Cast down upon us a glance of mercy, O most glorious Queen, graciously receive our petitions. Through your immaculate purity of body and mind, which rendered you so pleasing to God, inspire us with a love of innocence and purity. Teach us to guard carefully the gifts of grace, striving ever after sanctity, so that, being made like the image of your beauty, we may be worthy to become, the sharers of your eternal happiness. Amen
One Minute Reflection – 17 May – “Mary’s Month” – Monday of the Seventh week of Easter, Readings: Acts 19:1-8, Psalm 68:2-7, John 16:29-33 and the Memorial of St Paschal Baylon OFM (1540-1592)
“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have conquered the world.” ... John 16:33
REFLECTION – “Let nothing intervene to hinder the progress of any who travel alongside each other, in this evangelical life but let us walk with agile step though the road be rough and hard, let us show a brave and manly spirit, overcome obstacles, pass along from pathway to pathway, from hill to hill, until we climb onto the mountain of the Lord and make a home for ourselves in the holy place of His impassibility.
Now, companions assist each other on the way; so then, my brothers, as the Apostle says: “Bear one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2) and make up for whatever is lacking to others (cf. 2 Cor 8:14 ; Phil 2:30). To the negligence that perhaps holds sway today, noble courage will succeed tomorrow, now one is in gloom and then suddenly one rises to the surface and discovers joy again, at one moment our passions rise up but soon God comes to help us, they are broken and calm returns. For you will only be seen like this yesterday and the day before but, dear friend, you will not always remain the same but the grace of God will draw near you, the Lord will fight for you and perhaps, like the great Antony, you will say: “Where were you just now?” and he will answer: “I wanted to see your combat.”
For now, let us persevere, children, dear children, let us be patient for a little, brothers, dear brothers.… Who will be crowned without having fought? Who will go to rest if he is not tired (cf. 2 Tim 2:5-6)? Who will gather the fruits of life without having planted virtues in his soul? Cultivate them, prepare the earth with the greatest care, take trouble over it, sweat over it, children, God’s workers, imitators of the angels, competitors with incorporeal beings, lights for those who are in the world (cf. Phil 2:15)!” … St Theodore the Studite (759-826) Monk – Catechesis 28
PRAYER – Lord God, let the grace of the Holy Spirit come upon us, so that we may hold fast to Your Will with fidelity and love and show it forth by a holy life. May the Mother of our Lord and our Mother and St Paschal Baylon, Servant of the Blessed Sacrament, pray that we may live in the light of our Saviour. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, and the glory of God the Father forever and ever, amen.
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God By St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father & Doctor of the Church
Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Virgin and Mother! Morning Star, perfect vessel. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Holy Temple in which God Himself was conceived. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Chaste and pure dove. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, who enclosed the One Who cannot be encompassed in your sacred womb. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, From you flowed the true light, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Through you the Conqueror and triumphant Vanquisher of hell, came to us. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Through you, the glory of the Resurrection blossoms. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, You have saved every faithful Christian. Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 16 May – “Mary’s Month” – Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension or The Seventh Sunday of Easter, Readings: Acts 1:11, Psalm 47: 2-3, 6-7, 8-9 (6), Second Ephesians 4: 1-1, John 17:1-11
“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours. All mine are yours and all yours are mine and I am glorified in them. … Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.”
John 17:9-11
“Our lives are all controlled by the Spirit now and are not confined to this physical world that is subject to corruption. The light of the Only-begotten has shone on us and we have been transformed into the Word, the source of all life.”
St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father and Doctor of the Incarnation
“If, as God, Jesus is the term of our seeking, as Man, He is the unique Exemplar, wherefrom we ought never to turn our gaze.”
One Minute Reflection – 16 May – “Mary’s Month” – Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension or The Seventh Sunday of Easter, Readings: Acts 1:11, Psalm 47: 2-3, 6-7, 8-9 (6), Second Ephesians 4: 1-1, John 17:1-11
“Holy Father, keep them in your name… so that they may be one just as we are one” – John 17:11
REFLECTION – “The Beloved in the Song of Songs says: “My dove, my perfect one, is only one. She is the only child of her mother…” (6,9). The same point is made even more clearly by the Lord’s own words in the Gospel. For when, in His blessing, He bequeathed all power to His disciples, in His prayer to His Father, He bestowed on His followers all good gifts,and He added the greatest gift of all, that they should never be fragmented or divided… but, they should all be one, united in growth with the one and only good. And so, through “the unity of the Holy Spirit,” they should all be clasped together in “the bond of peace” and become “one body, one spirit, through the one hope to which they are called” (Eph 4,3-4)…
“That they may all be one, even as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one.” The bond of this unity is glory and that the Holy Spirit is called “glory” no sensible person will deny, if he considers the Lord’s words: “The glory which you have given me, I have given them” (Jn 17,22). He truly gave such glory to His disciples, for He said to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn 20,22). When He clothed Himself in human nature, Christ received this glory, which He had from all ages, “before the world began” (Jn 17,5) and, when His human nature was thus glorified by the Holy Spirit, the glory of the Spirit could be handed on to Christ’s kin, beginning with the disciples. This is the meaning of Christ’s words: “Father, the glory which you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one as we are one.” – St Gregory of Nyssa (c 335-395), Bishop, Brother of St Basil the Great – Sermon on the Song of Songs, no 15
PRAYER – Since it is from You, God our Father, that redemption comes to us, Your adopted children, look with favour on the family You love, grant us to seek You and to to find You in Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.,, May our whole being become a copy of Your Son’s obedience and thus follow Him to You in our eternal heritage. We entreat Our Lady, Queen of Heaven to offer her prayers to You, to strengthen us in our temptations and trials. Through Christ, Our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God for all eternity, amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 15 May – “Mary’s Month” – Readings: Acts 18: 23-28, Psalms 47: 2-3, 8-9, 10, John 16: 23-28
“Amen, amen I say to you, if you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it you.”
John 16:27
“Prayer is the wing, wherewith the soul flies to heaven and meditation, the eye, wherewith we see God.”
St Ambrose (340-397) Father and Doctor of the Church
“Lift up and stretch out your hands, not to heaven but to the poor… if you lift up your hands in prayer without sharing with the poor, it is worth nothing.”
St John Chrysostom (347-407) Father and Doctor of the Church
“A servant of the Lord stands bodily before men but mentally, he is knocking at the gates of heaven. with prayer.”
“Ask with tears, seek with obedience, knock with patience.”
St John Climacus (c 525-606) Father of the Church
Prayer for the Gift of Prayer By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Most Zealous Doctor
O Incarnate Word, You have given Your Blood and Your Life to confer on our prayers that power by which, according to Your promise, they obtain for us all that we ask. And we, O God, are so careless of our salvation, that we will not even ask You for the graces that we must have, if we should be saved! In prayer You have given us the key of all Your Divine treasures; and we, rather than pray, choose to remain in our misery. Alas! O Lord, enlighten us, and make us know the value of prayers, offered in Your name and by Your merits, in the eyes of Your Eternal Father. Amen
“My children, your heart is small but prayer expands it and makes it able to love God. Prayer is a foretaste of heaven, an outflowing of paradise. It never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey, which descends into the soul and sweetens everything. Sorrows melt in a prayer, that is well prayed, like snow in the sun.”
One Minute Reflection – 15 May – “Mary’s Month” – Readings: Acts 18: 23-28, Psalms 47: 2-3, 8-9, 10, John 16: 23-28
“In that day, you will ask in My Name” – John 16:26
REFLECTION – “At the end of our prayers we say: “Through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord” and not “Through the Holy Spirit.” This practice of the Universal Church is not without reason. At its root lies the Mystery according to which, Jesus Christ is the Mediator between God and humanity (1 Tim 2:5), a Priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek, He who, with His own Blood, entered into the Holy of Holies, not that which was only a copy but, into Heaven itself, where He is at the Right Hand of God and intercedes for us (Heb 6:20; 9:24).
It was in His consideration of Christ’s Priesthood, that the Apostle said: “Through Him let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips which confess His Name” (Heb 13:15). It is through Him that we offer the sacrifice of praise and prayer because it is His death that reconciled us while we were still enemies (Rom 5:10). He willed to offer Himself in sacrifice for our sakes and, since then, it is through Him, that our offerings can be acceptable in God’s sight. This is why Saint Peter warns us in these words: “Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, through Jesus Christ” (1 Pt 2:5). This is the reason why we say to God the Father: “Through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord.” – Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe (467-532) – Bishop in North Africa (Letter 14,36).
PRAYER – Since it is from You, God our Father, that redemption comes to us, Your adopted children, look with favour on the family You love, hear our prayer as we unite our voices in the name of Your Son, our Lord and Redeemer. May our faith, love and joy in Christ bring us all alike to our eternal heritage and may the prayer of His blessed Mother and ours lead us safely home. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God with You, loving Father, forever, amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 14 May – “Mary’s Month” – Feast of St Matthias Apostle, Readings: Acts 1:15-17, 20-26, Psalm 113:1-8, John 15:9-17
“The lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”
Acts 1:26
“He needed to be a witness not of the times before or after that event and not of the signs and wonders but only of the Resurrection itself. For the rest happened by general admission, openly but the Resurrection took place secretly and was known to these men only.”
St John Chrysosthom (347-407) Father & Doctor of the Church
“You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you.”
John 15:14
“I have chosen you and have appointed you, that you should go and should bring forth fruit and your fruit should remain, says the Lord.”
One Minute Reflection – 14 May – “Mary’s Month” – Feast of St Matthias Apostle, Readings: Acts 1:15-17, 20-26, Psalm 113:1-8, John 15:9-17
“…All that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you.” … John 15:15
REFLECTION – “Among His disciples Christ chose twelve chief ones whom He destined to be the teachers of the nations. Accordingly, after one of these had been struck off, He commanded the eleven others, on His departure to the Father, to “go and teach all nations” who were to be “baptised into the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28,19).
So the Apostles – whom this designation indicates as ‘the sent’ – on the authority of a prophecy which occurs in a psalm of David, immediately chose Matthias by lot in place of Judas. They obtained the promised power of the Holy Spirit for the gift of miracles and tongues and, after first bearing witness to faith in Jesus Christ, throughout Judaea and founding Churches there, they next went out into the world and preached the same teaching of faith to the nations. …
Now what it was they preached – in other words, what it was that Christ revealed to them – can properly be proved, in no other way, than by those very Churches that the Apostles founded in person, by directly declaring the Gospel to them, first by word of mouth and subsequently by their epistles. If, then, these things are so, it is manifest, that all doctrine that agrees with the Apostolic Churches, which are the matrix and source of the faith, must be reckoned as true and as undoubtedly containing that, which those Churches received, from the Apostles, the Apostles from Christ and Christ from God.” … Tertullian, full name Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus (c 155- c 240) Father of the Church
PRAYER – Lord God, You chose St Matthias to complete the number of the twelve. By his prayer, include us among Your chosen ones, since we rejoice to see that the lot marked out for us, is in Your Love. May the Mother of Jesus, the Apostles and our Mother, ever intercede for us all. Through Jesus the Christ, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God now and forever, amen.
One Minute Reflection – 13 May – “Mary’s Month” – Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 18: 1-8, Psalms 98: 1, 2-3, 3-4, John 16: 16-20 and the Memorial of Blessed Imelda Lambertini (1322-1333) Child Mystic, “Adorer of the Blessed Sacrament”
“Your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” … John 16:20… John 16:16
REFLECTION – Today, our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, let our hearts ascend with Him. Listen to the words of the Apostle – If you have risen with Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth. For just as He remained with us even after His ascension, so we too, are already in heaven with Him, even though what is promised us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies.
Christ is now exalted above the heavens but He still suffers on earth all the pain that we, the members of His body have to bear. He showed this when He cried out from above – Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? and when He said: I was hungry and you gave me food.
Why do we on earth not strive to find rest with Him in heaven even now, through the faith, hope and love that unites us to Him? While in heaven. He is also with us and we, while on earth, are with Him. He is here with us by His divinity, His power and His love. We cannot be in heaven, as He is on earth, by divinity but in Him, we can be there by love.
He did not leave heaven when He came down to us, nor did He withdraw from us when He went up again into heaven. The fact that He was in heaven even while He was on earth, is borne out by His own statement – No-one has ever ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. … Thus, no-one but Christ descended and no one but Christ ascended; not because there is no distinction between the head and the body but because the body, as a unity cannot be separated from the head” – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop and Great Western Father and Doctor of the Church – An excerpt from his Sermon on the Lord’s Ascension
PRAYER – Almighty God, fill us with a holy joy, teach us how to thank You with reverence and love for the joy of the ascension of Christ Your on. You have raised us up with Him, where He the head has preceded us in glory, there we, the body, are called in hope. Grant, too we beg, that by Mary’s prayer and the prayer of Your loving child Blessed Imelda Lambertini, we may give You faithful service and spread abroad the glory of Your nameThrough Christ our Lord, i the unity of the Holy Spirit and the glory of the Father, God forever, amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 12 May – The Memorial of St Germanus of Constantinople (c 640-733) Defender of Sacred Images
“The honour given to an image goes to the original model.”
St Basil the Great (329-379 Father and Doctor of the Church
“When we show reverence to representations of Jesus Christ, we do not worship paint laid on wood – we worship the invisible God, in spirit and in truth.”
St Germanus of Constantinople (c 640-733)
“Previously God, Who has neither a body nor a face, absolutely could not be represented by an image. But now that He has made Himself visible in the flesh and has lived with men, I can make an image of what I have seen of God… and contemplate the glory of the Lord, His face unveiled.”
“The beauty of the images moves me to contemplation, as a meadow delights the eyes and subtly infuses the soul with the glory of God.”
St John Damascene (675-749) Father and Doctor of the Church
“… Through these images which we kiss and before which we kneel and uncover our heads, we are adoring Christ and venerating the saints, whose likeness these images bear.”
Saint of the Day – 12 May – Saint Germanus of Constantinople (c 640-733) Bishop of Constantinople from 715 to 730, Defender of the Doctrine of the Church both against Monothelitism and Iconoclasm, Poet, Hymnist, Spiritual writer, some of his works being used and quoted still today. Born in c 640 in Constantinople and died on 12 May 733 at Platonium of natural causes at an advanced age. Tradition depicts Germanus as much more determined in his position, even winning a debate on the matter with Constantine, Bishop of Nacoleia, a leading Iconoclast. Pope Gregory II (term 715-731), a fellow Iconodule, praised Germanus’ “zeal and steadfastness.“
The Roman Martyrology includes him today and states: “At Constantinople, Saint Germanus, a Bishop distinguished by virtues and learning, who, with great courage, reprehended Leo the Isaurian, for promulgating an edict against holy images.”
The son of Justinianus, a patrician, Germanus dedicated himself to the service of the Church and became a Priest at the Cathedral of the City. Some time after the death of his father, who had filled various high official positions, Germanus was Consecrated Bishop of Cyzicus but the exact year of his elevation is not known.
According to St Theophanes (c 75- 817/818), he was present in this capacity at the Synod of Constantinople held in 712 at the insistence of the new Emperor, Philippicus, who favoured Monothelitism. The object of the Council was to re-establish Monothelitism and to condemn the Acts of the Sixth General Council of 681. Even Germanus is said to have bowed to the imperial will, with the majority of the Greek Bishops. However, immediately after the dethronement of Emperor Philippicus (713) his successor, Anastasius II, restored orthodoxy and Monothelitism was now definitively banished from the Byzantine Empire. If Germanus really had yielded for a short time to the false teachings of the Monothelites (though this is very doubtful), he now once more acknowledged the orthodox definition of the two wills in Christ.
When the Bishop of Constantinople died, Germanus was raised to the patriarchal see (715), which he held until 730. Immediately (715 or 716), he convened, a Synod of Greek Bishops, who acknowledged and proclaimed anew the Doctrine of the two wills and the two operations in Christ and placed under anathema, Sergius, Cyrus and the other leaders of Monothelitism. Germanus entered into communication with the Armenian Monophysites, with a view to restoring them to unity with the Church but without success. Soon after his elevation to the ecclesiastical dignity the Iconoclastic storm burst forth in the Byzantine Church, Bishop Constantine of Nacoleia in Phrygia, who, like some other Bishops of the Empire, condemned the veneration of the images of Christ and the Saints, went to Constantinople and entered into a discussion with Germanus on the subject.
Germanus represented the traditional use of the Church and sought to convince Constantine of the propriety of reverencing images. Apparently he was converted to the teaching of the Germanus but he did not deliver the letter entrusted to him, by Germanus to the Metropolitan of Synnada, for which he was excommunicated.
At the same time the learned Bishop wrote to Bishop Thomas of Claudiopolis, another Iconoclast and developed in detail the sound principles underlying the reverencing of images, as against the recent innovations. Emperor Leo III, however, did not recede from his position and everywhere encouraged the iconoclasts. In a volcanic eruption between the islands of Thera and Therasia, Leo saw a Divine judgement for the idolatry of image- worship and in an edict (726) explained that Christian images had taken the place of idols and the venerators of images were idolaters, since, according to the law of God (Exodus 20:4), no product of the hand of man may be adored.
Immediately afterwards, the first Iconoclastic disturbances erupted in Constantinople. Germanus vigorously opposed the Emperor and sought to convert him to a truer view of things, whereupon Leo attempted to depose him.
In 722) Leo issued a series of edicts against the worship of images (726–729). A letter by Germanus written before 726 to two Iconoclast Bishops, says that “now whole towns and multitudes of people are in considerable agitation over this matter” but we have very little evidence as to the growth of the debate. Germanus turned to Pope Gregory II (729), who in a lengthy epistle praised his zeal and steadfastness. The Emperor in 730 summoned the Council before which Germanus was cited, to subscribe to an imperial decree prohibiting images. He resolutely refused and was thereupon, compelled to resign his Bishopric, being succeeded by the pliant Anastasius.
Germanus withdrew to the home of his family, where he died some years later at an advanced age. in 733. The Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (787) bestowed high praise on Germanus and included hims in the diptychs of the Saints. He is venerated as a Saint in both the Greek and the Latin Church. His feast is celebrated today, 12 May.
Several writings of Germanus have been preserved,“Narratio de sanctis synodis,” a dialogue “De vitae termino,” a letter to the Armenians and three letters on the reverencing of images, as well as nine discourses. The “Historia ecclesiastica et mystica,” also attributed to him – was a popular work in Greek and Latin translations, for many centuries
Pope Pius XII included one of his texts in the Apostolic Constitution proclaiming Mary’s Assumption into Heaven, a Dogma of the Church.
Among his writings was the hymn translated by John Mason Neale as “A Great and Mighty Wonder,”although Neale misattributed this to Anatolius of Constantinople.
Quote/s of the Day – 11 May – “Mary’s Month” – Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter,Readings: Acts 16: 22-34, Psalms 138: 1-2, 2-3, 7-8, John 16: 5-11
“I will send to you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord; he will guide you to all truth.”
John 16:7,13
“If one of us has a conscience polluted by the stain of avarice, conceit, vain-glory, indignation, irascibility, or envy and the other vices, he has “a daughter badly troubled by a demon” like the Canaanite woman.”
St Bede the Venerable (673-735) Father and Doctor of the Church
“A good man is not a perfect man; a good man is an honest man, faithful and unhesitatingly responsive to the Voice of God in his life.”
St John Fisher (1469-1535) Bishop, Martyr
“Just as speech has been given to men to be the interpreter of their feelings and desires, so it is through the conscience, that God teaches us, what He judges of everything and what He expects of each one of us. This divine Voice forms various interior words, to express various lessons and the different orders, that it pleases God to give to His creature. It is the bond of communication that the Lord desires to have with us and the most usual organ he makes use of, to touch our hearts and open to us His own.”
St Claude la Colombière SJ (1641-1682)
Christian reflections (Spiritual writings, coll. Christus no 9,)
“The Heart of Jesus is with me.”
“Three things I cannot escape: the eye of God, the voice of conscience, the stroke of death. In company, guard your tongue. In your family, guard your temper. When alone guard your thoughts.”
Venerable Matthew Talbot (1856 – 1925)
“Then steer your ship with steady arm, Trust Me and rest your soul. Your little boat I’ll keep from harm, I’ll guide it toward its goal. … Be therefore, steadfast, calm and true, Your God is at your side. Through storm and night He’ll see you through With conscience as your guide.”
St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross OCD.(1891-1942 Edith Stein “At the Helm”
Quote/s of the Day – 10 May – “Mary’s Month” – Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 16:11-15, Psalms 149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 9, John 15:26–16:4
“And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you and will be in you.”
John 14:16-17
“His action is preceded by the beaming rays of His light and knowledge. He comes with the truth of the real Protector; for He comes to save, to lead, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console, to illumine, in the first place, the mind of the person who receives Him and through that person‘s works, the minds of others.”
St Cyril of Jerusalem (315-387) Father and Doctor of the Church
“Remember, then, that you received a spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear. Keep safe what you received. God the Father sealed you, Christ the Lord strengthened you and sent the Spirit into your hearts as the pledge of what is to come.”
St Ambrose (340-397) Father & Doctor of the Church
“The Holy Spirit leads us along, as a mother leads her two year old child by the hand, as a sighted person leads a blind one. We should say each morning: “Oh my God, send me Your Holy Spirit who will make me understand what I am and what you are …” A soul who possesses the Holy Spirit enjoys an exquisite taste in prayer, it never loses the holy presence of God.”
One Minute Reflection – 10 May – “Mary’s Month” – Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 16:11-15, Psalms 149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 9, John 15:26–16:4
“When the Paraclete comes, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me” … John 15:26
REFLECTION – “The Spirit is the source of holiness, a spiritual light and He offers His own light to every mind, to help it in its search for truth. By nature, the Spirit is beyond the reach of our mind but we can know Him by His goodness. The power of the Spirit fills the whole universe but He gives Himself only to those who are worthy, acting in each according to the measure of his faith.
Simple in Himself, the Spirit is manifold in His mighty works. The whole of His being is present to each individual, the whole of His being is present everywhere. Though shared in by many, He remains unchanged, His self-giving is no loss to Himself. Like the sunshine, which permeates all the atmosphere, spreading over land and sea and yet is enjoyed by each person, as though it were for him alone, so the Spirit pours forth His grace in full measure, sufficient for all and yet, is present as though exclusively to everyone who can receive Him. To all creatures that share in Him, He gives a delight, limited only by their own nature, not by His ability to give.
The Spirit raises our hearts to heaven, guides the steps of the weak and brings to perfection, those who are making progress. He enlightens those who have been cleansed from every stain of sin and makes them spiritual by communion with Himself. As clear, transparent substances become very bright when sunlight falls on them and shine with a new radiance, so also souls in whom the Spirit dwells and who are enlightened by the Spirit, become spiritual themselves and a source of grace for others.
From the Spirit comes foreknowledge of the future, understanding of the mysteries of faith, insight into the hidden meaning of Scripture and other special gifts. Through the Spirit we become citizens of heaven, we enter into eternal happiness and abide in God. Through the Spirit we acquire a likeness to God, indeed, we attain what is beyond our most sublime aspirations—we become God..” … St Basil the Great (329-379) Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church – An excerpt from his On the Holy Spirit, Chapter 9.
PRAYER – Lord God, You sanctify Your Church in every race and nation by the joy of Your risen Son. By His life, Death and Resurrection You grant us life and through Your Holy Spirit, You grant us the fruits of faithful love. May we ever be graced by Your gift of faith and be led to our heavenly Home. Through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary may we be strengthened for the journey. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, together with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God now and forever, amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 9 May – Sixth Sunday of Easter, Readings: First: Acts 10: 25-26, 34-35, 44-48; Psalm: Psalms 98: 1, 2-3, 3-4 (2b); Second: First John 4: 7-10; Gospel: John 15: 9-17
“You are my friends if you do what I command you. “
John 15:14
“It is not that we keep His commandments first and that then He loves but, that He loves us and then we keep His commandments. This is that grace which is revealed to the humble but hidden from the proud.”
“If we live good lives, the times are also good. As we are, such are the times.”
St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of Grace
“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) Father and Doctor of the Incarnation
PRAYER – O Infinite Goodness – Act of Contrition By St Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) – Doctor of the Church
O my God, I am exceedingly grieved, for having offended Thee and with my whole heart, I repent of the sins I have committed. I hate and abhor them above every other evil, not only because, by so sinning, I have lost heaven and deserved hell but still more because I have offended Thee, O infinite Goodness, who art worthy to be loved above all things. I most firmly resolve, by the assistance of Thy grace, never more to offend Thee for the time to come and to avoid those occasions which might lead me into sin. Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 8 May – “Mary’s Month” – Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 16:1-10, Psalm 100:1-3, 5, John 15:18-21
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me first.”
John 15:18
“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own but because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world, therefore, the world hates you.”
John 15:19
“God watches us – we, His children – take part in the combat and Himself gives us a heavenly crown ( 1Cor 9:25). The angels watch us too and Christ comes to our aid. So let us arm ourselves with all our might, let us fight the good fight, with brave hearts and solid faith.”
St Cyprian of Carthage (c 200- c 258) Bishop and Martyr, Father of the Church
“Do not rejoice in the Cross only in times of peace, preserve the same faith in times of persecution. Do not be a friend to Jesus in times of peace alone, only to become His enemy in times of war. You are now receiving forgiveness for your sins and the spiritual gifts lavishly bestowed by your King so, when war breaks out, fight valiantly for your King.”
St Cyril of Jerusalem (315-387) Father and Doctor of the Church
“When insults have no effect on us, when persecutions and penalties, have no terror for us, when prosperity or adversity, has no influence on us, when friend and foe, are viewed in the same light… do we not come close, to sharing, the serenity of God?”
St Aelred of Rievaulx (1110-1167)
“O man, when the world hates you and is faithless toward you, think of your God, how He was struck and spat upon. You should not accuse your neighbour of guilt but pray to God, that He be merciful to you both.”
St Nicholas of Flue (1417-1487)
“Catholics are part of the Church Militant. They struggle and they suffer for the triumph of Christ. They must never lose sight of their Divine Model, so that their trials will be turned into joy.”
One Minute Reflection – 8 May – “Mary’s Month” – Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 16:1-10, Psalm 100:1-3, 5, John 15:18-21
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me first.”- John 15:18
REFLECTION –“I rejoice with you greatly in our Lord Jesus Christ, that you welcomed the copies of true love [Ignatius of Antioch and his companions]…who were encumbered with saintly chains, which are the diadems of those, truly chosen by God and our Lord. And I rejoice because the deep root of your faith, which has been renowned from early times, still lasts and bears fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ, Who for our sins, endured even facing death, and whom “God raised, releasing him from the throes of death” (Acts 2,24). “Though you have not seen him, you believe with unutterable, triumphant joy” (1Pt 1,8)… “He who raised him from the dead will raise us also” (2Cor 4,14), if we do His Will and live by His Commands and love what He loved… Let us be imitators of His endurance and, if we suffer for His sake, let us glorify Him. For He set us this example Himself and this is what we have believed.
So I beg you all, to obey the message of uprightness and to exhibit all endurance, such as you saw with your own eyes, not only in the blessed Ignatius and Zosimus and Rufus but also, in others of your number and in Paul himself and the rest of the Apostles, being assured, that all these “have not run in vain” (Gal 2,2) but in faith and uprightness and, that they are in the place that they have deserved with the Lord, with and for Whom they suffered. For they did not “love the present world” (2Tm 4,10) but Christ, Who died for us and was raised up by God for our sakes.”- St Polycarp (69-155) Apostolic Father, Bishop and Martyr – Letter to the Philippians, 1-2, 8-9
PRAYER – Almighty God, grant that Your faithful, who rejoice in the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may be delivered from every evil here on earth, put on the armour of Your Son and fight the good faith bearing His standard. Through her prayer and the prayers of Your Angels and Saints, may we come to the enduring joys of heaven. We make our prayer through her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, one God with You, in the union of the Holy Spirit, forever amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 7 May – “Mary’s Month” – Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 15:22-31, Psalm 57:8-12, John 15:12-17
“Love one another as I have loved you”
John 15:12
“Someone who shows no clemency, who is not clothed with the bowels of mercy and tears, no matter what sort of student he is in spirituality, such a one, does not fulfil the law of Christ.”
St Jerome (343-420) Father and Doctor of the Church
“My brothers, Christ made love the stairway that would enable all Christians to climb to heaven. Hold fast to it, therefore, in all sincerity, give one another practical proof of it and by your progress in it, make your ascent together.”
St Fulgentius of Ruspe (460-533) Bishop
“Love is watchful. Sleeping, it does not slumber. Wearied, it is not tired. Pressed, it is not straitened. Alarmed, it is not confused but like a living flame, a burning torch, it forces its way upward and passes unharmed through every obstacle.”
“Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger or higher or wider; nothing is more pleasant, nothing fuller and nothing better in heaven or on earth, for love is born of God and cannot rest except in God, Who is above all created things.”
Quote/s of the Day – 5 May – Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter, Readings: First: Acts 15: 1-6; Psalm: Psalms 122: 1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5; Gospel: John 15: 1-8 and the Memorial of the Conversdion of St Augustine
“Without Me you can do nothing”
John 15:5
“You do not know when your last day may come. You are an ingrate! Why not use the day, today, that God has given you to repent?”
“What do you possess if you possess not God?”
St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of Grace
“A saint is not someone, who never sins, but one who sins less and less frequently and gets up more and more quickly.”
St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Mellifluous Doctor
“Each day then, we ought to renew our resolutions and arouse ourselves to fervour, as though it were the first day of our turning back to God. We ought to say: “Help me, O Lord God, in my good resolution and in Your holy service. Grant me now, this very day, to begin perfectly, for thus far I have done nothing.” … Just men depend on the grace of God rather than on their own wisdom in keeping their resolutions. In Him they confide every undertaking …” ”
Thomas à Kempis CRSA (1380-1471)
“A soul makes room for God by wiping away all the smudges and smears of creatures, by uniting its will perfectly to God’s, for to love is to labour, to divest and deprive oneself for God, of all that is not God . When this is done, the soul will be illumined by and transformed in God.”
St John of the Cross (1542-1591) Mystical Doctor of the Church
Our Morning Offering – 5 May – The Memorial of the Conversion of St Augustne of Hippo (354-430)
Blessed Virgin Mary, Receive Our Gratitude By St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of Grace
Blessed Virgin Mary, who can worthily repay you with praise and thanks for having rescued a fallen world by your generous consent! Receive our gratitude and by your prayers, obtain the pardon of our sins. Take our prayers into the Sanctuary of Heaven and enable them to make our peace with God. Holy Mary, help the miserable, strengthen the discouraged, comfort the sorrowful, pray for your people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God. May all who venerate you feel now your help and protection. Be ready to help us when we pray and bring back to us, the answers to our prayers. Make it your continual concern to pray for the people of God, for you were blessed by God and were made worthy to bear the Redeemer of the world, Who lives and reigns forever. Amen
Saint of the Day – 5 May – Feast of the Conversion of St Augustine (354-430) Bishop, Father and Doctor of Grace. Born on 13 November 354 at Tagaste, Numidia, North Africa (Souk-Ahras, Algeria) as Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis and died on 28 August 430 at Hippo, North Africa, which date is his primary Feast day. The Augustinians celebrated today’s memorial on 24 April. St Augustine is the Patron of against sore eyes, against vermin, brewers, printers, theologians, 7 Dioceses, 7 Cities
The Roman Martyrology states of today’s memorial: “In Milan, the Conversion of St Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, whom the blessed Bishop St Ambrose instructed in the Catholic Faith and baptised on this day.”
The story of a soul’s journey to God is what we celebrate today in the feast of the Conversion of Saint Augustine. Or, perhaps, we might also say, the story of God’s tireless pursuit of His beloved and the attentiveness and openness of that soul at last to God’s love. Conversion, or the turning to God, is a movement that is possible for us at every moment of our journey – not simply once and forever but continually and ever more deeply.
During the Easter Vigil, on the night between 4 and 5 April 387, Augustine was baptised by Bishop Ambrose in the Cathedral of Milan ,together with his son, Adeodatus and a small group of friends, including the ‘brother of (his) heart,’ Alypius. Thus was brought to its happy end, the long and tiring journey of Augustine’s conversion to the Catholic faith. Augustine himself records, in Book 8 of the Confessions, the climactic moment in which he surrendered to God’s grace and was relieved of the doubts and fears, which had so long kept him imprisoned.
Baptism of St Augustine
How many things came together now, in one moment, to bring him freedom: – the story of a visiting countryman, the song of a young child, repeating Tolle Lege, Tolle Lege – Take up, read. Take up, read, moving him to pick up St Paul’s Letter to the Romans, to find there, the response to his heart’s longing.
“I found myself weeping in the bitter sorrow of my heart. And suddenly I heard a voice from a nearby house, a child’s voice, boy or girl I do not know – but it was sort of a sing song that repeated over and over again. ‘Take and read, take and read.’ Wiping away my tears I took this as a divine command and opened the Scriptures and in silence read the passage on which my eyes first fell – ‘Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in debauchery and impurity, not in contention and envy but put on the Lord Jesus…’”
“How sweet did it suddenly become to me to be free of the sweets of folly -things that I once feared to lose, it was now joy to put away. You cast them forth from me, You the true and highest sweetness, You cast them forth and in their stead, You entered in, sweeter than every pleasure…” (Conf. 9, 1).
Certainly the story of Augustine’s conversion, numbers among the most well-known and most significant of all of Christian history – well-known, through Augustine’s own recording of it in his Confessions; significant, not only for the impact which his life of faith – as Monk, Bishop and Theologian – has had on the Catholic Church ever since but also, on the many men and women of every period, whose own personal lives have been altered by reading it and then hastening to go on and read and read and read the words of love of St Augustine!
Let us now thank God for the great light that shines out from St Augustine’s wisdom and humility and pray the Lord to give to us all, day after day, the conversion we need to lead us toward true life. And we ask our beloved Father and Doctor of Grace, St Augustine, to not forget us in his supplications and intercessions. as he gazes on the Face of God. Amen.
Our Morning Offering – 4 May – “Mary’s Month” – Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Hail, O Mother! By St John Chrysostom (347-407) Father and Doctor of the Church
Hail, O Mother! Virgin, heaven, throne, glory of our Church, it’s foundation and ornament. Earnestly pray for us to Jesus, your Son and Our Lord, that through your intercession, we may have mercy on the day of judgement. Pray that we may receive, all those good things which are reserved for those who love God. Through the grace and favour of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, to Whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be power, honour and glory, now and forever. Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 3 May – “Mary’s Month” – Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter, Readings: First: First Corinthians 15: 1-8; Psalm: Psalms 19: 2-3, 4-5; Gospel: John 14: 6-14 and the Feast of Sts Philip and James Apostles and Martyrs
“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
John 14:9
“I am in my Father and you in me and I in you.”
John 14:20
“It is no advantage to be near the light, if the eyes are closed.”
“Faith is to believe what you do not see. The reward of this faith, is to see what you believe.”
One Minute Reflection – 3 May – “Mary’s Month” – Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter, Readings: First: First Corinthians 15: 1-8; Psalm: Psalms 19: 2-3, 4-5; Gospel: John 14: 6-14 and the Feast of Sts Philip and James Apostles and Martyrs
“Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? …” -John 14:9
REFLECTION – “In the Church, I know of only one image, that is, the image of the unseen God. God has said about this image, “Let us make man [humankind] in our image.” Of this image it is written that Christ is the “effulgence of the glory and impress of His hypostasis.” In that image, I perceive the Father, as the Lord Jesus Himself has said, “The one who has seen me has seen the Father.” For this image is not separated from the Father, which indeed, has taught me the unity of the Trinity, saying, “I and the Father are one” and again, “All things whatever the Father has are mine.” [In this image, also perceive] the Holy Spirit, seeing that the Spirit is Christ’s and has received of Christ, as it is written, “He shall receive of mine and shall announce it to you.” – St Ambrose (340-397) Bishop of Milan, Father and one of the original four Doctors of the Latin Church( – Sermon Against Auxentius, 32)
PRAYER – Lord God, each year You grant us the blessing of celebrating with joy, the feast day of Your Apostles and Martyrs Saints Philip and James. Make us partners with them by their prayers, in the Passion and Resurrection of Your only-begotten Son, so that we may come, with them, to the eternal vision of Your glory. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 3 May – “Mary’s Month” – Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Mary, Mother of Grace St Athanasius (297-373) Father & Doctor (whose Feast we celebrated yesterday, 2 May)
It becomes you to be mindful of us, as you stand near Him who granted you all graces, for you are the Mother of God and our Queen. Help us for the sake of the King, the Lord God and Master, Who was born of you. For this reason, you are called full of grace. Remember us, most holy Virgin, and bestow on us gifts from the riches of your graces, Virgin full of graces. Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 2 May – “Mary’s Month” – and the Memorial of St Athanasius (297-373) Father & Doctor of the Church
“If we follow Christ closely we shall be allowed, even on this earth, to stand, as it were, on the threshold of the heavenly Jerusalem and enjoy the contemplation, pf that everlasting feast, like the blessed Apostles, who, in following the Saviour as their leader, showed and still show, the way to obtain the same gift from God. They said – See, we have left all things and followed You. We too follow the Lord and we keep His feast by deeds rather than by words.”
“He cries out, saying: See, I am with you all the days of this age. He is Himself the shepherd, the high priest, the way and the door, and has become all things at once for us.”
“Mary, Mother of Grace, it becomes you to be mindful of us, as you stand near Him who granted you all graces, for you are the Mother of God and our Queen. Help us for the sake of the King, the Lord God and Master, Who was born of you.”
Quote/s of the Day – 1 May – Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 13:44-52, Psalm 98:1-4, John 14:7-14
“If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
John 14:7
“We will follow You, Lord Jesus. But in order for us to follow You, call us,because without You, no-one will ascend towards You. For You are the way, the truth, the life. You are also our help, our trust, our reward. Welcome those who belong to You, You who are the way; strengthen them, You who are the truth; give them life, You who are the life.”
St Ambrose (340-397) Father & Doctor of the Church
“O you sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? … Behold – daily He humbles Himself as when from heaven’s royal throne He came down into the womb of the Virgin. Daily, He Himself, comes to us with like humility; daily He descends from the bosom of the Father, upon the Altar, in the hands of the Priest.”
One Minute Reflection – 1 May – Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 13:44-52, Psalm 98:1-4, John 14:7-14
“He who has seen me has seen the Father…”… John 14:9
REFLECTION – “Beloved, Jesus Christ is our salvation, He is the high priest through whom we present our offerings and the helper who supports us in our weakness. Through Him, our gaze penetrates the heights of heaven and we see, as in a mirror, the most holy face of God. Through Christ, the eyes of our hearts are opened and our weak and clouded understanding, reaches up toward the light. Through Him the Lord God willed that we should taste eternal knowledge, for Christ is the radiance of God’s glory and as much greater than the angels as the name God has given Him is superior to theirs. … Think, my brothers, of how we first came into being, of what we were at the first moment of our existence. Think of the dark tomb out of which our Creator brought us into His world, where He had His gifts prepared for us, even before we were born. All this we owe to Him and for everything, we must give Him thanks. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.” … St Pope Clement of Rome (c 35-99), Apostolic Father, Bishop of Rome and Martyr – An excerpt from his Letter to the Corinthians
PRAYER – Since it is from You God, our Father, that redemption comes to us, Your adopted children, look with favour on the family You love, give us true freedom and to all who believe in Christ and bring us all alike to our eternal heritage. Grant we pray, that by the prayers of Your holy angels and saints, Blessed Giovanni Benincasa and most especially our beloved Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ, we may run this race always in prayer, trusting in Your divine Son’s intercession, to attain the Glory of Your Kingdom and the Light of Your Face. Through Jesus Christ, in the union of the Holy Spirit, God with You, forever and ever, amen.
AnaStpaul 
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