Quote/s of the Day – 4 August – The Memorial of St Dominic de Guzman OP(1170-1221)
“Arm yourself with prayer,
instead of a sword;
be clothed with humility,
instead of fine raiment.”
“You are my companion
and must walk with me.
For if we hold together ,
o earthly power can withstand us.”
— Upon meeting St Francis of Assisi.
“I am not capable of doing big things
but I want to do everything,
even the smallest things,
for the greater glory of God.”
Santa Maria degli Angelis / Our Lady of Angels, Assisi, Italy (13th Century) Feast Day and Portiuncula Indulgence: 2 August
Our Lady of Angels, or of the Portiuncula, is located on the outskirts of the City of Assisi, in Italy. It was a desolate locality and apparently an unsettled one where robbers and the lawlessness flourished, for the Benedictines who had lived at the Monastery felt it was too hazardous to remain there. They abandoned the Monastery, relocating to Mount Subasio, which was a fortified Monastery.
The original Chapel is thought to date from the 4th Century and was built by holy hermits who had come from the Valley of Josaphat. It is said that they brought relics of the Blessed Virgin with them to the region when they constructed the Chapel.
The history of the feast is inspiring. St Francis of Assisi, in the early days of his conversion, while he was still uncertain as to what path to pursue, was praying earnestly for enlightenment before the Crucifix at the Church of San Damiano, when he heard within himself the command of the Crucified: “Build up my house, for it is nearly falling down.” Taking the words literally, Francis began to restore San Damiano and other dilapidated Churches in and near Assisi. The most famous of these was the Church of Our Lady of the Angels.
Some time after the restoration of this little Chapel, an Angel told St Francis to come to the Church of Our Lady of Angels, or Portiuncula. There he found Our Lord, His Blessed Mother and the Angels waiting for him. Our Lord commended Francis because of his zeal for the salvation of souls and promised to grant him whatever he should ask on behalf of sinners. St Francis asked for this great favour – that all those who came to this Church to pray and, truly sorry for their sins, confessed them, should “Obtain in perpetuity a Plenary Indulgence” so that they would have nothing to account for when God called them. This was the great favour he asked, but Our Lord granted it to him through Mary.
When Saint Francis came upon the little, run down and abandoned Chapel of Our Lady of Angels, or Santa Maria degli Angelis, in the year 1208, it was almost completely hidden in shrubs and bush. Saint Francis entered the hidden Church, which measured only (7 x 4 metres) twenty-two feet by thirteen feet and saw the ancient fresco that had been placed above the main Altar. It was an image of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin surrounded by Angels. Some say that this is why the Chapel was named Our Lady of Angels, although there are also legends that Angels could often be heard singing there.
The place took its name, the Little Portion, or Portiuncula in the native Italian, from the small section of fertile land that was gifted to the Monks to work for their support. It is said that this was the place where Saint Francis first understood his vocation, received visions and was also where the saint desired to live. The Benedictines had lived at that location for hundreds of years but the Benedictine Monks gave this Chapel to Saint Francis upon his request. It was certainly here that the Franciscan Order was founded.
At first Saint Francis wished the convent which he built there to be the principal one of his Order. He assembled the first General Chapter there, where there were five thousand religious. It was also where he yielded up his spirit on 3 October 1226, the twentieth of his conversion and the forty-fourth of his age. The cell in which the poor man of Assisi died can still be seen where it rests against one of the columns of the cupola under the choir bay.
St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church (Memorial)
St Alphonsus:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/08/01/saint-of-the-day-1-august-st-alphonsus-maria-de-liguori-c-ss-r-1696-1787-doctor-of-the-church/
And more:
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/
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.“
St Eusebius of Vercelli (c 283-371) Bishop (Optional Memorial) Bishop, Confessor, Founder of monasticism in his region of Italy.
St Eusebius:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/08/02/saint-of-the-day-2-august-saint-eusebius-of-vercelli-c-283-371/
St Peter Julian Eymard SSS (1811-1868) – “Apostle of the Eucharist”Priest, Founder of two religious institutes, Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers and Brothers and the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2017/08/02/saint-of-the-day-2-august-st-peter-julian-eymard-sss-apostle-of-the-eucharist/
St Auspicius of Apt
St Betharius of Chartres
St Centolla of Burgos
St Etheldritha of Croyland
Bl Frederic Campisani
Bl Giustino Maria Russolillo
Bl Gundekar of Eichstätt
Bl Joanna of Aza
Bl John of Rieti
St Maximus of Padua
St Pedro de Osma
St Peter Faber SJ (1506-1546) the “Second Jesuit” – as co-Founder with St Ignatius. He was the first Priest and theologian of the Order.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/08/02/saint-of-the-day-2-august-st-peter-faber-s-j-1506-1546-the-second-jesuit/
St Plegmund
St Rutilius
St Serenus of Marseilles (Died c 606) Bishop of Marseilles
St Sidwell
St Pope Stephen I
—
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
Bl Fernando Olmedo Reguera
Bl Miguel Amaro Rodríguez
Quote/s of the Day – 15 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” and the Memorial of St Bonaventure OFM (1221-1274) Seraphic Doctor of the Church
“As “pride is the beginning of all sin,” (Eccl. 10:15)
so humility is the foundation of all virtue.
Learn to be really humble and not,
as the hypocrite, humble merely in appearance.”
“Run with eager desire
to this Source of Life and Light,
all you who are vowed
to God’s service.”
St Bonaventure’s Sermon of 4 October 1255
“When we pray,
the voice of the heart
must be heard ,
more than that proceeding
from the mouth.”
“Have Mercy on Me, O Lady
Have mercy on me, O Lady,
for thou art called the Mother of Mercy.
And according to thy mercy,
cleanse me from all my iniquities.
Pour forth thy grace upon me
and withdraw not from me
thine accustomed clemency.
For I will confess my sins to thee
and I will accuse myself of all my crimes before thee.
Reconcile me to the Fruit of thy womb:
and make peace for me with Him,
Who has created me.
Amen.”
The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure
“Mary seeks for those
who approach her devoutly and with reverence,
for such she loves, nourishes,
and adopts as her children. ”
MORE HERE:
Quote/s of the Day – 15 July – St Bonaventure
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/07/15/quote-s-of-the-day-15-july-the-wisdom-of-st-bonaventure/
Saint of the Day – 15 July – Blessed Bernard of Baden TOSF (1428-1458) Margrave of Baden (Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire.) Tertiary of the Order of St Francis, apostle of the poor and the needy. Born in c 1428 in Hohenbaden Castle, Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and died on 15 July 1458 in Moncalieri, Italy of natural causes. Also known as – Bernard of Marchio, Bernard II, Margrave of Baden-Baden, Bernhard of Baden, Bernardo, Bernardus, Bernhard. Patronages – Baden, Germany, Baden-Baden, Germany, together with Saint Konrad of Constance , he is the Patron Saint of the Archdiocese of Freiburg, Germany, Moncalieri, Italy.
Blessed Bernard was born in late 1428 or early 1429 (his exact birthday is not known) at Hohenbaden Castle near Baden-Baden in the present state of Baden- Baden. Württemberg in Germany. This Castle was the then tribal seat of the Margraves of Baden and Bernhard was the second son of Margrave James I and his wife Catherine of Lorraine, who was the daughter of Blessed Margaret of the Palatinate and Duke Charles II of Lorraine (1364-1431) .
Berrnard grew up in a deeply religious family. His father,had founded Fremersberg Abbey and expanded the Collegiate Church in Baden-Baden. The Margrave’s house was characterised by a deep devotion and religious practices and a great sense of responsibility towards the family members and subjects.
Bernard received a careful education, which would prepare him for his later role as a sovereign. The intent was that he would be Margrave of Pforzheim, Eberstein, Besigheim and several districts in the northern part of the Margraviate.
He was related to the Habsburg dynasty via his older brother Karl I, who had married Catherine of Austria, a sister of Emperor Frederick III. This relationship should give Bernard access to the imperial Court. But first, he assisted his uncle René of Anjou in an armed conflict in northern Italy. According to contemporary sources, he fought bravely. After his father’s death in 1453, he returned to Baden, where he agreed with his brother to give up his claim to part of the margraviate. Instead, he became Frederick III’s personal envoy, despite his young age.
Bernard saw a number of disgraceful situations and tried to alleviate hardship and poverty wherever he could. He spent most of his income assisting the poor and those in need. Even during his lifetime, he impressed his contemporaries with his unusual and deep piety.
Under pressure, after the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453, the imperial Habsburg family began preparing a Crusade against the expanding Ottoman Empire. In March 1453, the Turks captured Constantinople, the capital of the Greek Empire, after a terrible battle and the City was lost to Christianity. This was the main reason that Frederick III, in particular, saw the need to attempt to rout the Turks. Thus, Bernard left soldier life and embarked on a diplomatic career, which was more in line with his peaceful nature. Emperor Frederick III sent him to various Courts in Germany, France and Italy to arouse interest and raise money for a new Crusade. He was so attracted to this mission to save Christianity, that he soon after handed over the office of Margrave of Baden with all rights to his brother Karl for a period of ten years.
Bernard had, since childhood, lived a very religious life and wanted to support his brother-in-law the Emperor by all means. At the imperial Court he also became an ardent intercessor for the needy, following the teachings of Christ and His Church and seeing the Face of Christ in the poor. Bernard rightly believed, that Godliness should lead to mercy for those in most need. He himself lived as he taught and divided his guaranteed annual income into three: one-third was to be used for the poor, one-third was to benefit the Church, and one-third was for himself. In addition, he led a strictly religious life and gave up all worldly pleasures, which earned him deep respect even during his young lifetime.
Emperor Frederick III held two parliaments in 1455, where he appointed delegations of German Princes to recruit rulers outside Germany to take part in a crusade against the Turks. Bernard’s intention was to work on behalf of Emperor Frederick III for the good of Christianity in the areas that the Turks had occupied. His last voyage as an imperial envoy began in late May 1458 and led him and his companions to the Duchy of Orléans and on to Genoa.
He was on his way to Rome, to meet Pope Callistus III (1455-1458), who himself tried to encourage support for a Crusade with great enthusiasm but little success . But shortly after Bernard left Turin in northern Italy, he and his companions were infected by an epidemic, probably the plague. He tried to get home to Baden but even before reaching the village of Moncalieri on the Po River south of Turin in Piedmont, two of his companions were dead. In a hostel next to the Franciscan Monastery in Moncalieri, Bernard died on 15 July 1458, not yet thirty years old.
Due to his position as Prince and Emperor’s envoy, Margrave Bernard was buried in front of the High Altar in the dormitory Church of Santa Maria della Scala in Moncalieri. He was not a citizen of Moncalieri but was, nevertheless, solemnly carried to the grave in the presence of numerous clergy and local citizens, which was probably due more to his privileged status, than the strongly believing and holy life he had led.
During the mourning ceremony, Bernard’s life was told, which led to a citizen of Moncalieri asking Bernhard for prayer and help, as he had only been able to move with a cane and crutches for a long time the result of a bone disease. Already, during the mourning ceremony, this man recovered, which led to general astonishment and joy and was immediately attributed to the prayers of the newly buried Badian Margrave. Bernard’s cult and calls for help and support had begun. He already had a reputation for holiness and for a special devotion to the Virgin Mary, and many miracles were reported at his tomb. In Moncalieri and the surrounding area, accounts spread of his effective intercession. His tomb and his relics became a pilgrimage site which it still is. Pilgrimages were and are held there, prayers are said, vows are made and sacrifices are offered. Bernhard has, for many centuries, been the Patron Saint of Moncalieri, which is probably the only City in Italy, that has a German Prince as their Protector.
His cult spread rapidly in Piedmont and the surrounding areas of France and Germany. In Vic near Nancy and Metz in Lorraine, where Bernhard’s brother Georg had been Bishop, an Altar and Statue were rected in St. Stephan’s Collegiate Church. Of course, he was also remembered in his home county. There, Margaret, daughter of Margrave Charles I, who from 1477 to 1496 was Abbess of the Monastery of Lichtenthal, had a wooden Statue made in honour of her uncle, which was erected in the princely Chapel.
Bernard was Beatifed on 16 September 1769 by Pope Clement XIV. His Canonisation process continues, at present, the second miracle required is being investigated.
Saint of the Day – 5 July – Blessed Elias of Bourdeilles OFM (c 1423-1484) Archbishop of Tours and Cardinal, Defender of the Church against the State and a political prisoner because of it, devout son of St Francis of Assisi, living a life of poverty and caring for the poor. Born in c 1423 at Périgord, France and died on 5 July, 1484, at Artannes near Tours, France of natural causes. Also known as – Elie, Hélie.
You know enough about Saint Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc) to understand that she was a victim of international politics and rival patriarchal systems. Within twenty-five years of her death, Pope Callixtus III concluded an inquiry with a declaration of her innocence and Martyrdom. One of the advocates who worked on the report that vindicated her was a Bishop named Elias of Bourdeilles.
Elia was the son of the Viscount Arnaud de Bourdeilles and was born at the Castle of Bourdeilles in Périgord,
Having entered the Franciscan Order at an early age, he was only twenty four years old when, at the request of King Charles VII, he was appointed to the See of Périgueux in 1447.
During the wars between France and England he was held prisoner for several years by the English, in consequence of his defence of ecclesiastical immunity.
In 1468 he was appointed to the Archepiscopal See of Tours and in 1483 he was raised to the Cardinalate by Pope Sixtus IV.
He was a devout Franciscan and he lived in personal poverty and used the Church’s available resources to aid the poor. Elias was an intimate friend of St Frances of Paola.
He is mentioned among the Blessed in the Franciscan Martyrology for the 5th day of July. A stanch defender of the rights of the Church against the encroachments of the State, Cardinal Elias advocated the abolition of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, as may be seen from his treatise, “Pro Pragmaticæ Sanctionis Abrogatione” (Rome, 1486). He also wrote “Libellus in Pragmaticam Sanctionem Gallorum” (Rome, 1484) and a Latin defence of Jeanne d’Arc which is attached in manuscript to the process of her rehabilitation.
Saint of the Day – 2 July – Servant of God Bernard of Quintavalle OFM ( Died 1241) “The First fruits of the Minor Orders,”The First Follower of St Francis of Assisi,” his faithful and devout companion who received. from St Francis on his deathbed, custody of the Friars Minor. \he died nearly 20 years after St Francis.
Bernard, one of the wealthiest young men of Assisi, became intrigued by reports about one of his peers—Francesco di Bernardone, previously known as something of a dandy and carouser—who had recently aroused wonder, as well as ridicule, by his ostentatious embrace of poverty. His curiosity piqued, Bernard who invited Francis to dine with him and spend the night in his home.
During the course of the night, he was so moved by the sound of his guest’s ardent prayers that he confronted Francis the next day and asked his help in discerning God’s will. Opening the Missal at random, Francis alighted on the text, “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all you own, and give it to the poor.” A second time he opened the book and found, “Take nothing for your journey.” On a third attempt, he found, “If anyone would follow me, let him deny himself.” “This is the advice that the Lord has given us,” Francis proclaimed. “Go and do as you have heard.” Taking these instructions to heart, Bernard disposed of his property and adopted Francis’s way of life.
Becoming one of Francis’s most trusted companions, Bernard accompanied him on many journeys. He established a house in Bologna and undertook a special mission to the Shrine at Santiago de Compostela. When Francis was on his deathbed in 1226, “like the patriarch Jacob, with his devoted sons standing around him, grieving and weeping over the departure of so beloved a father,” he asked, “Where is my firstborn son?” Placing his hand on Bernard, he bestowed a special blessing, and enjoined him to “be the head of all your Brothers.”
Bernard himself died about 20 years later, around 1241 and was buried near his spiritual father in the Basilica of Saint Francis. His last words were, “I find this in my soul – not for a thousand worlds equal to this one, would I want not to have served Our Lord Jesus Christ…. My dearest brothers, I beg you to love one another.”
“Of Bernard, St Francis said that he was worthy of all reverence and that he had founded this Order because he was the first who had left the world, keeping back nothing for himself but giving everything to Christ’s poor.” — From The Little Flowers of St. Francis.
Saint of the Day – 27 June – Blessed Benvenutus of Gubbio OFM ) (Died 1232) Lay Brother of the Order of the Friars Minor of St Francis, ex-Soldier, apostle of the sick and of lepers. Benvenutus was graced with an ardent and mystical devotion to the Blessed Eucharist and to the Mother of God. So ardent was his faith and contemplation that he was seen to hold the Divine Infant in his arms. Born in the 12th-century Gubbio, Italy and died in 1232 in Corneto, Italy of natural causes. Also known as – Benvenuto.
In the Umbrian town of Gubbio, north of Assisi, there lived a Knight named Benvenutus, who had achieved great martial fame for his valour. When St Francis came to Gubbio in 1222 in order to preach in that vicinity, Benvenutus saw him and listened to him with astonishment. His martial spirit took great pleasure in the Saint’s perfect mortification and contempt of the world.
The grace of God so touched his heart, that, after a few days, Benvenutus presented himself to St Francis in complete knightly attire and entreated him humbly to admit him as a lay brother. Francis always had great esteem for soldiers who distinguished themselves in obedience, self-denial and fearless courage, for he considered such training a very good preparation for the religious life. Since Benvenutus evinced, in addition to these good qualities, a very profound humility, Francis recognised in him, the true soldier of Jesus Christ and gladly received him among his brethren.
Clad in a poor garment and girded with a cord, the stately warrior was now seen heroically overcoming himself. The poorest in clothing, dwelling and food was his choice. The purity of his heart shone in his countenance and in his entire external appearance. He seemed to have no will whatsoever of his own, so perfect in obedience was he at all times.
St Francis charged him with the care of the sick in a leper hospital. There he had, in truth, daily and hourly opportunities to practice heroic charity and self-denial. But Benvenutus was always seen, to wait upon the patients, even the most repulsive among them, with such cheerful devotion and care, as if he were serving his Divine Lord. Jesus Himself. Otherwise very serious and reserved, he was very sociable when he spoke to the sick and the depressed in order to cheer them up.
Benvenutus was also favoured by God with a high degree of contemplation. Sometimes he spent whole nights in prayer, pleading with God with burning tears ,for the conversion of sinners. Towards the Blessed Sacrament he entertained an ardent devotion filled with lively faith and frequently, our Diving Lord descended into his arms in the form of a charming child. He also had a very special devotion to Mary, the Blessed Mother of God.
The more completely, to purify his soul and increase his merit, God allowed Blessed Benvenutus to be seized with a severe illness, after he had himself tended the sick for many years. As his active charity formerly edified everybody, so his patience and perfect resignation to God’s holy will did so now in a greater degree. Blessed Benvenutusof Gubbio died ten years after his entrance into the Order, in 1232, in the City of Corneto.
Astonishing miracles wrought at the grave of Blessed Benvenutus gave evidence of his holiness, and attracted a great concourse of pilgrims, so that only a few years after his death, Pope Gregory IX sanctioned his public veneration in Corneto and the surrounding country. Pope Innocent XI extended the devotion to the entire Franciscan Order in the year 1697.
Matka Boża Tęskniąca / Longing Mother of God, Warsaw, Poland – 26 June:
One of the oldest Churches in the Archdiocese of Warsaw is St Elizabeth Powsin Located on the main Altar is a painting of th Longing Mother of God– artist unknown – from the first half of the seventeenth century. At either side, the image is surrounded by statues of Saints Adalbert and Stanislaus – Polish Bishops and Martyrs.
The testimony of miracles and graces relating to the Longing Mother of God icon, have been collected at least since the mid-seventeenth century.
On 28 June 1998, the image became the fourth image of Mary in the Archdiocese of Warsaw to be canonically Crowned.
St Acteie of Rome
St Albinus of Rome
Blessed Andrea Giacinto Longhin OFM. Cap (1863 – 1936) Bishop of Treviso, Italy from 1904 until his death.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/06/26/saint-of-the-day-26-june-blessed-andrea-giacinto-longhin-ofm-cap-1863-1936/
Bl Andrii Ischak
St Anthelm of Belley O. Cart. (c 1105-1178) Bishop, Prior
St Babolenus of Stavelot-Malmédy
St Barbolenus of Fossés
Bl Bartholomew of Vir
St Corbican
St David of Thessalonica
St Deodatus of Nola
St Dionysius of Bulgaria
St Edburga of Gloucester
St Hermogius of Tuy
St Iosephus Ma Taishun
St John of Rome
St John of the Goths
St José Maria Robles Hurtado
St Josemaria Escriva (1902-1975) “The Saint of Ordinary Life” – Priest, Founder of Opus Dei.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/06/26/saint-of-the-day-26-june-st-josemaria-escriva-de-balaguer-y-albas-1902-1975-the-saint-of-ordinary-life/
Blessed Jacques Ghazir Haddad OFM Cap (1875-1954) the “St Vincent de Paul of Lebanon,” “the Apostle of the Cross” and “the Apostle of Lebanon.” Priest, Religious of the Order of Friars Minor as a Capuchin Friar, Founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Cross of which he is the Patron, noted Preacher and founder of many orphanages and schools across Lebanon.
Beautiful Blessed Jacques:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/06/26/saint-of-the-day-blessed-jacques-ghazir-haddad-ofm-cap-1875-1954/
St Maxentius of Poitou
St Medico of Otricoli
Bl Mykola Konrad
St Paul of Rome
St Pelagius of Oviedo
St Perseveranda of Poitiers
Bl Raymond Petiniaud de Jourgnac
St Salvius
Bl Sebastian de Burgherre
St Soadbair
St Superius
St Terence of Rome
St Vigilius of Trent
Bl Volodymyr Ivanovych Pryima
—
Martyrs of Africa – 4 saints: Four Christians who were martyred together – Agapitus, Emerita, Felix and Gaudentius at an unknown location in Africa, date unknown.
Martyrs of Alexandria – 3 saints: Three Christians who were martyred together, but we really know little more that the names – Agatho, Diogenes and Luceja. They were martyred in Alexandria, Egypt, date unknown.
Martyrs of Cambrai – 4 beati: Four Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul nuns at Arras, France. Imprisoned together in 1792 and executed together two years later in the anti-Catholic excesses of the French Revolution. They were:
• Jeanne Gerard
• Marie-Françoise Lanel
• Marie-Madeleine Fontaine
• Thérèse-Madeleine Fantou
They were guillotined on 26 June 1794 at Cambrai, Nord, France and Beatified in June 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.
Thought for the Day – 13 June – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
“On the 13th of June in the year 1231, a crowd of children set out from the nearby Convent of Arcella and entered Padua crying out: “The Saint is dead!”
The entire City was -plunged into mourning because it’s Saint was dead.
Anthony had traversed Italy, converting heretics, recalling innumerous sinners to repentance, working miracles and giving peace to souls and to strife-torn cities.
Soon he had felt that his young life was already running out as the result of these labours and austerities and he had determined to hide himself in a little Franciscan Monastery at Camposampiero near Padua.
In order to shelter himself from the world ,as far as possible, he built a little cell in the bifurcation of the branches of a giant walnut tree.
Here he spent his last days in prayer and contemplation, joining with the birds in their songs of praise to God.
He was no longer a man but an angel in human form.
Crowds of the faithful flocked around the tree to hear, once again, the voice of the Saint calling on them to practise virtue and to follow the road to Heaven.
It was in this little nest, at only thirty six years of age, that his life slowly flickered out, consumed, not so much by disease as by a burning love for God and for his fellowman.
Let us pray that we may obtain a spark of this love, which will detach us from the world, cause us to belong entirely to God and make us generous apostles in our work for the salvation of souls.
Jesus, my God, I love You above all things. Amen.”
PART ONE HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/06/13/thought-for-the-day-13-june-st-anthony/
Sunday within the Octave of the Sacred Heart +2021
13 June 1917 – The Second Apparition of our Lady of Fatima
Madonna della Cava/ Our Lady of the Cave, Latera, Viterbo, Latium, Italy – 13 June:
The Church of the Madonna della Cava is a small Church located in an area of tufa quarries in one of the roads leading to the agricultural areas of the country.
It is the Church and above all, a painting depicting the Madonna and child, ae the subject of particular devotion on the part of the inhabitants of Latium. The Church, rebuilt today, was bombed during World War II and reduced to ruins, ruined from flying debris and explosions with only the framework surviving behind the Altar and the painting.
St Anthony of Padua OFM (1195-1231) (Memorial) (1195-1231) Doctor of the Church
The wonderful St Anthony:
https://anastpaul.com/2017/06/13/saint-of-the-day-13-june-st-anthony-of-paduao-f-m-evangelical-doctor-hammer-of-heretics-professor-of-miracles-wonder-worker-ark-of-the-covenant/
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/06/13/saint-of-the-day-13-june-st-anthony-of-padua-o-f-m-evangelical-doctor-hammer-of-heretics-professor-of-miracles-wonder-worker-ark-of-the-tes/
AND A SERMON BY ST ANTHONY:
Actions Speak Louder than Words: https://anastpaul.com/2019/06/13/thought-for-the-day-13-june-actions-speak-louder-than-words/
Bl Achilleo of Alexandria
Bl Alfonso Gomez de Encinas
Bl Anthony of Ilbenstadt
St Aquilina of Syria
St Aventino of Arbusto
St Damhnade
St Diodorus of Emesa
St Eulogius of Alexandria
St Fandilas of Penamelaria
St Felicula of Rome
St Fortunatus of North Africa
Blessed Gerard of Clairvaux (Died 1138) – was the elder brother of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. He was a Soldier. When he was wounded in combat at the siege of Grancy, Gerard resolved to become a Monk. He became a Benedictine Cistercian Monk at Citeaux. He worked with Saint Bernard at Clairvaux and became his closest confidant. He died in 1138 of natural causes.
St Lucian of North Africa
St Mac Nissi of Clonmacno
Blessed Marianna Biernacka (1888-1943) Martyr of the Nazi Regime, Laywoman, Mother, Grandmother, Widow
Her Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/06/13/saint-of-the-day-13-june-blessed-marianna-biernacka-1888-1943-martyr/
St Maximus of Cravagliana
St Nicolas Bùi Ðuc The
St Peregrinus of Amiterno
St Rambert
St Salmodio
Bl Servatius Scharff
St Thecla
St Tryphillius (Died 370) Bishop
St Victorinus of Assisi
St Wilicarius of Vienne
Saint of the Day – 4 June – Blessed Pacificus of Cerano OFM (c 1424-1482) Priest of the Order of the Friars, renowned Preacher, called the “very famous apostolic orator,” Writer of spiritual works. Born as Pacifico Ramati in c 1424 at Cerano, Novara, Lombardy, Italy and died on 14 June 1482 in Sassari, Sardinia, Italy of natural causes. He was considered by scholars to be “outstanding for doctrine and holiness, the care and protection of his homeland.” Patronage – Cerano, Italy. Also known as – Pacifico Ramati, Pacificus of Ceredano, Pacificus Ramota.
The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “In Sassari, blessed Pacifico Ramati, priest of the Order of Minors, who preached in defense of Christians and died in the Lord.”
A native of Cerano in the Province of Novara, Pacifico Ramati was orphaned at an early age and welcomed in the Monastery of St Lorenzo dei Benedettini were he was educated by the Superior in all necessary studies and in love of God and neighbour.
On the death of the Superior, his benefactor, he chose to remain in the religious state but preferring the Franciscan Order of Minors, thus entering the famous Observants Convent of St Nazario della Costa, already the cradle of future Saints of the Order.
After being Ordained as a Priest and having excelled in his studies, he was sent to the Sorbonne in Paris, where he obtained his doctorate. He returned to Italy and dedicated himself to preaching with fervour and competence, so as to be considered another St Bernardine and nicknamed the “very famous apostolic orator.”
He fought the religious ignorance of both the faithful and the clergy, especially in matters of penance. Pacificus became very active against religious ignorance and wrote the “Summa Pacifica,” a dissertation written in Italian and named after him ,as the Summa Pacifica which elaborates on the proper method of hearing Confessions. It was published in 1474 in the vernacular in order to reach as many as possible. The work was also published in Latin at Venice on two occasions first in 1501 and then in 1513.
His work took place in particular in Piedmont and Lombardy and in Cerano where he often returned and where he had a Chapel built to the Madonna to increase her devotion.
In 1471 Pope Sixtus IV sent him on a special mission to Sardinia and then a second time in 1480 during the Arab invasion of Mohammed II, with the task of organising a special Crusade against the Turks.
After two years of fruitful missionary efforts, on 4 June 1482, he died in Sassari consumed by apostolic labours. Fulfilling his wishes, his body was buried in the Franciscan Church in Cerano and some of his relics were given to the Parish Church as Patron of the Town. He was immediately honoured as a Saint and Pope Benedict XIV approved the cult on 12 May 1746.
Virgen María Sembradora / Virgin Mary the Planter, Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina – 4 June :
She is a great sower in the world of the best Seed, that of her Son.
She was chosen to be the door of that great Seed that has changed the colour and flavour of all things and peoples of this world, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
A planter of the Gospel as a woman in her home, in that family of Nazareth where Jesus grew in wisdom and truth.
She sowed silence around her Son, a silence of listening, of following, of accepting God’s will.
But she also sowed commitment to the need of Elizabeth her relative and at that wedding in Cana.
She again put seeds of the Kingdom at the foot of the Cross, welcoming that disconsolate disciple, becoming a Mother to him and to us all.
Her seeds of unity, affection and advice in the midst of the community bore fruit … Today she continues to plant all this in our hearts to love her Son Jesus and God our Father who chose her as His Masterpiece.
The image of Virgen Maria Sembradora / Virgin Mary the Planter is housed in the Parish “San Carlos Borromeo” in Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Virgin carries in her right hand the Seed of the Word, planting it in the hearts of the faithful.
A Novena is begun on 25 May and on 4 June every year, the Statue is carried out in procession.
St Aldegrin of Baume
St Alexander of Verona
St Alonio
Bl Antoni Zawistowski
St Aretius of Rome
Bl Boniface of Villers
St Breaca of Cornwall
St Buriana of Cornwall
St Christa of Sicily
St Clateus of Brescia
St Cornelius McConchailleach
St Croidan
St Cyrinus of Aquileia
St Dacian of Rome
St Degan
St Edfrith of Lindisfarne
St Elsiar of Lavedan
St Ernin of Cluain
St Filippo Smaldone (1848-1923) Priest and Founder of the Salesian Sisters of the Sacred Hearts, Preacher, Catechist, Apostle of Eucharistic Adoration and Our Lady, Apostle of Charity and especially of orphans, the blind and the deaf.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/06/04/saint-of-the-day-4-june-st-filippo-smaldone-1848-1923/
Bl Francesco Pianzola
St Francis Caracciolo CRM (1563-1608) Priest, Co-Founder of the Congregation of the Clerics Regular Minor with Venerable John Augustine (1551-1587) the “Adorno Fathers,” Confessor, Apostle of the Eucharistic Adoration.
His body was given enough preparation for a long journey to Naples. Truly, God has left His own sign on him. When the body was lanced, the blood spouted a red and scented fluid and his vital organs were uncorrupted. Around his heart were printed the words of the Psalm: “The zeal of your house consumes me” (Ps 69:10).
Wow!:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/06/04/saint-of-the-day-4-june-saint-francis-caracciolo-crm-1563-1608/
Bl Francis Ronci
Bl Margaret of Vau-le-Duc
St Medan
Bl Menda Isategui
St Metrophanes of Byzantium
St Nennoc
St Nicolo of Sardinia
St Optatus of Milevis
Blessed Pacificus of Cerano OFM (c 1424-1482) Priest of the Order of the Friars Minor of St Francis
St Petroc of Cornwall
St Quirinus of Croatia
St Quirinus of Tivoli
St Rutilus of Sabaria
Saturnina of Arras
Bl Stanislaw Kostka Starowieyski
St Trano of Sardinia
St St Walter of Fontenelle
Walter of Serviliano
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Martyrs of Cilicia – 13 saints: A group of 13 Christians who were martyred together. The only details about them that have survived are their names –
• Cama• Christa• Crescentia• Eiagonus• Expergentus• Fortunus• Italius
• Jucundian• Julia• Momna• Philip• Rustulus• Saturnin
They were martyred in in Cilicia, Asia Minor (in modern Turkey), date unknown
Martyrs of Nyon – 41 saints: A group of 41 Christians martyred together for refusing to sacrifice to imperial Roman idols. We know the names of some but no other details.
• Amatus• Attalus• Camasus• Cirinus• Dinocus• Ebustus• Euticus• Eutychius
• Fortunius• Galdunus• Julia• Quirinus• Rusticus• Saturnina• Saturninus
• Silvius• Uinnita• Zoticus
Martyred by being beheaded in Noviodunum (modern Nyon, Switzerland).
Quote/s of the Day – 17 May – The Memorial of St Paschal Baylon OFM (1540-1592) “Seraph of the Eucharist,” “Saint of the Blessed Sacrament,” “Servant of the Blessed Sacrament.”
“God is as really present
in the consecrated Host,
as He is, in the glory of Heaven.”
“There is no more efficacious means than this,
(Eucharistic Adoration)
for nourishing and increasing
the piety of the people,
toward this admirable pledge of love,
which is a bond of peace and of unity.”
Our Morning Offering – 15 May – “Mary’s Month” – Wednesday of the Fourth week of Easter, C
Mother of Mercy
By St Bonaventure (1217-1274)
Serpahic Doctor
Virgin full of goodness,
Mother of Mercy,
I entrust to you my body and soul,
my thoughts, my actions,
my life and my death.
O my Queen, help me,
and deliver me from all
the snares of the devil.
Obtain for me the grace
of loving my Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son,
with a true and perfect love,
and after him, O Mary,
to love you with all my heart
and above all things.
Amen
One Minute Reflection – 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
“But I tell you the truth, it is expedient to you that I go; for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you but if I go, I will send him to you.” – John16:7
REFLECTION – “The Holy Spirit is the wheat that comforts us along the road to the fatherland, the wine that gives us joy in tribulation, the oil that sweetens life’s sorrows. This threefold support, was needed by the apostles who had to go out to preach through the whole world. This is why Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to them. They are filled with Him – filled, so that no impure spirits might gain entrance into them; when a container is completely full, nothing else can enter into it.
The Holy Spirit “will teach you.” (Jn 16,13) so that you can know; he will prompt you. so that you can will. He gives both knowledge and will, add to this our “ability,” according to the measure of our strength and we shall be temples of the Holy Spirit (1Cor 6,19).” – St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Franciscan, Doctor of the Church – Sermons
PRAYER – Almighty God and Father, Your ways are not our ways, teach us to willingly agree to them, for You know which way we should go. Help us to say “yes” always to Your plan and to render ourselves, as a sacrament of Your divine love to all we meet. Fill us with the Your grace and Your Spirit, to make us Your tools, to bring glory to Your kingdom. Our Father, who art in heaven, may Your Will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Mary Mother of God, pray for us! Through our Our Lord Jesus Christ together with the Holy Ghost ✠ in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Saint of the Day – 4 May – Blessed Ladislas of Gielniów OFM Cap (c 1440-1505) “The Apostle of Lithuania,” Priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, zealous and tireless Evangeliser, renowned Preacher, Poet and Hymnist, disciple of St Bernardine of Siena and his charism of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and a devotee of the Passio of Christ. Ladislas served his Order in various capacities which included both a Doorkeeper and as its Provincial. He travelled across Poland to evangelise and was a noted preacher. Born in c 1440 in Gniezno, Poland and died on 4 May 1505 of natural causes. Patronages – Lithuania (chosen in August 1753), Poland (chosen in August 1753)m Galicia (eastern Europe), Warsaw, Poland (chosen in August 1753). He is also known as – “The Apostle of Lithuania,” Lithuanian Apostle,” Wladyslaw of Gielniów.
The Roman Martyrology states of him: “In Warsaw in Poland, Blessed Ladislaus of Gielniów, Priest of the Order of Minors, who preached the Passion of the Lord with extraordinary zeal and celebrated it with pious hymns.”
He worked to build up the fledgling Order in Poland and Lithuania, often in the face of resistance from the larger and more established Conventual Franciscans, with their considerably more relaxed way of religious life. The Observants’ very rigorous asceticism and strict interpretation of Franciscan poverty, constantly threatened to open old wounds among the followers of St. Francis and public controversies, between the two groups, often broke out in the fifteenth century.
Blessed Ladislas was born in the Polish City of Gielniow. He attended the University of Warsaw and then entered the City Convent of the Franciscan Friars Minor reformed by St John of Capestrano.
Within a few years ,he was elected Provincial Superior of the Order, a position he held for a long time, promoting the revision of the constitutions, which were then approved by the General Chapter of the Order, which was held in Urbino in 1498.
He carefully selected the most suitable Friars to send to Lithuania for the evangelisation of that Country. However, he reminded them of the greater importance to be attributed to personal holiness, which must always be placed before the proclamation of the Gospel to others. This initiative succeeded in reconciling several schismatics with the Church and also obtained the conversion of numerous pagans,
Ladislas was an ardent and eloquent preacher, He was much sought after and appreciated by the people. His homilies, as the Martyrologium Romanum also recalls, used to emphasise, in a particular way, the salvific value intrinsic to the Passion of Christ. Below is one of his devotional Hymns on the Passion:
Jesus, Judas sold away, for just wretched money
God the Father gave His Son, for our souls’ salvation
Jesus at the paschal feast, gave out His own body,
soothed His sad Apostles’ grief, with His very life blood.
To the garden Jesus went, with His friends, His loved ones
Thrice His Father he implored, on behalf of sinners
Bloody sweat out from Him poured, in His heavy struggle
O my soul, so very loved, look on Him, who loves you so.
He was the author of various hymns on this theme, intended for singing in Vespers. It was precisely religious song and poetry, in fact, that would become Ladislas’s most lasting legacy to Polish religious culture. He is the first major Polish Poet known by name, to write sometimes in the vernacular, rather than exclusively in the learned language of Latin.
His songs and verse represent well, his own piety, as well as those of his Order. Frequently, they illustrate the popular orientation of both. For instance, the simple poverty of Christ and Mary ,is sometimes stressed, in a gentle and colourful way, which, nonetheless, puts across the Gospel story’s emotional weight. Consider these verses from his vernacular song on the Nativity:
A town not large called Bethlehem
Around that time had many guests,
There Joseph with his new-found bride
Arrived, his Mary great with child.
Because these two possessed no wealth
No welcome could they find in town,
So to a stable off they went,
And there they dwelt in poverty.
The purest Virgin Mary thus
To Jesus Christ the Lord gave birth.
At midnight, God Himself was born,
And all the universe rejoiced.
And when the Babe began to cry,
Upon bare earth itself He lay
Before Him there, His Mother knelt
And so to her small Child gave praise.
‘Wa, wa, wa, wa,’ the baby cried,
Lamenting all our human sins,
His mom then took Him up from earth,
And wrapped Him up in swaddling bands.
Because the stable was too tight,
A manger into crib she made.
No nursemaid there was found with her,
To come to that poor Mother’s aid.
Some, lying, have been known to claim
(And thus that Mother they insult!)
That serving maids abounded there
And gave that Mother lots of help.
When in 1498 Poland found itself having to face an invasion by the Tartars and Turks, an army of 70,000 men in all, Ladislas led a prayer crusade to invoke divine intervention. Tradition attributes the consequent extraordinary floods of the Dnepr and Prut rivers to this, which blocked the foreign invaders. This particular intercession, increased his reputation as a great man of prayer.
He strongly upheld the Bernadine mission of preaching to the laity and poor in accessible, moving and often colourful and even entertaining sermons, although always with forceful appeal to keep and live the Christian faith in all its rigour.
It is also reported that, during the last Good Friday of his life, while he was meditating, he levitated into the air, assuming the position of Christ on the Cross. When he returned to the ground, he collapsed and was confined to his bed. He remained bed-ridden until his death on 4 May 1505 a few weeks later.
Ladislas was Beatified in 1586 by Pope Sixtus V and on 11 February 1750, Pope Benedict XIV his cult received official confirmation.
His relics are interred in the Chapel of Blesed Ladislas in Warsaw, see below.
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter +2021
Notre-Dame de Gray, Gray, Haute-Saône, Franche-Comté, France / Our Lady of Gray (1400s) – 4 May
By the 1200s, a cruciform oak tree had become a place of devotion in the Flemish Town of Scherpenheuvel.(Montaigu in French) In the early 1400s, the Shrine became famous after a Statue of the Virgin placed on the tree, fell down and could not be moved from the spot.
But Protestants destroyed the Sanctuary in 1568 and in 1604 the tree was cut down. In 1613, a poor widow, Jeanne Bonnet, made a pilgrimage to Montaigu at the age of 70. She brought a piece of the sacred oak home to Salins-les-Bains in eastern France, where sculptor Jean Brange, carved a Statue of the Virgin from it, copying the Belgian original from the description.
From 1616 until the French Revolution, this Statue presided over a long series of miracles at the Capuchin Monastery in the Town of Gray, 37 miles away. When the revolutionaries expelled the Monks and pillaged the Monastery, a family hid the holy image until it could be safely installed in the Basilica at Gray.
In thanksgiving for the end of the 1849 cholera epidemic, Cardinal Mathieu, Archbishop of Besançon, gave the Shrine a silver Statue covered in gold and jewels, which he dedicated on 4 May 1851, at a ceremony attended by 92 Priests, throngs of the faithful, artillery salvos and the ringing of all the bells in Town. Afterwards, the Parish celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Gray with a procession every 4 May.
St Albian of Albée
Bl Angela Bartolomea dei Ranzi
Bl Angela Isabella dei Ranzi
St Antonia of Constantinople
St Antonina of Nicaea
St Antonia of Nicomedia
St Antonius of Rocher
St Arbeo of Freising
St Augustine Webster
St Cunegund of Regensburg
St Curcodomus of Auxerre
St Cyriacus of Ancona
St Enéour
St Ethelred of Bardney
St Florian of Lorch
Bl Hilsindis
Blessed Jean-Martin Moyë (1730-1793) Priest, Missionary, Founder
Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/05/04/saint-of-the-day-4-may-blessed-jean-martin-moye-1730-1793/
St Jose Maria Rubio y Peralta SJ (1864-1929) “the Apostle of Madrid” and “Father of the Poor,” Confessor
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/05/04/saint-of-the-day-4-may-saint-jose-maria-rubio-y-peralta-sj-1864-1929-the-apostle-of-madrid/
St Judas Cyriacus
Blessed Ladislas of Gielniów OFM Cap (c 1440-1505) Priest
St Luca da Toro
Bl Margareta Kratz
Bl Michal Giedroyc
St Nepotian of Altino
Bl Paolino Bigazzini
St Paulinus of Cologne
St Paulinus of Senigallia
St Pelagia of Tarsus
St Porphyrius of Camerino Rino
St Richard Reynolds
St Robert Lawrence
St Silvanus of Gaza
Blessed Tommaso da Olera OFM Cap (1563-1631) Lay Brother of the the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, Spiritual Advisor, Confessor, Apostle of Charity, Writer, Mystic, Penitent and Ascetic.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/05/04/saint-of-the-day-4-may-blessed-tommaso-da-olera-ofm-cap-1563-1631/
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Carthusian Martyrs: A group of Carthusian monks who were hanged, drawn and quartered between 19 June 1535 and 20 September 1537 for refusing to acknowledge the English royalty as head of the Church:
• Blessed Humphrey Middlemore
• Blessed James Walworth
• Blessed John Davy
• Blessed John Rochester
• Blessed Richard Bere
• Blessed Robert Salt
• Blessed Sebastian Newdigate
• Blessed Thomas Green
• Blessed Thomas Johnson
• Blessed Thomas Redyng
• Blessed Thomas Scryven
• Blessed Walter Pierson
• Blessed William Exmew
• Blessed William Greenwood
• Blessed William Horne
• Saint Augustine Webster
• Saint John Houghton
• Saint Robert Lawrence
Martyrs of Cirta: Also known as
• Martyrs of Cirtha
• Martyrs of Tzirta
A group of clergy and laity martyred together in Cirta, Numidia (in modern Tunisia) in the persecutions of Valerian. They were – Agapius, Antonia, Emilian, Secundinus and Tertula, along with a woman and her twin children whose names have not come down to us.
Martyrs of England: 85 English, Scottish and Welsh Catholics who were martyred during the persecutions by Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. They are commemorated together on 22 November.
• Blessed Alexander Blake • Blessed Alexander Crow • Blessed Antony Page • Blessed Arthur Bell • Blessed Charles Meehan • Blessed Christopher Robinson • Blessed Christopher Wharton • Blessed Edmund Duke • Blessed Edmund Sykes • Blessed Edward Bamber • Blessed Edward Burden • Blessed Edward Osbaldeston • Blessed Edward Thwing • Blessed Francis Ingleby • Blessed George Beesley • Blessed George Douglas • Blessed George Errington • Blessed George Haydock • Blessed George Nichols • Blessed Henry Heath • Blessed Henry Webley • Blessed Hugh Taylor • Blessed Humphrey Pritchard • Blessed John Adams • Blessed John Bretton • Blessed John Fingley • Blessed John Hambley • Blessed John Hogg • Blessed John Lowe • Blessed John Norton • Blessed John Sandys • Blessed John Sugar • Blessed John Talbot • Blessed John Thules • Blessed John Woodcock • Blessed Joseph Lambton • Blessed Marmaduke Bowes • Blessed Matthew Flathers • Blessed Montfort Scott • Blessed Nicholas Garlick • Blessed Nicholas Horner • Blessed Nicholas Postgate • Blessed Nicholas Woodfen • Blessed Peter Snow • Blessed Ralph Grimston • Blessed Richard Flower • Blessed Richard Hill • Blessed Richard Holiday • Blessed Richard Sergeant • Blessed Richard Simpson • Blessed Richard Yaxley • Blessed Robert Bickerdike • Blessed Robert Dibdale • Blessed Robert Drury • Blessed Robert Grissold • Blessed Robert Hardesty • Blessed Robert Ludlam • Blessed Robert Middleton • Blessed Robert Nutter • Blessed Robert Sutton • Blessed Robert Sutton • Blessed Robert Thorpe • Blessed Roger Cadwallador • Blessed Roger Filcock • Blessed Roger Wrenno • Blessed Stephen Rowsham • Blessed Thomas Atkinson • Blessed Thomas Belson • Blessed Thomas Bullaker • Blessed Thomas Hunt • Blessed Thomas Palaser • Blessed Thomas Pilcher • Blessed Thomas Pormort • Blessed Thomas Sprott • Blessed Thomas Watkinson • Blessed Thomas Whitaker • Blessed Thurstan Hunt • Blessed William Carter • Blessed William Davies • Blessed William Gibson • Blessed William Knight • Blessed William Lampley • Blessed William Pike • Blessed William Southerne • Blessed William Spenser • Blessed William Thomson •
They were Beatified on 22 November 1987 by Pope John Paul II.
Martyrs of Novellara: A bishop and several his flock who were martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian and whose relics were kept and enshrined together. We know nothing else about them but the names – Apollo, Bono, Cassiano, Castoro, Damiano, Dionisio, Leonida, Lucilla, Poliano, Tecla, Teodora and Vespasiano. They were Martyred on 26 March 303. Their relics were enshrined in the parish of Saint Stephen in Novellara, Italy in 1603.
Saint of the Day – 30 April – Blessed Benedict Passionei of Urbino OFM Cap (1560– 1625) Priest of the Order of the Friars Minor of St Francis, Capuchin, Missionary, apostle of the poor, renowned preacher, doctor of civil and canon law. Born on 13 September 1560 in Urbino, Duchy of Urbino, Papal States (part of modern Italy) as Marco Passionei and died on 30 April 1625 in Fossombrone, Pesaro-Urbino, Italy of complications following surgery. Also known as – Benedetto da Urbino, Benito of Urbino. Marco Passionei. Patronage – Missionaries.
It is most striking today, to see a scion of one of the richest and noblest families of Umbria give himself to strenuous manual work in various Friaries. He was sensitive to the poor and full of compassion for them, without distinction. He wanted to preach only in insignificant little towns. He abounded in piety and devotion, poverty and penance, humility and simplicity. He was indeed a ‘classic’ Capuchin friar.
Marco was born into the noble family of the Passioneis in the duchy of Urbino. He was baptised Marco in 1560. He was orphaned by the age of seven and was put into the care of tutors with his ten brothers and sisters. He received the Doctor of Law at the University of Perugia and then rejoined his family, now living at Fossombrone. He made friends with the Capuchin brother questors and was attracted by their charism. Because of his poor health this was opposed by the local superior but, after waiting a year, the newly elected Provincial allowed him to join in 1584. Named Benedict he soon found his place among the preachers and joined St Lawrence of Brindisi in his missionary work in Bohemia. He thrived on it especially when preaching to the poor. He died in Fossombrone in 1625 and was Beatified by Blessed Pius IX on 15 January 1867.
Nearly all the information we have for the life of Blessed Benedict derives from a manuscript biography compiled by Brother Ludovico da Rocca Contrada (†1654) immediately after Benedetto’s death. This biography is the one and only actual contemporary witness and was used in the processes necessary for his Beatification. It is has an enormous documentary value thanks to its reliability and the seriousness of the information gathered, from the most direct sources, whom the author often consulted personally. And the author was, moreover, guardian of the Friary of San Giovanni Battista in Fossombrone. He was present for the happenings at the end of his holy confrere’s life and was present at his deathbed. Therefore, his account is very detailed in its telling of Benedetto’s final sickness and death and of the uninhibited expressions of popular piety regarding Benedetto’s body.
Born on 13 November 1560 in the duchy of Urbino, he was the seventh of the eleven children in the noble family of Domenico Passionei and Maddalena Cibo. He was orphaned while still young and led his life in Cagli where he did his first study at home. At seventeen he then went to Perugia and onto Padua for higher studies. On 28 May 1582, at just twenty two years, he received a degree in Civil and Church law. His career began in the Roman court of Cardinal Pier Girolamo Albani. He found this disagreeable.
Marco Passionei returned to the Marches and settled in Fossombrone where his family had meanwhile taken up residence. He was nourishing a secret call of the spirit and longed for the humble and austere life of the Capuchins. Above Metauro the Capuchins had built a devout hermitage. However, it was not easy for him to get permission both from the family and from the friars until the new provincial minister, Giacomo da Pietrarubbia who, according to the wish of the chapter, admitted him to the novitiate of San Cristina in Fano. His fragile health made his novitiate year difficult. In fact, after a few months, he became ill to the point that his superiors had him leave Fano to go to the friary in Fossombrone. After three months it was considered to send him home but his indomitable will won out in the end. He said that he had been clothed in the habit to live and to die as a Capuchin: “If they had sent him out from one door he would have come back in again through another.” He entrusted himself to prayer and obtained the grace of healing. And so he was able to make his religious profession at the end of May 1585, much to the consolation of the poor who, on the occasion, benefitted economically. He continued his religious formation in Ancona. By 1590 he was already a Priest, a humble preacher, in various Friaries such as Fano and Ostra.
In 1600 the General Minister, Girolamo da Castelferretti, included him in the mission band led by Saint Lorenzo da Brindisi to spread the Order in Bohemia and reinforce there the Catholic faith. Although he had not asked to go he was ready to leave immediately. Exemplary and capable men were needed and the General Minister, also from the Marches, knew him well and considered him suitable for the difficult undertaking. Benedetto confided his difficulties to a letter. However he was very obedient under the guidance of Lorenzo da Brindisi. He had to endure many injuries from heretics who hated him. At the end of the triennium (1602) he was called back to the province where he travelled around various Friaries as preacher, superior and as a simple Friar. He also went questing, both in the city and in the countryside. He said, “It is better to carry the weight of bread rather than sins.” He was so humble, and loved silence so much, that he seemed naïve and uneducated. When he was guardian in the friary in Pesaro the duke of Urbino went to visit him. Accustomed to help in the kitchen after lunch, Benedetto let the illustrious visitor wait until he had finished washing the dishes.
His devotion was carefully organised around night and daylight hours of prayer which extended beyond the pious exercises of the fraternity. As all his biographers relate, he used to begin his day with one or two hours of prayer in the Church before the community recitation of matins. After the office he returned to his cell to rest for half an hour. Then he would be in the church again where he prayed the rosary on his knees. After the rosary he did the discipline and then immersed himself in mental prayer until dawn. He never tired of prayer. Each day he recited the Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as the seven penitential psalms, the Office of the Holy Spirit and of the Holy Cross, many decades of the rosary and Our Fathers. He spent most of his time in spiritual reading, making the Stations of the Cross, visiting the tabernacle and the Our Lady altar. Frail, emaciated and weak he seemed to derive his strength from prayer. If sometimes he arrived late to meditation, he would turn the hour glass the recoup the time for prayer. In this he was very exacting, even with the others. As superior he never dispensed the Friars from the two hours of mental prayer each day. Even when he was not in the Friary he maintained his strict and austere style.
For his preaching he said he preferred the towns that had a public clock that struck the hours day and night. In this way he was able to organise his practices of prayer and penance as he did in the friary. He was enamoured of the Crucifix, the Passion, the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin who he affectionately called “mamma.” He invented many gestures of love, such as an hour of prostration on the ground, his “prayer in the garden” with his arms open and face down on the floor. His continuous meditation on the Passion filled his heart with an intense contrition which urged him to go often to confession, as often as three times a week. His confessors however did not see sufficient matter for absolution.
Austere and heroic in his bodily penance he never gave into himself in anything. He was emaciated and weak in appearance, with hunger pangs and kidney stones that prostrated him. His first biographer noted that “he seemed to suck in his breath through his teeth, as they say. But as for his spiritual exercises he seemed like a man of steel.” Always on his feet in his frequent preaching, he had to drag himself along with annoying wounds on his legs. He had to undergo fifteen hernia operations. But he never stopped. He always started up again with courage.
He did not like big cities. If, rarely, he had to preach in Pesaro (1612), and in Urbino and Genoa (1619), he preferred those remote, humble and “little places” hardly mentioned on the general maps. More than once he took on the task of building or restoring churches, as in Barchi and Castelleone. He did not write his talks. He confined himself to brief schemas on scraps of paper. His preaching came from the heart, like a humble exhortation for the humble, but nonetheless all was the word of God, able to move and convert. He preached his last Lent in Saccorvaro.
The journey was all on foot and he had to stop in Urbania due to starvation. After about ten sermons in Saccorvaro he had to stop. He was taken to Urbino and then to Fossombrone. He had to undergo yet another hernia operation which this time brought him to the end of his life. He had a crucifix placed on a little table. He kept his gaze fixed on it, his spirit focused there. If anyone blocked his view he immediately gestured that they should move. He remained silent in this way as if he were resting quietly, so much so that the Friars barely realised when his life faded like a gently quenched candle on 30 April 1625 in the light of the Passion which he wanted read to him. He was nearly sixty five years old, and had lived forty one years of religious life with immense love and joy.
Prayer
Holy Father,
the depth of Your love for us,
revealed in the Cross of Jesus,
transformed Benedict
into a warm and loving minister of your Gospel.
May we experience Your love
and be eager to share it with others.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ver and ever.
Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 21 April – Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 8:1-8, Psalm 66:1-7, John 6:35-40 and the Memorial of St Conrad of Parzham OFM Cap. (1818-1894)
“I am the bread of life;
he who comes to me,
shall not hunger
and he who believes in me,
shall never thirst.”
“May Jesus be known, loved and adored by all
and be, in every moment,
the receiver of thanksgiving,
in the most holy and most divine Sacrament.”
Prayer of Adoration and Repentance/Night Prayer
By St Conrad of Parzham (1818-1894)
I have come to spend
a few moments with You, O Jesus
and in spirit I prostrate myself in the dust
before Your Holy Tabernacle to adore You,
my Lord and God, in deepest humility.
Once more, a day has come to its close, dear Jesus,
another day which brings me nearer to the grave
and my beloved heavenly home.
Once more, O Jesus, my heart longs for You,
the true Bread of Life, which contains
all sweetness and relish.
O my Jesus,
mercifully grant me pardon for the faults
and ingratitude of this day
and come to me,
to refresh my poor heart which longs for You.
As the heart pants for the waters,
as the parched earth longs for the dew of heaven,
even so does my poor heart long for You,
You Fount of Life.
I love You, O Jesus,
I hope in You,
I love You
and out of love for You,
I regret sincerely all my sins.
May Your peace and Your benediction be mine,
now and always and for all eternity.
Amen
Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter +2021
Institution of the Confraternity of the Immaculate conception, Toledo, Spain – The Conceptionists (1506) – 21 April:
The Order of the Immaculate Conception, also known as the Conceptionists, was founded in 1484 at Toledo, Spain, by Saint Beatrice da Silva. OIC (c 1424-1492) A contemplative religious order of Nuns, for some years they followed the Poor Clare’s Rule but in 1511, were recognised as a separate religious order, taking a new Rule and the name of the Order of Immaculate Conception.
Saint Beatrice da Silva was a Portuguese noblewoman and sister of the Franciscan Friar, Blessed Amadeus of Portugal. Her great beauty aroused the jealousy of the Queen, her cousin, for which she was cast into prison. It was while she was in prison that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to her, telling her that she wanted her to found a new Order of Nuns in her honour.
In 1484, Beatrice, with twelve companions, established themselves in a Monastery in Toledo (now the Monastery of the Order of the Immaculate Conception) set apart for them by Queen Isabel. A few years earlier the Blessed Virgin had shown, in a vision, Saint Beatrice da Silva that she should wear a habit consisting of a white tunic and scapular with a light blue mantle. This was the origin of the Order of the Immaculate Conception, also known as the Conceptionist Poor Clare’s.
In 1489, by permission of Pope Innocent VIII, the Nuns adopted the Cistercian Rule, bound themselves to the daily recitation of the Divine Office of the Immaculate Conception and were placed under obedience to the Ordinary of the Diocese. In 1501, Pope Alexander VI united this community with the Benedictine community of San Pedro de las Duenas, under the Rule of St Clare, but in 1511 Pope Julius II gave it a Rule of its own and put them under the protection of General Minister of Friars Minor and for this reason. the Nuns are called Franciscan Conceptionists. Special constitutions were drawn up for the Order in 1516 by Cardinal Francis Quiñones. It was the foundress, Beatrice da Silva, who chose the habit: white, with a white scapular and blue mantle.
A second Monastery was founded in 1507 at Torrigo, from which, in turn, were established seven others. The congregation soon spread through Portugal, Spain, Italy, France; Spain’s colony of New Spain (Mexico), starting in 1540 and as well as in Portugal’s colony of Brazil.
St Anselm (of Canterbury) OSB (1033-1109) Doctor of the Church (Optional Memorial)
St Anselm!
https://anastpaul.com/2017/04/21/saint-of-the-day-21-april-st-anselm-of-canterbury-doctor-of-the-church/
St Abdechalas
St Anastasius I of Antioch
St Anastasius of Sinai
St Apollo of Nicomedia
St Apollonius the Apologist
St Arator of Alexandria
St Beuno Gasulsych (c 545-c 640) Monk
St Conrad of Parzham OFM Cap (1818-1894) Lay Friar
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/04/21/saint-of-the-day-21-april-st-conrad-of-parzham-ofm-cap-1818-1894/
St Crotates of Nicomedia
St Cyprian of Brescia
St Felix of Alexandria
St Fortunatus of Alexandria
St Frodulphus
St Isacius of Nicomedia
Bl John Saziari
St Maelrubba of Applecross
St Román Adame Rosales (1859-1927) Priest and Martyr of the Cristero War
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/04/21/saint-of-the-day-21-april-saint-roman-adame-rosales-1859-1927-priest-and-martyr/
St Silvius of Alexandria
St Simeon of Ctesiphon
St Vitalis of Alexandria
Bl Vitaliy Bayrak
Bl Wolbodó of Liège
Saint of the Day – 19 April – Blessed Conrad of Ascoli OFM (1234-1289) Franciscan Friar Missionary, Evangeliser, Penitent, zealous Preacher, Cardinal-elect. Blessed Conrad had a great devotion to the Most Holy Trinity and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Born in 1234 in Ascoli, Italy and died on 19 April 1289 as in Ascoli of natural causes aged 55.
At Ascoli in the district of Ancona, Conrad was born of the noble Migliano family in the year 1234. It was marvellous how the small child practised mortifications and self-denial in all things as saints would do. It is recorded, that even as an infant he took his mother’s milk only once on fast days. It was discovered that even as a small boy he possessed the gift of prophecy. Sometimes, for instance, he would go on his knees before a companion named Jerome and he always tendered him great respect. When he was asked for the reason, he said: “I have seen the keys of heaven in his hands.” Jerome later became a Pope, known to us as Nicholas IV.
The two companions formed an intimate friendship. They vied with each other in their application to study but still more, in the practice of virtue. Together with Girolamo (Jerome) Masci, he became a Franciscan Friar in the Convent of Ascoli. United by a close friendship, Corrado and Girolamo devoted themselves with ardour to the piety and austerity of the Franciscan life, following the narrow path of Christian perfection.
From Ascoli they were both sent to Assisi and then to Perugia to complete their studies. They earned the title of “readers” of sacred knowledge and then from Perugia to Rome, where they taught theology and fruitfully preached the Word of God to the people.
Wisdom and humility, austerity of life and zeal for the salvation of souls are the personality traits of the young Corrado. A very humble man, he shunned any reason for personal prestige by living as a true friar minor.
From his friend Girolamo, who became General of the Franciscan Order, he obtained permission to leave for Africa to announce the Word of salvation.
At the cost of great efforts and pilgrimages he evangelised Libya and Cyrenaica. In preaching, he always adapted, with due discernment, his speeches to the intelligence of his listeners. God blessed the simplicity of the religious scholar. His word went straight to the hearts of the listeners.
The privileged object of his proclamation was the adorable mystery of the Most Holy Trinity: it drew everyone to worship God. He accompanied the proclamation of the Word with a harsh and penitent lifestyle. He was strict with himself and indulgent with others. He tenderly loved the Mother of the Lord and the memory and meditation of the Lord Jesus, Crucified love, never fell from his mind.
Pope Nicholas III sent Fra Girolamo Masci as legate to the King of France to induce him to more peaceful sentiments, he wanted Brother Corrado as his companion who, reluctantly, had to leave Africa. When Fra Girolamo saw this close friend arrive in Paris covered in a very poor dress and barefoot, moved by compassion and veneration, he exclaimed “This man is more than Jonah!”.
Once the peace between France and Spain was restored, the two friars returned to Rome, where, in 1278, Fra Girolamo was awarded the dignity of Cardinal. Conrad, after two years of preaching and residing in Rome, was sent to Paris to teach theology, proving himself to be an eminent teacher.
In 1288 Girolamo Masci ascended the Papal throne with the name of Nicholas IV; he called Brother Conrad to him to avail himself of his enlightened advice. To the rumours of his imminent Cardinalate that spread in the Parisian environment, he replied, in his farewell address, exhorting everyone to love above all the Christian virtue of humility and concealment.
Exhausted by the long and uncomfortable journey, he died in Ascoli on 19 April 1289. Nicholas IV deeply mourned and, confirming the intention he had had, to make him a Cardinal, ordered a solemn mausoleum to be erected on his tomb. His remains, buried in the primitive convent, were then transferred in May 1371 to the Church of San Francesco.
Among the Christian virtues practised by Blessed Corrado, a characteristic was that of penance. He wore a very crude habit, walked barefoot, rested for only a few hours on a hard table, fasted on bread and water four days a week.
He had placed the Holy Trinity at the soul of his apostolate, thanks to which, he obtained miracles of all kinds.
Credited legends had flourished, while he was still alive, around his holiness. The popular cult, attributed to him from time immemorial in the Marche and in the various Families of the Minoritic Order, was approved by Pope Pius VI on 30 August 1783.
Easter Friday – Day Six in the Easter Octave +2021
Notre-Dames de Myans, Savoie / Our Lady of Myans, Savoy, France (1249) – 9 April:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: “It is believed that this image, in the year 1249, prevented the thunder, which had already consumed the Town of Saint Andre with sixteen villages, from going farther and was the cause of its stopping at Myans.”
Our Lady of Myans in Savoy, is located on a little hill between Modane and Chambery near the Mont Cenis tunnel. It can be easily recognised, as there is a huge statue of the Blessed Virgin standing atop the Shrine’s belfry. The Shrine has been a pilgrimage site since at least the thirteenth century, and its small ‘Black Virgin’ was an object of the devotion of Saint Francis de Sales.
The foundation of the Shrine is no longer remembered but the Church became famous for a miracle that occurred there in 1248.
On the evening of 24 November of that year, a tremendous earthquake shook the region causing Mont Granier, the tallest mountain of the Chartreuse Massif, to disintegrate into huge boulders, which came crashing down into the valley. Some of these boulders, were the size of a house, and 16 villages were crushed and 5,000 lives lost. The Shurch of Myans, however, was spared, though gigantic boulders were stopped abruptly at the very door of the Church. Some of these boulders can still be seen around the church grounds.
A marvellous answer to prayer occurred in 1534, in favour of Jean Grandis of Savoy, who was on a vessel bound from Genoa to Leghorn. When the ship was threatened during a tempest and seemed likely to sink, Jean Grandis called upon Our Lady of Myans, Queen of Savoy. Battered by the waves, the ship foundered and sank. Jean Grandis was the only survivor. As a gesture of thanksgiving, he travelled barefoot to the Shrine and there placed his ex-voto. It is said to be one of the oldest to survive.
Another miracle attributed to Our Lady of Myans was in favour of the brother of Saint Francis de Sales, Count Louis de Sales, who in 1603 was travelling to the Chateau of Cusy to marry Claudine Philiberte de Pingon. Since there was no bridge in sight, the Count attempted to cross the River Cheran at a place that he thought was shallow and safe. However, the Count was swept away by flood water. Invoking the name of Our Lady of Myans and promising to make a pilgrimage, he was suddenly thrust onto an obstruction that saved his life. The wedding ceremony was conducted on 2 April. The next day, Saint Francis de Sales offered a Mass of thanksgiving in the little Crypt Chapel before the miraculous image of Our Lady of Myans.
The Black Madonna of Myans, venerated in the Crypt (lower church), is a 70cm high wooden statue, representing the seated Virgin. It dates to around the 12 th century . With her left arm, she presents the Child Jesus seated on her knees. Under the stiff folds of the mantle, the detail of the attitudes fades and the Virgin appears to be standing. She is a virgin of majesty . The mantle of the Statue is in fine moiré gold cloth, revealing a dress in silver cloth. The whole forms a royal adornment. The Virgin was crowned on 17 August 1905 by decision of Pope Pius X who delegated, for this purpose, Cardinal Couillé, Prelate of Gauls, Archbishop of Lyon, surrounded by 5 Bishops and more than 20,000 faithful.
The Church was half destroyed during the French Revolution but the Statue was saved and later enshrined again in the restored building, where it was crowned in 1905.
The Sanctuary is particularly resorted to by pilgrimages of men and the image was taken to Rome by a Savoyard pilgrimage for the definition of the Dogma of the Assumption in the year 1950. At the entrance to the choir is evoked the disaster of the landslide of Granier. In the vault of the nave of the lower Church are painted ten unforgettable figures of the Saints and blessed of Savoy and Dauphiné, including St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) and St Louis of Savoy (1462-1508).
In 1855, the steeple, half demolished during the revolution, was raised in its current form to serve as a pedestal for a monumental Statue which crowns its summit. This Statue, executed in Paris by the sculptor Louis Rochet, was inaugurated on 17 October 1855. It is in gilded bronze, measures 5.25m and weighs 3 tons . The Virgin holds the Child Jesus on her left arm, her right arm is extended as if to bless. She wears the ducal crown, emblem of her sovereignty over Savoy. It is draped in the costume of the 13th century, the time of the Granier disaster.
St Acacius of Amida
St Aedesius of Alexandria
Blessed Antony of Pavoni OP (1326-1374) Priest and Martyr
His Life nd Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2017/04/09/saint-of-the-day-9-april-blessed-antony-of-pavoni/
St Brogan
St Casilda of Toledo
St Concessus the Martyr
St Demetrius the Martyr
St Dotto
St Eupsychius of Cappadocia
St Gaucherius
St Hedda the Abbot
St Heliodorus of Mesopotamia
St Hilary the Martyr
St Hugh of Rouen
Bl James of Padua
Blessed John of Vespignano
Blessed Celestyna (Katarzyna) Faron IHM (1913 – 1942) Virgin Martyr
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/04/09/saint-of-the-day-9-april-blessed-celestyna-faron-ihm-1913-1942-virgin-martyr/
St Liborius of Le Mans (early 4th century – 397)
St Liborius’ story:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/09/saint-of-the-day-9-april-st-liborius-of-le-mans-early-4th-century-397/
St Madrun of Wales
St Marcellus of Die
Bl Marguerite Rutan
St Maximus of Alexandria
Bl Pierre Camino
St Prochorus
Blessed Thomas of Tolentino OFM (c 1255–1321) Martyr
Blessed Thomas’ Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/04/09/saint-of-the-day-9-april-blessed-thomas-of-tolentino-ofm-c-1255-1321-martyr/
Blessed Ubaldo Adimari OSM (c 1245-1315) Priest and Servite Friar
St Waltrude of Mons
—
Martyrs of Croyland – 9 saints: A group of Benedictine monks martyred by pagan Danes – Agamund, Askega, Egdred, Elfgete, Grimkeld, Sabinus, Swethin, Theodore and Ulric. Croyland Abbey, England.
Martyrs of Masyla: Massylitan Martyrs Group of Christians martyred in Masyla in northwest Africa.
Martyrs of Pannonia: Seven virgin-martyrs in Sirmium, Pannonia (modern Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia).
Martyrs of Thorney Abbey – 3+ saints: A group of Hermits, hermitesses and monks who lived in or around Thorney Abbey who were martyred together during raids by pagan Danes. We know little more than the names of three – Tancred, Torthred and Tova. 869 by raiders at Thorney Abbey, Cambridgeshire, England.
One Minute Reflection – 8 April – Easter Thursday, Readings: First: Acts 3: 11-26 Psalm: Psalms 8: 2ab and 5, 6-7, 8-9, Gospel: Luke 24: 35-48
“Touch me and see.” – Luke 24:39
REFLECTION – “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.” I think there are four reasons why our Lord showed His side, hands and feet to the Apostles. First of all, to prove He was truly risen and remove from us, any cause for doubt. Secondly, so that the “dove” – that is to say, the Church or the faithful soul – might make its nest in those wounds as in “the crevice of the rock” (Sg 2:14) and find refuge there, from the eye of the bird of prey. Thirdly, to imprint as an emblem, the marks of the Passion in our hearts. And in the fourth place ,as a warning, asking us to show Him pity and not pierce Him anew, with the nails of our sins.
He shows us His hands and His feet: “Behold,” He says, “the hands that have fashioned you (cf. 119[118]:73); see how the nails have pierced them. Behold My heart – the heart where you My faithful, you my Church, were born as Eve was born from Adam’s side: see how the lance has opened it, so that the door of Paradise, held shut by the fiery Cherubim, might be opened to you. The blood that flowed from My side has driven aside that angel and blunted his sword, the water has extinguished the fire (cf Jn 19:34) … Listen carefully, take these words to yourself and peace will be with you.” – St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Evangelical Doctor of the Church, Franciscan
PRAYER – Lord God, let there be one faith in our hearts, one love for You, one Way in You, for You are the One Truth and the only Way. We linger in Your light and beg Your unending kindness. Grant that by the prayers of Your Saints we may obtain Your strength and may Your Mother and ours, walk by our side and hold fast to our hand. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God for always and forever, amen.
Epistle: Acts 3: 11-26
11 And as he held Peter and John, all the people ran to them to the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.
12 But Peter seeing, made answer to the people: Ye men of Israel, why wonder you at this? or why look you upon us, as if by our strength or power we had made this man to walk?
13 The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus, whom you indeed delivered up and denied before the face of Pilate, when he judged he should be released.
14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you.
15 But the author of life you killed, whom God hath raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
16 And in the faith of his name, this man, whom you have seen and known, hath his name strengthened; and the faith which is by him, hath given this perfect soundness in the sight of you all.
17 And now, brethren, I know that you did it through ignorance, as did also your rulers.
18 But those things which God before had shewed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
19 Be penitent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.
20 That when the times of refreshment shall come from the presence of the Lord, and he shall send him who hath been preached unto you, Jesus Christ,
21 Whom heaven indeed must receive, until the times of the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets, from the beginning of the world.
22 For Moses said: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me: him you shall hear according to all things whatsoever he shall speak to you.
23 And it shall be, that every soul which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
24 And all the prophets, from Samuel and afterwards, who have spoken, have told of these days.
25 You are the children of the prophets, and of the testament which God made to our fathers, saying to Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
26 To you first God, raising up his Son, hath sent him to bless you; that every one may convert himself from his wickedness.
Gospel: Luke 24: 35-48
35 And they told what things were done in the way and how they knew him in the breaking of the bread.
36 Now whilst they were speaking these things, Jesus stood in the midst of them and saith to them: Peace be to you; it is I, fear not.
37 But they being troubled and frightened, supposed that they saw a spirit.
38 And he said to them: Why are you troubled and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
39 See my hands and feet, that it is I myself; touch and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me to have.
40 And when he had said this, he shewed them his hands and feet.
41 But while they yet believed not and wondered for joy, he said: Have you any thing to eat?
42 And they offered him a piece of a broiled fish,and a honeycomb.
43 And when he had eaten before them, taking the remains, he gave to them.
44 And he said to them: These are the words which I spoke to you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms, concerning me.
45 Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.
46 And he said to them: Thus it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead, the third day:
47 And that penance and remission of sins should be preached in his name, unto all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 And you are witnesses of these things.
Saint of the Day – 3 April – Blessed John of Penna OFM (c 1193-1271) Priest, Friar of the First Order of St Francis and beame a Franciscan dduring St Francis’ lifetime. Fouder of the Order in France, Mystic and gifted with the charism of prophecy. Born in c1193 at Penna San Giovanni, Diocese of Fermo, Italy as Giovanni da Parma and died on 3 April 1271 at Recanati, Italy. Also known as Juan de Pina, Juan da Penna San Giovanni, Giovanni, Johannes. Additional Memorial – 31 October (Franciscans).
Blessed John joined the Franciscans at Recanati about 1213, after hearing Fra Filippo preach. He listened in astonishment to this sermon and afterwards, begged to be received into the order and to be vested in its habit.
The now Ordained Priest attended the Provincial Chapter of the Franciscans in Recanati . Thereafter, in 1217, he was sent to Languedoc in France, along with other Friar companions, to spread the work of the Order. It was there, that he desired his life would soon come to a close, so that he could return to God and so he sat under a tree in prayer and reflection, beseeching the Lord to take him home – but a voice responded that he still had much work to do on Earth. He felt re-ignited with apostolic zeal and founded several houses for the Order in Provence. His apostolate in France, spanned over two decades.
He returned to the Italian peninsula in 1242 after a messenger from the Father Provincial came to summon him back and he returned to live the bulk of three decades in cloistered retirement. In 1248 he settled civil unrest in his hometown after writing a pact that was used during negotiations.
He spent one full night until the next dawn in spiritual reflection until an Angel appeared and foretold, that the Priest would soon die. He offered the Priest a choice – to spend a day in Purgatory or to expiate his remaining sins through one full week of suffering – he chose the latter.
John fell ill at once with a high fever and racking pain including gout in his hands and feet. The devil also came to him in a vision with a list of all the sins he committed and said to him: “Because of these sins which thou hast committed in thought, word and deed, thou art condemned to the depths of Hell.” This depressed him to the point where he told this to his fellow Friars, who at once summoned the aged Matteo da Monte Robbiano – John’s Confessor and a close friend – who arrived not long before his death. Robbiano encouraged John and comforted him and said it was a mere trick of Satan.
John died on 3 April 1271 after his week of suffering. He had won all hearts by his exemplary life as well as by his kindly and courteous manners. Aridity and a painful illness; spiritual consolations, however, assured him that he had accomplished his purgatory on earth and when he entered his true home, his cell was illuminated with a celestial light.
He was Beatified on 20 December 1806 by Pope Pius VII (cultus confirmed).
Holy Saturday +2021
https://anastpaul.com/2020/04/11/sabbatum-sanctum-holy-saturday-the-second-sabbath-10-april/
Our Glorious Most Sorrowful Mother – By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
Most Zealous Doctor
Mary is our Mother — not by the flesh but by love. That is, she is our Mother by love alone. So someone observes that she glories in being the mother of love. She is all love for us, her adopted children.
The first reason for Mary’s great love for human beings, is that she loves God so much. She loved Him more in the first moment of her existence, than all the Saints and Angels every loved Him or will love him.
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.
Mary, to obtain the life of grace for us … offered her beloved Jesus to an ignominious death, and watched him die before her eyes, in cruel and unexampled torments.
It is written of the Eternal Father, that God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son (Jn 3:16), so also, we can say of Mary, that she so loved the world, as to give her only-begotten Son.
So with St Anselm I will cry:
“Let my heart languish and my soul melt away and be consumed with love of you, my beloved Saviour Jesus and my dear Mother Mary! But because I cannot love you unless You give me grace, then give me grace, O Jesus and Mary — by Your merits, not mine — to love You as You deserve to be loved. O God, lover of humankind, You loved sinful human beings to the point of death. Will You deny Your love and Your Mother’s to anyone who begs for it?”
__
Bl Alexandrina di Letto
St Attala of Taormina
St Benatius of Kilcooley
St Benignus of Tomi
St Burgundofara
St Chrestus
St Comman
St Evagrius of Tomi
Bl Francisco Solís Pedrajas
Saint or Blessed (conflicting reports?) Gandulphus of Binasco OFM (c 1200-1260)
https://youtu.be/MH42oExIiEI?list=PL5_ax08Z6UX-Mp6eiMLvUNsbqM5V47Q9q
Bl Iacobus Won Si-bo
St John I of Naples
Blessed John of Penna OFM (c 1193-1271) Priest, Friar
Blessed John of Jesus and Mary/Juan Otazua Madariaga O.SS.T (1895-1937)
Priest Martyr
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-blessed-john-of-jesus-and-mary-o-ss-t-1895-1937-priest-martyr/
Bl Lawrence Pak Chwi-deuk
St Luigi Scrosoppi Cong. Orat. (1804-1884)
About St Luigi: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-st-luigi-scrosoppi/
A little Note about St Luigi – his Canonisation Miracle occurred in my previous Parish in Oudtshoorn, Cape Town!
Blessed Maria Teresa Casini (1864–1937)
Her life:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-blessed-maria-teresa-casini-1864-1937/
St Nicetas of Medicion
St Papo
Bl Piotr Edward Dankowski
St Richard of Chichester (1197-1253)
Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-st-richard-of-chichester-1197-1253/
Our Morning Offering – 25 March – Palm Sunday
To You, O Jesus, Hosanna!
By St Bonaventure (1217-1274)
Seraphic Doctor of the Church
To You, O Jesus,
do I turn as my true and last end.
You are the River of Life
which alone can satisfy my thirst.
Without You, all else is barren and void.
Without all else, You alone are enough for me.
You are the Redeemer of those that are lost,
the sweet Consoler of the sorrowful,
the Crown of Glory of the victors,
the recompense of the Blessed.
One day I hope to receive of Your fullness
and to sing the song of praise, in my true home.
Give me only on earth, some few drops of consolation
and I will patiently await Your coming,
when I hope to enter into the joy of my Lord.
Hosanna!
Amen
Saint of the Day – 27 March – Blessed Pellegrino of Falerone OFM (Died 1233) Lay Brother of the First Order of St Francis of Assisi. He died in 1233 at the Convent of St Severino in the Marches, Italy of natural causes.
Peregrino of Falerone was a fellow student at Bologna University of Blessed Rizziero of Muccia (Died 1235) and like him, the scion of a noble family. Peregrino was the son of Roger, the wealthy Lord of Falerone.
When, after a sermon preached by St Francis at Bolobna, both these young men abandoned their studies and asked him for the religious habit, becoming amongst the first followers of St Francis, who said to Peregrino:
“You, my son, will serve God in the humble vocation of a lay brother and you should apply yourself to practice humility, in a special way.”
For the young nobleman who, until now, had studied philosophy and jurisprudence with great success, it was a great trial that the vocation of a lay brother should be assigned to him. But Peregrino gave proof, that he possessed true nobility of soul and that he valued the lowest place in Christ’s service, higher than all the honours of the world.
Joyfully he received the habit as a lay brother and strove, above all, to lay a firm foundation in humility. On this secure foundation he then built up all the other virtues in a high degree. At some point, he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to visit and follow the steps of our Saviour.
One of the first disciples of St Francis, did not hesitate to assert, that Brother Peregrino was one of the most perfect religious in the whole world.
Peregrino was Beatified on 31 July 1821 by Pope Pius VII.
Our Morning offering – 11 March – Thursday of the Third week of Lent
Rescue Me, Most Merciful God
By Father Martin von Cochem OSFC (c 1630-1712)
Most merciful God,
remember at how great a price
Thou didst purchase me
and how much Thou didst suffer for me.
For the sake of that inestimable price,
do not permit me to be lost,
rescue me,
number me amongst the sheep
of Thy fold.
With them, I will then
praise and magnify Thy loving kindness,
to all eternity.
Amen
Fr Martin von Cochem was a German Capuchin theologian, preacher and prolific ascetic writer.
Father Martin’s works embrace a great variety of subjects: a huge volume of apologetics against Protestantism, the life of Christ, lives of the Saints, edifying narratives, the setting forth of certain points in Christian asceticism, forms of prayer, methods to be followed for the worthy reception of the sacraments, etc.
The prayer above is from the renowned “The Four Last Things.”
Saint of the Day – 6 March – Blessed Sylvester of Assisi OFM (Died 1240) Priest, Franciscan Frria. One of the first 4 followers of St Francis of Assisi and was the first Priest in the Franciscan Order.
Sylvester was a member of one of the noblest and wealthiest families of the City of Assisi, the Uncle of St Clare Of Assisi.
When St Francis embarked on his campaign to “rebuild My church” Sylvester sold Francis stones which were to be used to rebuild the little Church of St Damiano. When, a short while later, he saw Francis and Blessed Bernard of Quintavalle distributing Bernard’s wealth to the poor, Sylvester complained that he had been poorly paid for the stones and asked for more money.
Though Francis obliged, the handful of money he gave Sylvester later caused him to regret this spirit of greed he found in himself, his conscience rebuked him and he was filled with guilt. He sold all of his goods and gave the money to the poor and began a life of penance. Sylvester was Ordained a Priest and became a Canon of the Cathedral of San Rufino in Assisi.
Thereafter, he joined St Francis. Sylvester became a holy and prayerful man and a favourite of Francis. He was known in the Order for his strict observance of the life of poverty and contemplation. Together with his cousin, Clare, he later prayed for enlightenment to discern the will of God for Francis, when Francis sought advice on how he should best serve God. Should he go out to preach rather than by devoting himself solely to prayer?
Sylvester often accompanied Francis during his preaching tours. Once, in the city of Arezzo, it was claimed by the residents, that Sylvester’s preaching and prayers brought peace to the City, which was falling prey to hatred and violence amongst its citizens. In another City where civil war was raging, Sylvester was commanded by Francis to drive the devils out. At the City gate Sylvester cried out: “In the name of almighty God and by virtue of the command of His servant Francis, depart from here, all you evil spirits.” The devils departed and peace returned to the City.
St Bonaventure, in a special way, mentions the visions which Sylvester had concerning Francis.
Sylvester died in Assisi in 1240, surviving Francis by 14 year. He is one of Francis’ four original companions who are buried near his tomb in the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi.
One Minute Reflection – 1 March – Monday of the Second week of Lent, Readings: Daniel 9:4-10, Psalms 79:8, 9, 11 and 13, Luke 6:36-38 and the Memorial of Saint Albinus of Angers (469-549) Bishop
“For the measure you give, will be the measure you get back.”… Luke 6:38
REFLECTION – “Let us give alms because these cleanse our souls from the stains of sin.
Men lose all the material things – they leave behind them in this world but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give.
For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve.” – St Francis of Assisi (c 1181–1226)
PRAYER – We beseech Your mercy Lord, let Your Spirit come upon us in power and fill us with His gifts, to render our minds and hearts pleasing to You and make us docile and merciful as Your Son has taught us. May our Lord Jesus, Your Son, guide us and may the prayers of St Albinus of Angers assist us to engrave Your precepts in our hearts and actions. Through Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, God now and forever, amen.
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