Category: MARIAN TITLES

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Sunday 22 C, Our Lady of Montevergine, 5th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and Memorials of the Saints – 1 September

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C *2019
The 5th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation *2019

Our Lady of Montevergine:
Also known as –
• Madonna di Montevergine
• Madonna Bruna
• Mamma Schiavona
One of the so-called Black Madonnas, image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, normally holding the Christ Child, who have been “inculturated”, that is, made the little Jewish girl Mary look more like the people in the area of the artist, or which are actually black in color. This one serves as part of the altar piece of the Sanctuary on Montevergine. This site is the goal of thousands of pilgrims each year.
More on Our Lady of Montevergine here:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/09/01/1-september-the-memorial-of-our-lady-of-montevergine/

Abigail the Matriarch
St Aegidius
St Agia
St Anea
St Arcanus
St Arealdo of Brescia
Bl Colomba of Mount Brancastello
St Constantius the Bishop
St Donatus of Sentianum
St Felix of Sentianum
St Fiacre (Died 670)
St Gideon the Judge

St Giles (c 650 – c 710) One of the 14 Holy Helpers
About St Giles here:  https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/09/01/saint-of-the-day-1-september-st-giles/
About the 14 Holy Helpers here:  https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/07/25/thought-for-the-day-25-july-the-memorial-of-st-christopher-died-c-251-one-of-the-fourteen-holy-helpers/

Bl Giustino of Paris
Bl Giovanna Soderini
St Jane Soderini
St Joshua the Patriarch
Bl Juliana of Collalto
St Laetus of Dax
St Lupus of Sens
St Lythan
St Nivard of Rheims
St Priscus
St Regulus
St Sixtus of Rheims
St Terentian
St Verena
St Victorious
St Vincent of Xaintes
—
Exiles of Campania
Twelve Holy Brothers: Martyrs of the South –
A group of martyrs who died c 303 at various places in southern Italy. In 760 their relics were brought together and enshrined in Benevento, Italy as a group.
• Saint Arontius of Potenza
• Saint Donatus of Sentianum
• Saint Felix of Sentianum
• Saint Felix of Venosa
• Saint Fortunatus of Potenza
• Saint Honoratus of Potenza
• Saint Januarius of Venosa
• Saint Repositus of Velleianum
• Saint Sabinian of Potenza
• Saint Sator of Velleianum
• Saint Septiminus of Venosa
• Saint Vitalis of Velleianum
One tradition describes Saint Boniface of Hadrumetum and Saint Thecla of Hadrumetum as their parents.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
Martyred Hospitallers of Saint John of God – (12 beati)
• Blessed Alejandro Cobos Celada
• Blessed Alfonso Sebastiá Viñals
• Blessed Amparo Carbonell Muñoz
• Blessed Antonio Villanueva Igual
• Blessed Carmen Moreno Benítez
• Blessed Crescencio Lasheras Aizcorbe
• Blessed Enrique López y López
• Blessed Francesc Trullen Gilisbarts
• Blessed Guillermo Rubio Alonso
• Blessed Isidro Gil Arano
• Blessed Joaquim Pallerola Feu
• Blessed Joaquín Ruiz Cascales
• Blessed José Franco Gómez
• Blessed José Prats Sanjuán
• Blessed Josep Samsó y Elias
• Blessed Manuel Mateo Calvo
• Blessed Mariano Niño Pérez
• Blessed Maximiano Fierro Pérez
• Blessed Miquel Roca Huguet
• Blessed Nicolás Aramendía García
• Blessed Pedro Rivera
• Blessed Pio Ruiz De La Torre
• Blessed Simó Isidre Joaquím Brun Ararà

Posted in CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN Saturdays, MARIAN TITLES, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, SACRED and IMMACULATE HEARTS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Our Morning Offering – 31 August – O Immaculate Heart of Mary

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 31 August – Saturday of the Twenty-first week in Ordinary Time, Year C and the last day of the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

O Immaculate Heart of Mary
Heart of Love and Mercy

O Most Blessed Mother,
heart of love,
heart of mercy,
ever listening, caring, consoling,
hear our prayer.
As your children,
we implore your intercession
with Jesus your Son.
Receive with understanding
and compassion
the petitions we place before you today,
especially those so deep in our heart.
We are comforted in knowing
your heart is ever open
to those who ask for your prayer.
We trust to your gentle care and intercession,
those whom we love
and those who are sick or lonely or hurting.
Help all of us, Holy Mother,
to bear our burdens in this life
until we may share eternal life
and peace with God forever.
Ameno immaculate heart of mary heart of love and mercy 31 august 2019.jpg

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN TITLES, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on LOVE, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 26 August – ‘It is from the heart…..’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 26 August – Monday of the Year in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Matthew 23:13–22 and The Feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa

“And you say, ‘If one swears by the altar, it means nothing but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.” … Matthew 23:18

REFLECTION – “Consider this analogy.   Think of the altar as the heart and the temple as the whole of Scripture. The temple of God’s glory, spiritually understood, is the divinely inspired Scripture.   The gold refers to the meanings it conveys.   To swear is to witness to the Scriptures, as a validation and confirmation of the word we speak.   Therefore, we ought to profess the whole sense of Scripture, as a confirmation of the sense which we invoke, in all of our words.
…The temple, that is, the reading of the Scriptures, makes a great and venerable sense, just as consecrated gold is valuable.   So we ought not to swear by our own intellects to confirm our beliefs, as if we were creating witnesses that could judge according to the truth.   But let us explore further the analogy of the temple, the gold and the altar.   The altar is the place where a vow is sanctified.   The altar in this passage is the heart of a man.   What happens in the heart happens deeply within a person.   Vows and gifts placed on the altar are clearly those placed upon the human heart.   When you begin to pray, you place the vow of your prayer upon your heart, as if you had placed something upon the altar, so that you might offer your prayer to God.
Suppose you are ready to place an offering of psalms upon your heart, so as to offer to God an offering of psalms, accompanying yourself with a harp.   Or suppose you are ready to give alms.  You make an offering of alms upon your heart, just as if you had placed something on the altar, as you would offer your alms to God  . Suppose you have proposed to fast, in order to make an offering of your fasting upon your heart, as if you had placed something upon the altar.
In this way the heart of a man makes vows in a holy and venerable way.    It is from the heart, that is, the altar, that the vow is offered to God.   Therefore, it is not possible for the offering of a man to be more honourable than his heart, from which the offering is sent up.” … Origen (c 185-253) (Commentary on Matthew, 2)matthew 23 18 if one swears by the altar - it is from the altar that is from the heart - origen 26 aug 2019.jpg

PRAYER – Lord, be the beginning and the end of all that we do and say.   Prompt our actions with Your grace and complete them with Your all-powerful help.   Fill us with the grace of Your true love, that our hearts may be made of flesh and not of stone.   May our hearts, minds and souls belong to You alone.   May the guiding hand of the Mother of Your Son lead us, with unfailing tenderness, to You.   Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit, ‘totus tuus’ Maria – please pray for us, amen.our-lady-of-czestochowa-pray-for-us.jpg

Posted in CARMELITES, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa and Memorials of the Saints – 26 August

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Lady of Czestochowa, Queen of Poland

czestochowa
Visit our Mother here:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/08/26/blessed-feast-of-our-lady-of-czestochowa-queen-of-poland-26-august/

St Abundius the Martyr
St Alexander of Bergamo
St Anastasius the Fuller
St Bregwin of Canterbury
St Elias of Syracuse
St Eleutherius of Auxerre
St Felix of Pistoia
Bl Herluin
Bl Ioachim Watanabe Jirozaemon
St Irenaeus of Rome
Bl Jacques Retouret
St Jeanne Elizabeth des Bichier des Anges
Bl Jean Bassano
Bl Jean of Caramola
Bl Juan Urgel
Bl Levkadia Herasymiv
Bl Margaret of Faenza
St Mary of Jesus Crucified/Mariam Baouardy OCD (1846-1878)

St Maximilian of Rome
St Melchizedek the Patriarch
St Orontius of Lecce
St Pandwyna
St Rufinus of Capua
St Secundus the Theban
Bl Stanislaus Han Jeong-Heum
St Teresa de Gesu, Jornet y Ibars
St Victor of Caesarea
St Victor the Martyr
St Vyevain of York
St Pope Zephyrinus (died 217) Martyr
Biography:

Saint of the Day – 25 August – St Pope Zephyrinus (died 217) Martyr


—
Martyrs of Celano – 3 saints: Three Christians, Constantius, Simplicius and Victorinus, martyred in the same area at roughly the same time. That’s really all we know, though it didn’t stop writers in later centuries from inventing colourful histories, making them a father and sons, adding saintly family members, earthquakes, close escapes, etc.
They were martyred in c 159 in the Marsica region of Italy. At some point their relics were interred under the main altar of the San Giovanni Vecchio church in the Collegiata di Celano and were authenticated in 1057 by Pope Stephen IX. The city was depopulated in 1222; when it was re-built, the relics were re-enshrined in the church of San Vittorino on 10 June 1406. Patronage – Celano, Italy.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Emilio Serrano Lizarralde
• Blessed Francesc Casademunt Ribas
• Blessed Josep Maria Tolaguera Oliva
• Blessed Luis Valls Matamales
• Blessed María de Los Ángeles Ginard Martí
• Blessed Pere Sisterna Torrent

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN TITLES, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on SANCTITY, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE, The WORD

Thought for the Day – 25 August – May our Mother, take us to the path that leads to ‘Heaven’s Gate.’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 25 August – 21st Sunday of the Year in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 13:22–30

“Strive to enter in by the narrow door.”

St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father & Doctor strive-to-enter-luke-13-24-whoever-would-enter-st-cyril-of-alex-31-oct-2018

This reply may seem perhaps to wander from the scope of the question.   The man wanted to learn whether there would be few who are saved but He explained to him the way whereby he might be saved himself.   He said, “Strive to enter in by the narrow door.” What do we answer to this objection? …  It was a necessary and valuable thing to know how a man may obtain salvation.   He is purposely silent to the useless question. He proceeds to speak of what was essential, namely, of the knowledge necessary for the performance of those duties by which people can enter the narrow door.
I now consider it my duty to mention why the door to life is narrow.   Whoever would enter must first, before everything else, possess an upright and uncorrupted faith and then a spotless morality, in which there is no possibility of blame, according to the measure of human righteousness.   One who has attained to this in mind and spiritual strength will enter easily by the narrow door and run along the narrow way.
“Wide is the door and broad the way that brings down many to destruction.”   What are we to understand by its broadness?   It means an unrestrained tendency toward carnal lust and a shameful and pleasure-loving life.   It is luxurious feasts, parties, banquets and unrestricted inclinations to everything that is condemned by the law and displeasing to God.   A stubborn mind will not bow to the yoke of the law.   This life is cursed and relaxed in all carelessness.   Thrusting from it the divine law and completely unmindful of the sacred commandments, wealth, vices, scorn, pride and the empty imagination of earthly pride spring from it.   Those who would enter in by the narrow door must withdraw from all these things, be with Christ and keep the festival with Him.”

(Commentary on Luke, Homily 9)

May we call upon our Mother Mary as Ianua Caeli, Heaven’s Gate, to guide us in our daily choices and take us to the path that leads to ‘Heaven’s Gate.’   Amenianua caeli heaven's gate pray for us mary - 25 aug 2019

Posted in MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, QUEENSHIP of MARY, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ANGER

Thought for the Day – 22 August – Queen of the World and of Peace

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Thought for the Day – 22 August – Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Queen of the World and of Peace

Saint Amadeus of Lausanne (1108-1159)
Bishop

An excerpt from a Sermon

Observe how fitting it was that even before her assumption, the name of Mary shone forth wondrously throughout the world.   Her fame spread everywhere even before she was raised above the heavens in her magnificence.   Because of the honour due her Son, it was indeed fitting for the Virgin Mother to have first ruled upon earth and then be raised up to heaven in glory.   It was fitting that her fame be spread in this world below, so that she might enter the heights of heaven on overwhelming blessedness.   Just as she was borne from virtue to virtue by the Spirit of the Lord, she was transported from earthly renown to heavenly brightness.

So it was, that she began to taste the fruits of her future reign while still in the flesh.   At one moment she withdrew to God in ecstasy, at the next, she would bend down to her neighbours with indescribable love.   In heaven angels served her, while here on earth she was venerated by the service of men.   Gabriel and the angels waited upon her in heaven.   The virgin John, rejoicing that the Virgin Mother was entrusted to him at the cross, cared for her with the other apostles here below.   The angels rejoiced to see their queen, the apostles rejoiced to see their lady and both obeyed her with loving devotion.

Dwelling in the loftiest citadel of virtue, like a sea of divine grace or an unfathomable source of love that has everywhere overflowed its banks, she poured forth her bountiful waters on trusting and thirsting souls.   Able to preserve both flesh and spirit from death, she bestowed health-giving salve on bodies and souls.   Has anyone ever come away from her troubled or saddened or ignorant of the heavenly mysteries?   Who has not returned to everyday life gladdened and joyful because his request had been granted by the Mother of God?

She is a bride, so gentle and affectionate and the mother of the only true bridegroom.   In her abundant goodness, she has channelled the spring of reason’s garden, the well of living and life-giving waters, that pour forth in a rushing stream from divine Lebanon and flow down from Mount Zion, until they surround the shores of every far-flung nation.   With divine assistance, she has redirected these waters and made them into streams of peace and pools of grace.   Therefore, when the Virgin of virgins was led forth by God and her Son, the King of kings. amid the company of exulting angels and rejoicing archangels, with the heavens ringing with praise, the prophecy of the psalmist was fulfilled, in which he said to the Lord:

At your right hand stands the queen, clothed in gold of Ophir.

Mary Queen of our Hearts, Pray for Us!mary queen of heaven and earth pray for us 22 aug 2019 queenship of mary.jpg

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN TITLES, QUEENSHIP of MARY, QUOTES of the SAINTS

Quote/s of the Day – 22 August – From the Fathers on the Queenship of Mary

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Quote/s of the Day – 22 August – The Memorial of The Queenship of Mary, Holy Mother of God

“Let Heaven sustain me in its embrace,
because I am honoured above it.
For heaven was not thy mother
but Thou hast made it thy throne.
How much more honourable
and venerable than the throne of a king
is His mother.”

St Ephrem (306-373) Doctor of the Churchlet heaven sustain me st ephrem 22 aug 2019 queenship of mary.jpg

“Be enthroned, Lady,
for it is fitting that you should sit
in an exalted place since you are a Queen
and glorious above all kings.”

St Germanus (378-448)be enthroned lady - st germanus 22 aug 2019 queenship of mary.jpg

“O my Lady, my Sovereign,
You who rule over me,
Mother of my Lord . . .
Lady among handmaids,
Queen among sisters.”

St Ildephonsus (607-670)o my lady my sovereign st ildephonsus 22 aug 2019 queenship of mary .jpg

“Just as Mary surpassed in grace all others on earth,
so also in heaven is her glory unique.
If eye has not seen or ear heard or the human heart conceived
what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9),
who can express what He has prepared
for the woman who gave Him birth
and who loved Him,
as everyone knows, more than anyone else?”

St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) – Doctor of Light – Mellifluous Doctor

More here from the Saints:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/08/22/quote-s-of-the-day-22-august-the-memorial-of-the-queenship-of-mary-holy-mother-of-god/just-as-mary-surpassed-in-grace-st-bernard-22 aug 2017

Posted in MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, PAPAL ENCYLICALS, QUEENSHIP of MARY, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The WORD, VATICAN Documents

One Minute Reflection – 22 August – ‘She stands high above all created things’

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One Mi  nute Reflection – 22 August – The Memorial of The Queenship of Mary, Holy Mother of God – Today’s Gospel: Luke 1:26–38

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to me, according to your word.” And the angel departed from her...Luke 1:38luke-1-38-mary-said-behold-i-am-the-heandmaid-of-the-lord-4-may-2018.jpg

REFLECTION – “With the certainty of faith we know that Jesus Christ is king in the full, literal and absolute sense of the word; for He is true God and man.   This does not, however, prevent Mary from sharing His royal prerogatives, though in a limited and analogous manner; for she was the Mother of Christ and Christ is God and she shared in the work of the divine Redeemer, in His struggles against enemies and in the triumph He won over them all.   From this union with Christ the King she assuredly obtains so eminent a status that she stands high above all created things and upon this same union with Christ is based that royal privilege, enabling her to distribute the treasures of the kingdom of the divine Redeemer.   And lastly, this same union with Christ is the fountain of the inexhaustible efficacy of her motherly intercession, in the presence of the Son and of the Father.
Without doubt, then, does our holy Virgin possess a dignity that far transcends all other creatures.   In the eyes of her Son, she takes precedence over everyone else. In order to help us understand the pre-eminence that the Mother of God enjoy,s over all creation, it would help to remember that from the first moment of her conception, the holy Virgin was filled with such a plenitude of grace as to surpass the graces, enhancing all the saints.   Recall what our predecessor Pius IX, of blessed memory, wrote in his Bull Ineflabilis Deus: “More than all the angels and all the saints has God ineffable freely endowed Mary with the fullness of the heavenly gifts that abound in the divine treasury and she, preserving herself ever immaculately clean, from the slightest taint of sin, attained a fullness of innocence and holiness, so great, as to be unthinkable apart from God Himself, a fullness that no one other than God will ever possess.”…Venerable Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) – Excerpted from Ad Caeli Reginamfrom-this-union-with-christ-the-king-ven-pius-xii-22-aug-2018-mem-of-mary-queen.jpg

PRAYER – Almighty God, our Father, You have given us Mary, the Mother of Your Son, to be our Mother and our Queen.   Grant that, supported by her prayers, we may come to the kingdom of heaven and to the glory destined for Your children.   We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.mary queen - pray for us.jpg

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, QUEENSHIP of MARY, SAINT of the DAY

Our Morning Offring – 22 August – Hail Holy Queen!

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Our Morning Offring – 22 August – Celebrating the Queenship of Mary

Salve Regina
Hail Holy Queen

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy
Hail our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry,
Poor banished children of Eve,
To thee do we send up our sighs,
Mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate,
Thine eyes of mercy toward us
And after this our exile,
Show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

℣ Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
℟ that we may be made worthy
of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Almighty, everlasting God,
who by the co-operation of the Holy Spirit
didst prepare the body and soul
of the glorious Virgin-Mother Mary
to become a dwelling-place fit for Thy Son,
grant we pray,
that as we rejoice in her commemoration,
so by her fervent intercession,
we may be delivered from present evils
and from everlasting death.
Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amensalve regina hail holy queen 22 aug 2019.jpg

The Hail Holy Queen or Salve Regina is a choral anthem going back to the eleventh century. Since the thirteenth century it is the last evening chant in many religious communities.   The authorship is not clearly defined.   The Salve is first mentioned in a meditation by Anselm II, Bishop of Lucca, 1073-86 (PL 184, 1078-98) and (erroneously) to Hermannus Contractus (1013-54) of Reichenau.
The “Hail, Holy Queen” is a salutation deprecatonia, a greeting of petition and intercession.   Mary is called mother of mercy because Christ her Son, is the incarnation of God’s love and mercy.   Giving us Christ, she gave us, sinful humans, the life and hope we need (as baptised children of Eve) to survive in this vale of tears.   This antiphon is not part of the rosary but represents the same spirit.   It is part of the official prayer of the Church (Liturgy of the Hours: Vespers and/or Compline) and thus is even more precious than the rosary.   Sung, it becomes a wonderful expression of our spiritual intimacy with Mary.

It is interesting that it was a Domenican (like today’s Saint Giacomo Bianconi), Blessed Jordan of Saxony OP (1190-1237) who initiated the custom of singing the Salve Regina in procession each night after Compline in the Dominican Order, to ask Our Lady’s protection of the brothers against temptations from the devil.   This is a custom still practised by Dominicans throughout the world and by our community each night.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, QUEENSHIP of MARY, SAINT of the DAY

Queenship of Mary and Memorials of the Saints

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Queenship of Mary (Memorial):
On 22 August, the Church celebrates a Feast in honour of the Queenship of Mary.  The Queenship can be considered a prolongation of the celebration of the Assumption.  The Memorial of the Queenship of Mary – 22 August – A Marian feast day decreed by Pope Pius XII on 11 October 1954, in his encyclical Ad caeli reginam to recognise and celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of the world, of the universe, of the Angels, of Heaven, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins, all Saints,of Families, Queen conceived without original sin Queen assumed into Heaven, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Queen of Mercy, Queen of Peace.  Amen, Holy Queen and Mother! Here too: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/08/22/the-memorial-of-the-queenship-of-mary-22-august/

queenship of mary - 22 aug.jpg

St Andrew of Fiesole
St Anthusa of Seleucia
St Antoninus of Rome
St Arnulf of Eynesbury
St Athanasius of Tarsus
Bl Bernard Perani
St Dalmau Llebaría Torné
Bl Élie Leymarie de Laroche
St Epictetus of Ostia
St Ethelgitha of Northumbria
St Fabrician of Toledo
St Felix of Ostia
Bl Giacomo/James Bianconi OP (1220–1301)
St Gunifort
St Joan Farriol Sabaté
St John Kemble (1599 – 1679) Martyr
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/08/22/saint-of-the-day-22-august-st-john-kemble-1599-1679-martyr/
St John Wall
St Josep Roselló Sans
St Julio Melgar Salgado
St Maprilis of Ostia
St Martial of Ostia
St Maurus of Rheims
St Narciso de Esténaga y Echevarría
St Philibert of Toledo
Bl Richard Kirkman
St Saturninus of Ostia
Bl Simeon Lukach
St Sigfrid of Wearmouth
St Symphorian of Autun
St Thomas Percy
St Timothy of Rome
Bl William Lacey
_
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Dalmau Llebaría Torné
• Blessed Joan Farriol Sabaté
• Blessed Josep Roselló Sans
• Blessed Julio Melgar Salgado
• Blessed Narciso de Esténaga y Echevarría

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 21 August

Posted on by AnaStpaul

St Pope Pius X (1835-1914) (Memorial)
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/08/21/saint-of-the-day-21-august-st-pope-pius-x-1835-1914-pope-of-the-blessed-sacrament/

Our Lady of Knock:  Our Lady, Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist appeared in a blaze of light at the south gable of Saint John the Baptist Church, Knock, County Mayo, Ireland.   They appeared to float about two feet above the ground and each would occassionally move toward the visionaries and then away from them.   The Blessed Virgin Mary was clothed in white robes with a brilliant crown on her head.   Where the crown fitted to her brow, she wore a beautiful full-bloom golden rose. She was praying with her eyes and hands raised towards Heaven.  Saint Joseph wore white robes, stood on Our Lady’s right and was turned towards her in an attitude of respect.   Saint John was dressed in white vestment, stood was on Mary’s left and resembled a bishop, with a small   mitre. He appeared to be preaching and he held an open book in his left hand. Behind them and a little to the left of Saint John was a plain altar on which was a cross and a lamb with adoring angels.   The apparition was witnessed by fifteen people. Miraculous healings were reported soon after in the area and it is now a major pilgrimage destination.   Patronage – Ireland.our lady of knock - lg

765px-Apparition_Chapel_with_Stained_Window
Altar sculpture at Knock, based on accounts of the apparition.

St Abraham of Smolensk (Died c 1222)
St Agapius of Edessa
St Agathonicus of Constantinople
St Anastasius Cornicularius
St Aria of Rome
St Avitus I of Clermont
St Bassa of Edessa
Bl Beatrice de Roelas
St Bernhard of Lérida
St Bernard de Alziva
St Bonosus
Bl Bruno Zembol
St Camerinus of Sardinia
St Cameron
St Cisellus of Sardinia
St Cyriaca
St Euprepius of Verona
St Fidelis of Edessa
Bl Gilbert of Valenciennes
St Gracia of Lérida
St Hardulph
St Joseph Nien Vien
Bl Ladislaus Findysz
St Leontius the Elder
St Luxorius of Sardinia
St Maria of Lérida
St Maximianus the Soldier
St Maximilian of Antioch
St Natale of Casale Monferrato
St Paternus of Fondi
St Privatus of Mende
St Quadratus of Utica
St Sidonius Apollinaris
St Theogonius of Edessa
Bl Victoire Rasoamanarivo
St Zoticus the Philosopher

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Joan Cuscó Oliver
• Blessed Joan Vernet Masip
• Blessed Pedro Mesonero Rodríguez
• Blessed Pere Sadurní Raventós
• Blessed Ramon Peiró Victori
• Blessed Salvador Estrugo Salves

Posted in CONSECRATION Prayers, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN TITLES, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Our Morning Offering – 14 August – Daily Consecration to the Immaculata

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 14 August – The Memorial of St Maximillian Kolbe OFM Conv (1894 -1941) “Martyr of Charity”

Daily Consecration Renewal to the Immaculata
By St Maximillian Kolbe

Immaculata,
Queen and Mother of the Church,
I renew my consecration to you for this day
and for always, so that you might use me
for the coming of the Kingdom of Jesus
in the whole world.
To this end, I offer you all my prayers,
actions and sacrifices of this day.
Amendaily-consecration-renewal-to-the-immaculata-by-st-maximillian-kolbe 14 aug 2017.jpg

Posted in franciscan OFM, JESUIT SJ, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The HOLY ROSARY/ROSARY CRUSADE, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Feast of Our Lady, Refuge of Sinners and Memorials of the Saints – 13 August

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St Pope Pontian Martyr (Died 235) (Optional Memorial)
St Hippolytus (170 – 235) Martyr (Optional Memorial)
Details of St Pope Pontian & St Hippolytus here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/08/13/saints-of-the-day-13-august-st-pope-pontian-and-st-hippolytus-martyrs/

Our Lady, Refuge of Sinners/Refugium Peccatorum:   St John Damascene calls Mary a city of refuge to all who flee to Her.
Blessed Antonio Baldinucci SJ (1665-1717) had a particular devotion to the Refugium Peccatorum image of Virgin Mary in the Church of the Gesu (Frascati) in Italy and commissioned a copy which he considered miraculous and carried it with him in his travels. The Jesuits spread copies of the image of the Madonna of Refuge in Mexico by the 19th century and it began to be depicted in missions there, often with clouds surrounding the lower portion of the image of the Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus.
The term “Refugium peccatorum” is also used other works of Roman Catholic Marian art. For instance, there is a marble statue representing the Virgin Mary, on the grand staircase of the old municipal palace in Venice, Italy. The name came from the fact that the convicts were allowed to stop in front of the Virgin Mary’s statue to pray for their soul on the way to the scaffold.
The traditional feast day of Our Lady, Refuge of Sinners is today, 13 August.

St Anastasius the Monk
St Anastasius the Priest
St Benildus
St Cassian of Imola
St Cassian of Todi
St Concordia
St Conn O’Rourke
Bl Gertrude of Altenberg
St Helen of Burgos
St Herulph of Langres
Bl Jakob Gapp
Bl John of Alvernia
St John Berchmans SJ (1599-1621)

St Junian of Mairé
St Ludolph
Bl Marco d’Aviano/Mark of Aviano OFM Cap (1631-1699)
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/08/13/saint-of-the-day-13-august-blessed-mark-of-aviano-ofm-cap-1631-1699/
St Maximus the Confessor
St Nerses Glaietsi
St Patrick O’Healy
Bl Pierre Gabilhaud
St Radegund
St Radegunde
St Wigbert of Fritzlar
Bl William Freeman
—
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Francesc Castells Areny
• Blessed Inocencio García Díez
• Blessed José Bonet Nadal
• Blessed José Boher y Foix
• Blessed José Juan Perot y Juanmarti
• Blessed Jose Tàpies y Sirvant
• Blessed Josep Alsina Casas
• Blessed Luciano Hernández Ramírez
• Blessed Maria de Puiggraciós Badia Flaquer
• Blessed Mateo Despóns Tena
• Blessed Modesto García Martí
• Blessed Pascual Araguàs y Guàrdia
• Blessed Pedro Martret y Molet
• Blessed Silvestre Arnau y Pascuet

Martyred Claretians of Barbastro – 51 beati:
• Blessed Agustín Viela Ezcurdia
• Blessed Alfons Miquel Garriga
• Blessed Alfons Sorribes Teixidó
• Blessed Antolín Calvo y Calvo
• Blessed Antoni Dalmau Rosich
• Blessed Atanasio Vidaurreta Labra
• Blessed Eduardo Ripoll Diego
• Blessed Esteve Casadevall Puig
• Blessed Eusebi Maria Codina Millà
• Blessed Felipe de Jesús Munárriz Azcona
• Blessed Francesc Roura Farró
• Blessed Francisco Castán Meseguer
• Blessed Gregorio Chirivas Lacamba
• Blessed Hilario Llorente Martín
• Blessed Jaume Falgarona Vilanova
• Blessed Joan Baixeras Berenguer
• Blessed Joan Codinachs Tuneu
• Blessed José Amorós Hernández
• Blessed José Blasco Juan
• Blessed José Figuero Beltrán
• Blessed José Pavón Bueno
• Blessed Josep Maria Badía Mateu
• Blessed Josep Ormo Seró
• Blessed Josep Ros Florensa
• Blessed Juan Díaz Nosti
• Blessed Juan Echarri Vique
• Blessed Juan Sánchez Munárriz
• Blessed Leoncio Pérez Ramos
• Blessed Lluís Escalé Binefa
• Blessed Lluís Lladó Teixidor
• Blessed Lluís Masferrer Vila
• Blessed Manuel Buil Lalueza
• Blessed Manuel Martínez Jarauta
• Blessed Manuel Torras Sais
• Blessed Miquel Masip González
• Blessed Nicasio Sierra Ucar
• Blessed Pedro García Bernal
• Blessed Pere Cunill Padrós
• Blessed Rafael Briega Morales
• Blessed Ramon Illa Salvia
• Blessed Ramon Novich Rabionet
• Blessed Salvador Pigem Serra
• Blessed Sebastià Riera Coromina
• Blessed Sebastián Calvo Martínez
• Blessed Secundino Ortega García
• Blessed Teodoro Ruiz de Larrinaga García
• Blessed Tomàs Capdevila Miró
• Blessed Wenceslau Clarís Vilaregut
They were martyred on 2 August through 18 August 1936 in Barbastro, Huesca, Spain and Beatified on 25 October 1992 by Pope John Paul II.

Posted in Hail MARY!, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN TITLES, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The ANNUNCIATION, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 5 August – “Hail Mary”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 5 August – Monday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C and the Memorial of the Dedication of Mary Major

Rejoice, O highly favoured daughter!
The Lord is with thee.

Luke 1:28luke 1 28 rejoice o highly favoured daughter the lord is with thee 5 aug 2019

“The salvation of the whole world
began with the “Hail Mary.”
Hence, the salvation of each person
is also attached to this prayer.”

St Louise Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716)the-salvation-of-the-whole-world-st-louis-de-montfort.5 aug 2017 and 2019jpg

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 5 August – ‘Living communion with Christ is…’

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One Minute Reflection – 5 August – Monday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21 and the Memorial of the Dedication of Mary Major

“Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed,, and broke and gave the loaves” … Matthew 14:19

REFLECTION – “Jesus loves us so much and wants to be close to us and looks after those who follow Him.   The Lord meets the needs of mankind but wants to render each one of us, a concrete participant in His compassion.
Now let us pause on this, Jesus’ gesture of blessing: “taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke and gave the loaves” (v. 19).   As you see, they are the same signs that Jesus performed at the Last Supper and they are also the same gestures, that each priest performs when he celebrates the Holy Eucharist.   The Christian community is born and reborn continually from this Eucharistic communion. Living communion with Christ is, therefore, anything but being passive and detached from daily life, on the contrary, it includes us more and more in the relationship with the men and women of our time, in order to offer them the concrete sign of mercy and of the attention of Christ.
Jesus wants to reach everyone, in order to bring God’s love to all.” … Pope Francis (General Audience, 17 August 2016)matthew 14 19 he looked up to heaven - the christian community is born and reburn - pope francis 5 aug 2019.jpg

PRAYER – Forgive the sins of Your people Lord and since of ourselves, we are unable to do what pleases You, lead us on the way of salvation in Your divine Son who lives in us and gives us life.   May the prayers of Mary, His Mother help us to constantly meditate on His eternal sustenance.   He is our food, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.blessed-virgin-mary-mother-of-god-pray-for-us-5-aug-2018 and 5 aug 2019.jpg

Posted in MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Dedication of St Mary Major/Our Lady of the Snow and Memorials of the Saints – 5 August

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Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major/Our Lady of the Snow (Optional Memorial)
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/08/05/salus-populi-romani-santa-maria-maggiore-rome-5-august/
AND HERE:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/08/05/august-5-dedication-of-the-basilica-of-saint-mary-major-our-lady-of-the-snows/

Our Lady of Copacabana:  A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary standing four feet tall, made of plaster and maguey fibre and created by Francisco Tito Yupanqui.   Except for the face and hands, it is covered in gold leaf, dressed like an Inca princess, and has jewels on neck, hands and ears.   There is no record of what the image looks like under the robes, the carved hair has been covered by a wig, and the image never leaves the basilica.   On 21 February 1583 it was enthroned in an adobe church on the peninsula of Copacabana, which juts into Lake Titicaca nearly 3 miles above sea level. In 1669 the viceroy of Peru added a straw basket and baton to the statue, which she still holds today.   The present shrine dates from 1805.   The image was crowned during the reign of Pope Pius XI, and its sanctuary was promoted to a basilica in 1949.   It has been the recipient of many expensive gifts over the years, most of which were looted by civil authorities in need of quick cash.
Patronage – Bolivia, Bolivian navy.

St Abel of Rheims
St Addai
St Aggai of Edessa
Bl Arnaldo Pons
St Cantidianus
St Cantidius
St Cassian of Autun
St Casto of Teano
Bl Corrado of Laodicea
St Emidius of Ascoli Piceno
St Eusignius
St Gormeal of Ardoilen
Bl James Gerius
St Margaret the Barefooted
St Mari
St Memmius of Châlons-sur-Marne
St Nonna
St Oswald of Northumbria (604-642) Martyr
St Paris of Teano
Bl Pierre-Michel Noël
St Sobel
St Theodoric of Cambrai-Arras
St Venantius of Viviers
St Viator
—
Martyrs of Fuente la Higuera: A group of Augustinian priests and clerics who were martyred together in the Spanish Civil War. 5 August 1936 in Fuente la Higuera, Valencia, Spain. They were Beatified on 28 October 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI.
10 Beati:
• Anastasio Díez García
• Ángel Pérez Santos
• Cipriano Polo García
• Emilio Camino Noval
• Felipe Barba Chamorro
• Gabino Olaso Zabala
• Luciano Ramos Villafruela
• Luis Blanco Álvarez
• Ubaldo Revilla Rodríguez
• Victor Gaitero González

Martyrs of the Salarian Way: Twenty-three Christians who were martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian.
303 on the Salarian Way in Rome, Italy.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
Bl Eduardo González Santo Domingo
Bl Jaume Codina Casellas
Bl José Trallero Lou
Bl Lluís Domingo Mariné
Bl Manuel Moreno Martínez
Bl Maximino Fernández Marinas
Bl Victor García Ceballos

Posted in JESUIT SJ, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 31 July

Posted on by AnaStpaul

St Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) (Memorial)

Biography here:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/07/31/saint-of-the-day-31-july-st-ignatius-loyola-founder-of-the-society-of-jesusthe-jesuits/
AND:
More on St Ignatius:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/07/31/31-july-st-ignatius-loyola/

Our Lady of Consolation:  Starting in the 2nd century, Catholics venerated Mary as Our Lady of Consolation, one of her earliest titles of honour.   The title of Our Lady of Consolation, or Mary, Consoler of the Afflicted, comes from the Latin Consolatrix Afflictorum.   The origin of this invocation is derived from the Augustinian monks who propagated this particular devotion. In 1436 the Confraternity of the Holy Cincture of Our Lady of Consolation was founded in Bologna, Italy.   It was based on an Augustinian tradition which hold that Saint Monica in the fourth century, was distraught with anxiety for her wayward son, Augustine and that Mary gave her a sash which the Virgin wore, with the assurance that whoever wore this belt would receive her special consolation and protection.   Along with Augustine and Monica, Our Lady of Consolation is one of the three patrons of the Augustinians.   The “Augustinian Rosary” is sometimes called the “Corona (or Crown) of Our Mother of Consolation”.Our Lady of Consolation 678px-pietro_perugino_cat50.jpg

St Calimerius of Milan
Bl Cecilia Schelingov
Bl Everard Hanse
St Fabius of Caesarea
St Firmus of Tagaste
St Germanus of Auxerre (c 378 – c 448)
St Germanus’ Story:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/07/31/saint-of-the-day-31-july-st-germanus-dauxerre-c-378-c-448/
St Giustino de Jacobis CM (1800-1860)

St Helen of Skofde
Bl Jean-François Jarrige de La Morelie de Breuil
Bl John Colombini
St Marcel Denis
St Neot
—
Matyrs of Syria – 350 saints: 350 monks massacred by heretics for their adherence to orthodox Christianity and the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon. 517 in Syria.

Martyrs of Synnada: 3 Saints
Democritus
Dionysius the Martyr
Secundus

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: Thousands of people were murdered in the anti-Catholic persecutions of the Spanish Civil War from 1934 to 1939.
• Blessed Ciriaco Olarte Pérez de Mendiguren
• Blessed Dionisio Vicente Ramos
• Blessed Francisco Remón Játiva
• Blessed Miguel Goñi Ariz
• Blessed Miguel Francisco González-Díez González-Núñez
• Blessed Agapito Alcalde Garrido
• Blessed Ciriaco Olarte Pérez de Mendiguren
• Blessed Dionisio Vicente Ramos
• Blessed Francisco Remón Játiva
• Blessed Jaume Buch Canals
• Blessed Maria Roqueta Serra
• Blessed Miguel Goñi Ariz
• Blessed Miguel Francisco González-Díez González-Núñez
• Blessed Prudencio Gueréquiz y Guezuraga
• Blessed Segundo de Santa Teresa
• Blessed Teresa Subirà Sanjaume
• Blessed Vicenta Achurra Gogenola
• Blessed Francisca Pons Sardá

Posted in MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN Saturdays, MARIAN TITLES, Our MORNING Offering, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Our Morning Offering – 20 July – Hail Mary, Queen of Mercy

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 20 July – Saturday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C and a Marian Saturday

Hail Mary, Queen of Mercy
By St Gertrude the Great (1256-1302)

Hail Mary, Queen of Mercy,
olive-branch of forgiveness,
through whom we receive
the medicine that heals our sickness,
the balsam of pardon.
Virgin Mother of the divine off-spring,
through your Son,
your only Child who stooped
to become the brother of humankind,
you are the true Mother of us all.
For the sake of His love,
take me, unworthy as I am,
into your motherly care.
Sustain, preserve
and enlighten my conversion.
Be for me, for all eternity,
my cherished mother,
tenderly caring for me
throughout my earthly life
and enfolding me in your arms,
at the hour of my death.
Amenhail mary queen of mercy - 20 july 2019.jpg

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Feast of Our Lady of Good Deliverance and Memorials of the Saints – 18 July

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Our Lady of Good Deliverance:  Since the 1000s, the Church of Saint-Etienne-des-Grès in the old Latin Quarter of Paris had a chapel to Our Lady of Good Deliverance, where, across the centuries, pilgrims sought the Virgin’s help with all kinds of sufferings. During the Wars of Religion and counter-Reformation, her confraternity had 12,000 members, including the King and Queen of France. In 1587, young St Francis de Sales, feeling himself damned, recovered confidence and joy after saying the prayer that had been pasted to a tablet before her statue, the Memorare.our-lady-of-good-dliverance-18-july-2017.jpg

St Aemilian of Dorostorium
St Alanus of Sassovivo
St Alfons Tracki
Bl Arnold of Amiens
St Arnoul the Martyr
St Arnulf of Metz
St Athanasius of Clysma
Bl Bernard de Arenis
Bl Bertha de Marbais
St Bruno of Segni OSB (1049-1123)
About St Bruno:
https://anastpaul.com/2017/07/18/saint-of-the-day-18-july-st-bruno-of-segni-o-s-b/

St Ðaminh Ðinh Ðat
St Edburgh of Bicester
St Elio of Koper
St Frederick of Utrecht (c 815 – c 838) Martyr
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/07/18/saint-of-the-day-18-july-st-frederick-c-815-c-838-martyr/

St Goneri of Treguier
St Gundenis of Carthage
Bl Herveus
Bl Jean-Baptiste de Bruxelles
St Marina of Ourense
St Maternus of Milan
St Minnborinus
St Pambo of the Nitrian Desert
St Philastrius of Brescia
St Rufillus of Forlimpopoli
St Scariberga of Yvelines
St Simon (Szymon) of Lipnica (1435/1440-c 1482)
St Theneva
St Theodosia of Constantinople
—
Martyrs of Silistria – 7 saints: Seven Christians who were martyred together. No details about them have survived but the names – Bassus, Donata, Justus, Marinus, Maximus, Paulus and Secunda. They were martyred in Silistria (Durostorum), Moesia (in modern Bulgaria), date unknown.

Martyrs of Tivoli – 8 saints: A widow, Symphorosa and her seven sons ( Crescens, Eugene, Julian, Justin, Nemesius, Primitivus and Stracteus) martyred in Tivoli, Italy in the 2nd-century persecutions of Hadrian.

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, LITANIES, MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS to the SAINTS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Thought for the Day – 16 July – The Litany to Our Lady of Mount Carmel

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Thought for the Day – 16 July – The Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

The Carmelites were known from early on as “Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.” The title suggests that they saw Mary, not only as “mother” but also as “sister.” The word sister, is a reminder, that Mary is very close to us.   She is the daughter of God and, therefore, can help us be authentic daughters and sons of God.   She also can help us grow in appreciation of being sisters and brothers to one another.   She leads us to a new realisation, that all human beings, belong to the family of God.   When such a conviction grows, there is hope, that the human race can find its way to peace.

Let us Pray:

Litany of Intercession to Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us sinners.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Queen of heaven,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, vanquisher of Satan,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, most dutiful Daughter,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, most pure Virgin,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, most devoted Spouse,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, most tender Mother,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, perfect model of virtue,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, sure anchor of hope,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, refuge in affliction,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, dispenser of God’s gifts,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, tower of strength against our foes,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, our aid in danger,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, road leading to Jesus,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, our light in darkness,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, our consolation at the hour of death,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, advocate of the most abandoned sinners, pray for us sinners.
For those hardened in vice, with confidence we come to thee, O Lady of Mount Carmel.
For those who grieve thy Son,
For those who neglect to pray,
For those who are in their agony,
For those who delay their conversion,
For those suffering in Purgatory,
For those who know thee not, with confidence we come to thee, O Lady of Mount Carmel.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Hope of the Despairing, intercede for us with thy Divine Son.
Let us pray.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, glorious Queen of Angels, channel of God’s tenderest mercy to man, refuge and advocate of sinners, with confidence I prostrate myself before thee, beseeching thee to obtain for me

…………………………………….[ insert your request here].

In return, I solemnly promise, to have recourse to thee in all my trials, sufferings and temptations and I shall do all in my power to induce others to love and reverence thee and to invoke thee in all their needs.   I thank thee for the numberless blessings which I have received from thy mercy and powerful intercession.   Continue to be my shield in danger, my guide in life and my consolation at the hour of death.
Amen

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet Virgin Mary,
Pray for Us, O Holy Mother of God!our lady of mount carmel - pray for us 16 july 2019.jpg

Posted in MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN TITLES, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Quote/s of the Day – 16 July – “Speaking of Mary”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 16 July – The Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

“Speaking of Mary”

“In her, God spun a garment with which to save us.”

Saint Ephrem (306-373) Father & Doctorin-her-god-spun-st-pehrem-annunciation-25-march-2019.jpg

“What shall we say, brethren?
Is she not our mother?
Certainly, brethren,
she is in truth our mother.
Through her we are born,
not to the world
but to God.”what-shall-we-say-brethren-st-aelred-9-may-2019

“But what are we to do for her?
What sort of gifts shall we offer her?
O that we might at least repay to her,
the debt we owe her!
We owe her honour,
we owe her devotion,
we owe her love,
we owe her praise.
We owe her honour
because she is the mother of Our Lord.
He who does not honour the mother,
will without doubt dishonour the son.
Besides, scripture says:
‘Honour your father and your mother.’”but what are we to do for her - st aelred - 16 july 2019.jpg

“Scripture says, ‘Praise the Lord in his saints’.
If the Lord is to be praised in those saints
through whom He performs mighty works and miracles,
how much more should He be praised in her,
in whom He fashioned Himself,
He who is wonderful beyond all wonder.”

Saint Aelred of Rievaulx (1110-1167)

From his sermons – Sermon 20

scripture-says-praise-the-lord-st-aelred-on-mary-9-may-2019

“Who is the flower but our Blessed Lord?
Who is the rod, or beautiful stalk
or stem or plant out of which the flower grows
but Mary, Mother of our Lord, Mary, Mother of God?”

Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)who-is-the-flower-but-our-blessed-lord-bl-john-henry-newman-1-may-2018.jpg

“Honouring Mary,
no matter how sacred,
is only the door
leading to Jesus.
Mary is the means,
Jesus is the end.
Mary is the road,
Jesus is the destination.”

Blessed Jacques Ghazir Haddad (1875-1954)honouring mary - bl jacques ghazir haddid 26 june 2019.jpg

mary is the road jesus is the destination - 26 june 2019 .jpg

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes, MARIAN TITLES, MORNING Prayers, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The LAST THINGS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 16 July – “The final judgement is already in progress…”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 16 July – Tuesday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time, C – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 11:20–24 and the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

“But I tell you that it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgement for the land of Sodom than for you.”…Matthew 11:24matthew 11 24 - but i tell you it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment - 16 july 2019.jpg

REFLECTION – “The final judgement is already in progress, it begins now over the course of our lives.   Thus judgement is pronounced at every moment of life, as it sums up our faith in the salvation which is present and active in Christ, or of our unbelief, whereby we close in upon ourselves.   But if we close ourselves to the love of Jesus, we condemn ourselves.   Salvation is, to open oneself to Jesus, it is He who saves us.”…Pope Francis – General Audience, 11 December 2013the-final-judgment-pope-francis-17-july-2018.jpg

if we close ourselves to the love of jesus - pope francis it is he who saves us 16 july 2019.jpg

PRAYER – Almighty God, to whom this world with all its goodness and beauty belongs, give us grace joyfully to begin this day in Your name and to fill it, with an active love for You and for our neighbour.   Grant us the grace to repent of our sins, to turn to the Cross of Your Son and to beg Him in His great love and suffering to forgive us again!   “May the Virgin Mary, Mother and Queen of Carmel, accompany you on your daily journey towards the Mountain of God.” (Pope Francis)   Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your mother!  Mary, Holy Mother, intercede for us in our weakness and help us to turn our backs on sin and look only at the face of Christ.   We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.our lady of mount carmel - pray for us.2.jpg

Posted in CARMELITES, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN TITLES, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Our Morning Offering – 16 July – “The Flower of Carmel”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 16 July – The Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

This prayer, also known as the “Flos Carmeli” (“The Flower of Carmel”), was composed by St Simon Stock (1165-1265), a Carmelite, so-called because he and other members of his order lived atop Mount Carmel in the Holy Land.   St Simon Stock was visited by the Blessed Virgin Mary on 16 July 1251, at which time, she bestowed upon him a scapular, or habit, (commonly called “the Brown Scapular”), which became part of the liturgical clothing of the Carmelite order.

O most beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel,
fruitful vine, splendour of Heaven,
Blessed Mother of the Son of God,
Immaculate Virgin,
assist me in this my necessity.
O Star of the Sea,
help me and show me herein
that you are my Mother.
O Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Queen of Heaven and earth,
I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart,
to succour me in this my necessity.
There are none that can withstand your power.
O show me herein that you are my Mother.

O Mary, conceived without sin,
pray for us that have recourse to thee.
(Repeat three times)

Sweet Mother, I place this cause in your hands.
(Repeat three times)the flower of carmel by st simon stopck 16 july 2019.jpg

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Memorials of the Saints – 16 July

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Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Optional Memorial)

About:   https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/07/15/feast-of-our-lady-of-mount-carmel-16-july/

The Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/07/16/thought-for-the-day-16-july-the-memorial-of-our-lady-of-mount-carmel/

Bl André de Soveral
St Andrew the Hermit
St Antiochus of Sebaste
Bl Arnold of Clairvaux
Bl Arnold of Hildesheim
St Athenogenes of Sebaste
Bl Bartholomew of Braga OP ArchBishop of Braga also known as Bl Bartholomew of the Martyrs (Bartolomeu Fernandez dei Martiri Fernandes) (1514-1590)
Bl Bartholomew:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/07/16/saint-of-the-day-16-july-blessed-bartholomew-of-the-martyrs-1514-1590/

St Benedict the Hermit
Bl Ceslaus Odrowaz OP (c 1184– 242) (Brother of St Hyacinth)
Bl Claude Beguignot
Bl Domingos Carvalho
St Domnin
St Domnio of Bergamo
Bl Dorothée-Madeleine-Julie de Justamond
St Elvira of Ohren
St Eugenius of Noli
St Faustus
St Faustus of Rome and Milan
St Fulrad of Saint Denis
St Generosus of Poitou
St Gobbán Beg
St Gondolf of Saintes
St Grimoald of Saintes
St Helier of Jersey
Bl Irmengard
Bl John Sugar
St Landericus of Séez
Bl Madeleine-Françoise de Justamond
Bl Marguerite-Rose de Gordon
Bl Marguerite-Thérèse Charensol
Bl Marie-Anne Béguin-Royal
Bl Marie-Anne Doux
St Marie-Madeline Postel (1756-1846)
Bl Marie-Rose Laye
Bl Milon of Thérouanne
Bl Nicolas Savouret
Bl Ornandus of Vicogne
St Paulus Lang Fu
St Reinildis of Saintes
Bl Robert Grissold
Bl Simão da Costa
St Sisenando of Cordoba
St Tenenan of Léon
St Teresia Zhang Heshi
St Valentine of Trier
St Vitalian of Capua
St Vitaliano of Osimo
St Yangzhi Lang
—
Martyrs of Antioch – 5 saints: Five Christians who were martyred together. No details about them have survived by the names – Dionysius, Eustasius, Maximus, Theodosius and Theodulus. They were martyred in Antioch, Syria, date unknown.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, MARY, MATER ECCLESIAE, PRAYER WARRIORS, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS for VOCATIONS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on VOCATIONS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The WORD

Thought for the Day – 10 July – Open our hearts

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Thought for the Day – 10 July – Wednesday of the Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Matthew 10:1–7

“Jesus sent these Men on Mission as the Twelve”

Saint John-Paul II (1920-2005)
Pope from 1978 to 2005

Prayer for Vocations,
35th World Day of Vocations,
3 May 1998

Spirit of eternal Love,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
we thank You for all the vocations
to be apostles and saints
that have made the Church fruitful.
Continue Your work, we beg You.
Remember the moment when, on Pentecost,
You came down on the Apostles united in prayer
together with Mary, the mother of Jesus
and look at Your Church, which today
has a special need for holy priests,
for faithful and authorised witnesses of Your grace,
which needs consecrated men and women
who radiate the joy of those who live only for the Father,
of those who make their own.
the mission and offering of Christ,
of those who build the new world in love.

Holy Spirit, eternal Source of joy and peace,
You open our hearts and minds to the divine call,
You make effective every surge
towards the good, towards truth, towards love.
Your inexpressible groanings
rise up to the Father from the heart of the Church
that is suffering and struggling for the Gospel.
Open the hearts and minds of young men and women,
so that a new flowering of holy vocations
might show forth the fidelity of Your love,
and that all might know Christ,
the true light who came into the world
to give every human being
the assured hope of eternal life.
Amen

Mary, Mater Ecclesiae, Pray for us!mary mater ecclesiae pray for 10 july 2019

Apostles of Christ, Pray for the Church!apostles of christ pray for us 10 july 2019

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Thought for the Day – 27 June – Hail, O Mary, Mother of God

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Thought for the Day – 27 June – Thursday of the Twelfth week in Ordinary Time, Year C and The Memorial of St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father and Doctor

Defender of the divine Motherhood of the Virgin Mary

Saint Cyril of Alexandria (376-444)
Bishop, Father and Doctor

An excerpt from his Letter 1

That anyone could doubt the right of the holy Virgin to be called the mother of God fills me with astonishment.   Surely she must be the Mother of God if our Lord Jesus Christ is God and she gave birth to him! Our Lord’s disciples may not have used those exact words but they delivered to us the belief those words enshrine and this has also been taught us, by the holy fathers.

In the third book of his work on the holy and consubstantial Trinity, our father Athanasius, of glorious memory, several times refers to the holy Virgin as “Mother of God.”   I cannot resist quoting his own words:  “As I have often told you, the distinctive mark of holy Scripture is that it was written to make a twofold declaration concerning our Saviour – namely, that He is and has always been God, since He is the Word, Radiance and Wisdom of the Fatherand that for our sake,, in these latter days, He took flesh from the Virgin Mary, Mother of God and became man.”

Again further on he says:  “There have been many holy men, free from all sin. Jeremiah was sanctified in his mother’s womb and John while still in the womb leaped for joy at the voice of Mary, the Mother of God.”   Athanasius is a man we can trust, one who deserves our complete confidence, for he taught nothing contrary to the sacred books.

The divinely inspired Scriptures affirm that the Word of God was made flesh, that is to say, He was united to a human body endowed with a rational soul.   He undertook to help the descendants of Abraham, fashioning a body for Himself from a woman and sharing our flesh and blood, to enable us to see in Him not only God but also, by reason of this union, a man like ourselves.

It is held, therefore, that there are in Emmanuel two entities, divinity and humanity.   Yet our Lord Jesus Christ is nonetheless one, the one true Son, both God and man, not a deified man on the same footing as those who share the divine nature by grace but true God, who for our sake, appeared in human form.   We are assured of this by Saint Paul’s declaration:   When the fullness of time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law and to enable us to be adopted as sons.

Hail, O Mary, Mother of God
By St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father & Doctor of the Church

Hail, Mother and Virgin,
eternal Temple of the Godhead,
Venerable Treasure of Creation,
crown of virginity,
support of the true faith,
on which the Church is founded, throughout the world.
Mother of God,
who contained the infinite God
under your heart,
whom no space can contain.
Through you, the most Holy Trinity, is revealed,
adored and glorified,
demons are vanquished,
Satan cast down from heaven into hell
and our fallen nature again assumed into heaven.
Through you, the human race,
held captive in the bonds of idolatry,
arrives at the knowledge of Truth.
What more shall I say of you?
Hail, through whom kings rule,
through whom the Only-Begotten Son of God
has become the Star of Light
to those sitting in darkness
and in the shadow of death.
Amenhail-o-mary-mother-of-god-st-cyril-of-alex-10-may-2019 (1)

Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for Us!holy-mary-mothr-of-god-pray-for-us

St Cyril of Alexandria, Pray for Us!st-cyril-of-alexandria-pray-for-us 27 JUNE 2019

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, MORNING Prayers, PAPAL PRAYERS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 27 June – Build your house on Christ

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 27 June – Thursday of the Twelfth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Matthew 7:21–29 and the Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour

“Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”…Matthew 7:24-25

REFLECTION – “The Lord speaks to us of our foundation… our Christian life and He tells us that this foundation is the rock”.   We must, therefore, “build the house”, namely, our life, on the rock that is Christ.   When St Paul speaks of the rock in the desert, He is referring to Christ, the only rock “that can give us security”. …there is always a temptation to live our Christianity away from the rock that is Christ, the only One who gives us the freedom to say “Father” to God.   This temptation has given life to various categories of Christians without Christ.  ..The “light Christian”, who, instead of loving the rock, love beautiful words and turns towards a god of spray, a personal god, with superficiality and flimsiness.   This temptation still exists: superficial Christians who indeed believe in God but not in Jesus Christ.   They are modern Gnostics!

The second category includes those who believe that Christian life must be taken so seriously that they end by confusing solidity and firmness with rigidity.   These rigid Christians, think that to be Christian it is necessary to wear mourning and always to take everything seriously, paying attention to formalities, just as the scribes and Pharisees did.   Tthese are Christians for whom everything is serious.   They are today’s Pelagians who believe in the firmness of faith and are convinced that salvation is the way I do things.   I must do them seriously, without any joy.   They are very numerous.   They are not Christians.   They disguise themselves as Christians.

In short, these two categories of believers do not know Jesus, do not know who the Lord is, do not know what the rock is, they have none of the freedom of Christians. Consequently, they have neither joy nor freedom.   In their life there is no room for the Holy Spirit.   Therefore, the Lord’s teaching for today, is an invitation to build our Christian life on the rock that gives us freedom”….Pope Francis – ‘Santa Marta’ – Thursday, 27 June 2013matthew 7 24-25 houe on rock - pope francis reflection 27 june 2019.jpg

PRAYER – God our Father, You open the gates of the kingdom of heaven to those who are born again of water and the Holy Spirit.   Increase the grace You have given, so that the people who have been purified from all sin, may not forfeit the promised blessing of Your love.   Grant that we may ever keep Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, before our eyes and do all in Him and through Him and for Him and may the prayers of our Mother of Perpetual Succour may ever guide and bear us in her care.   We make our pray through Christ, our Lord, in union with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amenmother of perpetual succour pray for us 12 feb 2019.jpg

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour,Mother of God of Gietrzwald, Poland and Memorials of the Saints – 27 June

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Our Lady of Perpetual Succour

Mother of God of Gietrzwald, Poland

Details of the above two Marian Feasts here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/06/27/saints-memorials-and-feast-days-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-27-june/

St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father and Doctor of the Church (Optional Memorial)
Biography:   https://anastpaul.com/2018/06/27/saint-of-the-day-27-june-st-cyril-of-alexandria-376-444-father-and-doctor-of-the-church/
and

Saint of the Day – 27 June – St Cyril of Alexandria – Doctor & Father of the Church – “The Pillar of Faith” & “Seal of all the Fathers” – Doctor Incarnationis (Doctor of the Incarnation) Added by Pope Leo XIII in 1883

St Adeodato of Naples
St Aedh McLugack
St Anectus of Caesarea
St Arialdus of Milan
St Arianell of Wales
Bl Benvenutus of Gubbio
St Brogan
St Crescens of Galatia
St Crescentius of Mainz
Bl Daniel of Schönau
Bl Davanzato of Poggibonsi
St Desideratus of Gourdon
St Dimman
St Felix of Rome
St Ferdinand of Aragon
St Gudene of Carthage
St Joanna the Myrrhbearer
St John of Chinon
St Ladislaus I – (c 1040-1095)
St Sampson of Constantinople
St Spinella of Rome
St Tôma Toán
St Zoilus of Cordoba
—
Martyrs Killed Under Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe: Among the thousands of Christians murdered by various Communist regimes in their hatred of the faith, there were 25 members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and Russian Byzantine Catholic Church, priests, bishops, sisters and lay people, whose stories are sufficiently well documented that we know they were murdered specifically for their faith in eastern Europe and whose Causes for Canonization were opened. Their Causes were combined and they were beatified together. They have separate memorials but are remembered together today. They are –
• Andrii Ischak • Hryhorii Khomyshyn • Hryhorii Lakota • Ivan Sleziuk • Ivan Ziatyk • Klymentii Sheptytskyi • Leonid Feodorov • Levkadia Harasymiv • Mykola Konrad • Mykola Tsehelskyi • Mykolai Charnetskyi • Mykyta Budka • Oleksa Zarytskyi • Ol’Ha Bida • Ol’Ha Matskiv • Petro Verhun • Roman Lysko • Stepan Baranyk • Symeon Lukach • Vasyl Vsevolod Velychkovskyi • Volodomyr Bairak • Volodymyr Ivanovych Pryima • Yakym Senkivsky • Yosafat Kotsylovskyi • Zenon Kovalyk

Beatified – 27 June 2001 by Pope John Paul II in Ukraine

Posted in franciscan OFM, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Memorials of the Saints 26 June

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Blessed Virgin of Potente del Trompone:
Visionary: Domenica di Miglianotto on 26 June 1562
Title: Blessed Virgin of Potente del Trompone
2nd Visionary: Visionary:  St Peter of Alcantara (1499-1562) – seen below:st-t-of-a-and-st-peter-of-alcantara.jpg
Our Lady of Longing:  Matka Boża Tęskniąca / Longing Mother of God, Warsaw, Poland – One of the oldest churches in the Archdiocese of Warsaw is St Elizabeth Powsin Located on the main altar is a painting of Our Lady of Longing – 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 Our Lady of Longing 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.our-lady-of-longing-26-june-2017
St Acteie of Rome
St Albinus of Rome
Bl Andrea Giacinto Longhin
Bl Andrii Ischak
St Anthelm of Belley
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)
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/

Bl 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.

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, MARIAN TITLES, MORNING Prayers, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 25 June – Christ, the narrow door

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One Minute Reflection – 25 June – Tuesday of the Twelfth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Matthew 7:6,12-14

“Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life and those who find it are few.”…Matthew 7:13-14enter through the narrow gate - matthew 7 - 13 - 14

REFLECTION – “Of course Jesus’ door is a narrow one but not because it is a torture chamber.   No, not for that reason!   Rather, because He asks us to open our hearts to Him, to recognise that we are sinners in need of His salvation, His forgiveness and His love in order to have the humility to accept His mercy and to let ourselves be renewed by Him.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel that being Christians does not mean having a “label!”    I ask you, are you Christians by label or by the truth?   And let each one answer within him- or herself!   Not Christians, never Christians by label!   Christians in truth, Christians in the heart.   The whole of our life must pass through the narrow door which is Christ.”…Pope Francis (Angelus, 25 August 2013)

PRAYER – Increase in us, Lord, Your gift of faith, so that the praise we offer You, may ever yield it’s fruit from heaven,   May the Spirit pour into our hearts, that we may walk in Your light and become like You.   May the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Grace and all Your Saints, help us in our striving for holiness.   Through Christ, our Lord in union with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.our lady of grace pray for us 25 june 2019