Our Lady of Montserrat: (718) Our Lady is venerated under the invocation of the Virgin of Montserrat or “Rosa d’abril” – because of the Virolai hymn sung to her – at the Santa Maria de Montserrat monastery in the Montserrat mountain in Catalonia, Spain.
It is one of the black Madonnas of Europe, hence its familiar Catalan name, la Moreneta (“The little dark-skinned one”).
Believed by some to have been carved in Jerusalem in the early days of the Church. Legend has it that the Benedictine monks could not move the statue to construct their monastery, choosing to instead build around it.
On 11 September 1844, Pope Leo XIII declared the virgin of Montserrat patroness of Catalonia, Spain.
St Adelelmus of Le Mans
St Asicus of Elphin
St Castor of Tarsus
St Enoder
St Floribert of Liege
Bl Hosanna of Cattaro
Bl Jakov Varingez
St John of Kathara
St Joseph Outhay Phongphumi
St Laurensô Nguyen Van Huong
St Liberalis of Treviso
St Maughold
Bl Nicolas Roland
St Noël Tenaud
Bl Peter Armengol
St Pollio of Cybalae
St Simeon of Jerusalem
St Stephen of Tarsus
St Tertullian of Bologna
St Theophilus of Brescia
St Winewald of Beverley
St Zita of Lucca
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Martyrs of Nicomedia: A group of Christians murdered together for their faith. In most cases all we have are their names – Dioscurus, Evanthia, Felicia, Felix, Germana, Germelina, Johannes, Julius, Laetissima, Nikeforus, Papias, Serapion and Victorinus. They died at Nicomedia, Bithynia, Asia Minor (modern Izmit, Turkey).
Our Lady of Good Counsel (Memorial) – https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/04/26/thought-for-the-day-26-april/
Bl Alda of Siena
St Antoninus of Rome
St Basileus of Amasea
St Clarence of Venice
St Claudius of Rome
St Pope Cletus
St Cyrinus of Rome
St Exuerantia of Troyes
Bl Gregory of Besians
Bl Juli Junyer Padern
St Lucidius of Verona
St Pope MarcellinusSt
Paschasius Radbertus
St Pelligrino of Foggia
St Peter of Braga
St Primitive of Gabi
St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938)
St Richarius of Celles
Bl Stanislaw Kubista
St Trudpert of Munstertal
St William of Foggia
Bl Wladyslaw Goral
St Fidelis of Sigmaringen (1577-1622) Known as “The Poor Man’s Lawyer” (Optional Memorial)
Our Lady of Bonaria: Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the form of a statue of Mary and the Christ Child that was washed up at a Mercedarian monastery near Cagliari, Italy on 25 April 1370, apparently from a shipwreck the night before. Legend says that the locals tried to open the crate it was in, but only one of the Mercedarian monks could get the it open. Patron of Sardinia, Italy.
Our Lady of Luján in Buenos Aires: Virgin of Luján, Patroness of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. 16th-century icon of the Virgin Mary. Tradition holds that a settler ordered the terracotta image of the Immaculate Conception in 1630 because he intended to create a shrine in her honour to help reinvigorate the Catholic faith in Santiago del Estero, his region. After embarking from the port of Buenos Aires, the caravan carrying the image stopped at the residence of Don Rosendo Oramas, located in the present town of Zelaya. When the caravan wanted to resume the journey, the oxen refused to move. Once the crate containing the image was removed, the animals started to move again. Given the evidence of a miracle, people believed the Virgin wished to remain there. The image was venerated in a primitive chapel for 40 years. Then the image was acquired by Ana de Matos and carried to Luján, where it currently resides.
Among the Popes who have honoured Our Lady of Luján are Clement XI, Clement XIV, Pius VI, Pius IX, Leo XIII, Pius XI, Venerable Pius XII, and St John Paul II. In 1824, Fr John Mastai Ferretti visited the shrine on his way to Chile. He later became Pope Pius IX and defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December 1854.
Because of the reputation of the shrine, Pope Leo XIII decided in 1886 to honour the miraculous statue with a Canonical Coronation. On 30 September of that year, he blessed the crown, which was made of pure gold and set with 365 diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires, 132 pearls and a number of enamels depicting the emblems of the Archbishop and the Argentine Republic. The papal coronation of Our Lady of Luján took place on 8 May 1887. The celebrant chosen by the Pope for this event was Archbishop Federico León Aneiros who at that time made a pilgrimage in thanksgiving to Our Lady for sparing his archdiocese from the scourge of cholera. On 8 September 1930, Pope Pius XI formally declared Our Lady of Luján. as the Patroness of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The Papal document was signed by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the future Venerable Pope Pius XII.
In 1982, during the Falklands War, St Pope John Paul II became the first pope to visit Our Lady of Luján. During this visit the Pope celebrated an outdoor Mass in the square of the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján and bestowed upon her the Golden Rose. Both in his homily of June 11 and his Angelus back in Rome reflecting on the trip, he commented on Our Lady’s never failing maternal solicitude for the faithful in times of distress. Sixteen years later in Rome, St John Paul II gave a replica of the image to the Argentine National Parish during his pastoral visit there.
The Golden Rose is a gift from the Pope to nations, cities, basilicas, sanctuaries or images. It is blessed by him on the fourth Sunday of Lent, anointed with the Holy Chrism and dusted with incense. This Rose consists of a golden rose stem with flowers, buds and leaves, placed in a silver vase lined on the inside with a bronze case bearing the Papal shield. Pope Leo IX is considered as the originator of this tradition in the year 1049.
In the Americas, the Rose has been given to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, to Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil, to St Joseph’s Oratory in Canada, to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in the United States, to the Cathedral Basilica of Nuestra Señora del Valle in Argentina and to the Basílica Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre in Cuba. On 11 June 1982, St John Paul II personally bestowed a Golden Rose on Our Lady of Luján.
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St Alexander of Lyon
St Anthimos of Nicomedia
St Authairius of La Ferté
St Benedetto Menni
St Bova of Rheims
St Deodatus of Blois
St Diarmaid of Armagh
St Doda of Rheims
St Dyfnan of Anglesey
St Egbert of Rathemigisi
St Eusebius of Lydda
St Gregory of Elvira
St Honorius of Brescia
St Ivo of Huntingdonshire
St Leontius of Lydda
St Longinus of Lydda
St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868)
St Mary of Cleophas
St Mary Salome
St Mellitus of Canterbury
St Neon of Lydda
St Sabas the Goth of Rome
St Tiberio of Pinerolo
St William Firmatus
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Mercedarian Martyrs of Paris: No info yet.
Quote/s of the Day – 16 April – Monday of the Third Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879)
“Nothing is anything anymore to me, everything is nothing to me, only Jesus! Neither things, nor persons, neither ideas, nor emotions, neither honour, nor sufferings. Jesus is for me honour, delight, heart and soul.”
“You must receive God well – give Him a loving welcome, for then, He has to pay us rent.”
Saint of the Day – 16 April – Saint Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879) Marian Visionary of Lourdes, Virgin, Consecrated Religious. Born on 7 January 1844 at Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrénées, France and died on 16 April 1879, Nevers, Nièvre, France of natural causes, aged 35. Patronages – Bodily illness, Lourdes, France, shepherds, against poverty, people ridiculed for their faith. She was Canonised on 8 December 1933 by Pope Pius XI. Her Body is incorrupt and is on display in Nevers, France.
The eldest of nine children, only four of whom survived childhood, Marie-Bernarde Soubirous was born at Lourdes, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. After her father, a miller, lost his job in 1854, the family was exposed to the direst extremes of poverty.
By the time she was 14, Bernadette had been sick so often that she hadn’t grown properly. She was the size of a much younger girl. She, her parents and her younger brothers and sisters all lived in a tiny room at the back of someone else’s house, a building that had actually been a prison many years before. They slept on three beds: one for the parents, one for the boys and one for the girls. Every night they battled mice and rats. Every morning, they woke up, put their feet on cold stone floors and dressed in clothes that had been mended more times than anyone could count. Each day they hoped the work they could find would bring them enough bread to live on that day.
“Bernadette” grew up uneducated, undernourished and asthmatic, obliged to work as a waitress and a farmhand. The little girl spoke in a Basque dialect and could scarcely read or write. She did, however, imbibe from her parents a deep Catholic devotion.
By 1856 the Soubirous were living in an abandoned prison cell which stank of sewage. On 11 February 1858 Bernadette, with her sister Toinette and a friend, went to gather firewood. In a grotto beside the River Gave, at a place used as a watering hole for pigs, she saw a vision of a “Lady” wearing a white dress, a blue girdle and a yellow rose on each foot. Bernadette’s companions saw nothing and she herself wondered whether her experience had been an illusion. Three days later, though, she returned to the grotto, and again saw the apparition. On 18 February her third visit, the vision spoke for the first time, asking for her presence over the next fortnight. Next day, the Lady instructed Bernadette to tell the priests to build a chapel at the grotto.
Crowds began to gather to witness the regular phenomenon of the small girl in ecstasy. The police, concerned, interrogated Bernadette, who related her experiences with clarity and conviction. Local interest quickened after the Lady told Bernadette to drink from a muddy trickle in the grotto. By the morrow the trickle had turned into an active spring.
On 4 March at the end of the prescribed fortnight, a crowd of 10,000 gathered to watch Bernadette. In fact, she would experience three more apparitions, bringing the total to 18. Chivied by the parish priest, she insisted that the Lady should give her name. “I am the Immaculate Conception,” came the reply, in perfect Basque dialect. Bernadette had no idea what this meant. She repeated it to herself over and over on her way back to the village so she wouldn’t forget the strange, long words. When she told her parish priest what the lady had said, he was quite surprised. The priest knew that what the mysterious lady had said meant that she was Mary, Jesus’ mother. The mysterious lady of the grotto had told Bernadette who she was. But it was not very common for people—especially poor little girls who couldn’t read—to think of Mary as the “immaculate conception,” a phrase that reminds us of how God saved Mary from sin even before she was born. The Blessed Virgin also told her: “I do not promise to make you happy in this world but in the next,” the apparition had told her.
ibernad001p1
Disliking the attention she was attracting, Bernadette went to the hospice school run by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers where she had learned to read and write. Although she considered joining the Carmelites, her health precluded her entering any of the strict contemplative orders. On 29 July 1866, with 42 other candidates, she took the religious habit of a postulant and joined the Sisters of Charity at their motherhouse at Nevers. Her Mistress of Novices was Sister Marie Therese Vauzou. The Mother Superior at the time gave her the name Marie-Bernarde in honour of her godmother who was named “Bernarde”.
Bernadette spent the rest of her brief life there, working as an assistant in the infirmary and later as a sacristan, creating beautiful embroidery for altar cloths and vestments. Her contemporaries admired her humility and spirit of sacrifice. One day, asked about the apparitions, she replied:
“The Virgin used me as a broom to remove the dust. When the work is done, the broom is put behind the door again.” and “They think I’m a saint,” she observed. “When I’m dead they’ll come and touch holy pictures and rosaries to me, and all the while I’ll be getting boiled on a grill in purgatory.”
She later contracted tuberculosis of the bone in her right knee. She had followed the development of Lourdes as a pilgrimage shrine while she still lived at Lourdes but was not present for the consecration of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception there in 1876.
For several months prior to her death, she was unable to take an active part in convent life. She eventually died of her long-term illness at the age of 35 on 16 April 1879 (Easter Wednesday) while praying the holy rosary. On her deathbed, as she suffered from severe pain and in keeping with the Virgin Mary’s admonition of “Penance, Penance, Penance,” Bernadette proclaimed that “all this is good for Heaven!” Her final words were, “Blessed Mary, Mother of God, pray for me! A poor sinner, a poor sinner”.
In the 1858 Lourdes apparitions, the Blessed Virgin Mary declared herself as the Immaculate Conception to the innocent little shepherd girl named Bernadette: … The Immaculate Conception (CCC, 490-3)
Bl Arcangelo Canetoli
St Benedict Joseph Labre – Known as the Beggar of Perpetual Adoration (1748-1783)
St Bernadette of Lourdes – The Visionary of Lourdes (1844-1879)
St Drogo
St Elias
St Fructuosus of Braga
St Herveus of Tours
Bl Joachim Piccolomini
St Lambert of Saragossa
St Lambert of Saragossa
St Magnus of Orkney
St Turibius of Astorga
St Vaise
St William Gnoffi
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Martyrs of Avrillé – 26 beati: – A group of lay people who were executed together for their faith during the anti-Christian persecutions of the French Revolution. They were martyred on 16 April 1794 at Avrillé, Maine-et-Loire, France.
• Blessed Anne Maugrain
• Blessed François Micheneau veuve Gillot
• Blessed François Suhard veuve Ménard
• Blessed Jean Ménard
• Blessed Jeanne Gourdon veuve Moreau
• Blessed Jeanne Leduc épouse Paquier
• Blessed Jeanne Onillon veuve Onillon
• Blessed Jeanne Thomas veuve Delaunay
• Blessed Madeleine Cady épouse Desvignes
• Blessed Madeleine Sallé épouse Havard
• Blessed Marguerite Robin
• Blessed Marie Forestier
• Blessed Marie Gingueneau veuve Coiffard
• Blessed Marie Lardeux
• Blessed Marie Piou épouse Supiot
• Blessed Marie Rechard
• Blessed Marie Roger veuve Chartier
• Blessed Marie-Genevieve Poulain de la Forestrie
• Blessed Marthe Poulain de la Forestrie
• Blessed Perrine Bourigault
• Blessed Perrine Laurent
• Blessed Perrine Pottier épouse Turpault
• Blessed Pierre Delépine
• Blessed Renée Bourgeais veuve Juret
• Blessed Renée Rigault épouse Papin
• Blessed Renée Sechet veuve Davy
16 April 1794 at Avrillé, Maine-et-Loire, France – Beatified: 19 February 1984 by Pope John Paul II at Rome, Italy
Martyrs of Corinth – 9 saints: A group of nine Christians who were tortured and martyred together in the persecutions of Decius. We know little more than three of their names – Callistus, Charisius and Leonide. They were thrown into the sea at Corinth, Greece c250
Martyrs of Saragossa: Group of eighteen martyrs murdered in 304 in Saragossa, Spain in the persecutions of Diocletian and the prefect Dacean. We know little more than the names – Apodemus, Caecilian, Caius, Crementius, Engratia, Eventius, Felix, Fronto, Gaius, Julia, Lambert, Lupercus, Martial, Optatus, Primitivus, Publius, Quintilian, Saturnius (4 men of this name), Succesus and Urban. Their graves re-discovered in 1389 in the crypt under the church of San Encrazia in Saragossa.
Sabbatum Sanctum – Holy Saturday: “Watching” and The Easter Vigil of the Holy Night
On Holy Saturday the Church waits at the Lord’s tomb, meditating on His suffering and death. The altar is left bare and the sacrifice of the Mass is not celebrated. Only after the solemn vigil during the night, held in anticipation of the resurrection, does the Easter celebration begin, with a spirit of joy that overflows into the following period of fifty days.
Holy Saturday (from Sabbatum Sanctum, its official liturgical name) is sacred as the day of the Lord’s rest; it has been called the “Second Sabbath” after creation. The day is and should be the most calm and quiet day of the entire Church year, a day broken by no liturgical function. Christ lies in the grave, the Church sits near and mourns. After the great battle He is resting in peace but upon Him we see the scars of intense suffering…The mortal wounds on His Body remain visible…Jesus’ enemies are still furious, attempting to obliterate the very memory of the Lord by lies and slander.
Mary and the disciples are grief-stricken, while the Church must mournfully admit that too many of her children return home from Calvary cold and hard of heart. When Mother Church reflects upon all of this, it seems as if the wounds of her dearly Beloved were again beginning to bleed.
According to tradition, the entire body of the Church is represented in Mary: she is the “credentium collectio universa” (Congregation for Divine Worship, Lettera circolare sulla preparazione e celebrazione delle feste pasquali, 73). Thus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, as she waits near the Lord’s tomb, as she is represented in Christian tradition, is an icon of the Virgin Church keeping vigil at the tomb of her Spouse while awaiting the celebration of His resurrection.
The pious exercise of the Ora di Maria is inspired by this intuition of the relationship between the Virgin Mary and the Church: while the body of her Son lays in the tomb and His soul has descended to the dead to announce liberation from the shadow of darkness to His ancestors, the Blessed Virgin Mary, foreshadowing and representing the Church, awaits, in faith, the victorious triumph of her Son over death. — Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy
“This same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord . . . throughout every generation” (cf. Ex 12:42)
On this holy night we celebrate the Easter Vigil, the first — indeed the “mother” — of all vigils of the liturgical year. On this night, as is sung over and over again in the Preconio, we walk once more the path of humanity from creation to the culminating event of salvation, the death and resurrection of Christ.
The light of Him who “has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:20) makes this memorable night, which is rightly considered the “heart” of the liturgical year, “bright as the day” (Ps 139:12). On this night the entire Church keeps watch and recalls, in meditation, the significant stages of God’s saving intervention in the universe.
“A night of watching kept to the Lord”. There is a twofold significance to this solemn Easter Vigil, so rich with symbols accompanied by an extraordinary abundance of biblical texts. On the one hand, it is the prayerful memory of the mirabilia Dei, in the re-presentation of key texts from the Sacred Scriptures, from creation to the sacrifice of Isaac, to the passage through the Red Sea, to the promise of the New Covenant.
On the other hand, this evocative vigil is the trusting expectation of the complete fulfilment of the ancient promises. The memory of God’s work reaches its climax in the resurrection of Christ and is projected onto the eschatological event of the parusia. We thus catch a glimpse, on this night of Passover, of the dawning of that day that never ends, the day of the Risen Christ, which inaugurates the new life, the “new heavens and a new earth” (2 Pet 3:13; cf. Is 65:17; 66:22; Rev 21:1).
From its very beginnings, the Christian community placed the celebration of Baptism within the context of the Easter Vigil. Here too, on this night, some catechumens will be immersed with Jesus into his death to rise with Him to immortal life. Thus the wonder of the mysterious spiritual rebirth, wrought by the Holy Spirit, is renewed; the rebirth that incorporates the newly baptised into the people of the new and final Covenant, sealed by the death and resurrection of Christ.
Together with those who will shortly receive Baptism, the liturgy invites all of us here present to renew the promises of our own Baptism. The Lord asks us to renew the expression of our full obedience to Him and of our total dedication to the service of his Gospel.
Beloved Brothers and Sisters! If this mission may sometimes seem difficult, call to mind the words of the Risen Lord: “I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20). Certain of His presence, you shall fear no difficulty and no obstacle. His word will enlighten you; His Body and His Blood will nourish you and sustain you on your daily journey to eternity.
At the side of each of you there will always be Mary, as she was present among the Apostles, frightened and confused at the time of trial. And with her faith she will show you, beyond the night of the world, the glorious dawn of the resurrection. Amen
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Solemnity): The Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary by Gabriel the Archangel that she was to be the Mother of God (Luke 1), the Word being made flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit. The feast probably originated about the time of the Council of Ephesus, c 431 and is first mentioned in the Sacramentary of Pope Gelasius (died 496). The Annunciation is represented in art by many masters, among them Fra Angelico, Hubert Van Eyck, Jan Van Eyck, Philippe de Champaigne (1 and 2 below), Ghirlandajo, Holbein the Elder, Lippi, Pinturicchio, Titian (2nd last below), Tintoretto (last below) and Del Sarto.
Our Lady of Betania: Actually the name Betania means Bethany in Spanish. It was originally given this name by Maria Esperanza and was the site of their farm, in Venezuela. Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary were reported and eventually a small chapel was built here and the faithful began to gather, especially on Feast Days but throughout the year.
St Alfwold of Sherborne
St Barontius of Pistoia
St Desiderius of Pistoia
St Dismas
St Dula the Slave
Bl Emilian Kovch
Bl Everard of Nellenburg
Bl Herman of Zahringen
St Hermenland
St Humbert of Pelagius
Bl James Bird
Bl Josaphata Mykhailyna Hordashevska
St Kennocha of Fife
St Lucia Filippini
St Margaret Clitherow
Bl Margaretha Flesch
St Mariam Sultaneh Danil Ghattas
St Matrona of Barcelona
St Matrona of Thessaloniki
St Mona of Milan
St Ndre Zadeja
Bl Pawel Januszewski
St Pelagius of Laodicea
Bl Placido Riccardi
St Procopius
St Quirinus of Rome
Bl Tommaso of Costacciaro
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262 Martyrs of Rome: A group 262 Christians martyred together in Rome. We know nothing else about them, not even their names.
Nostra Signora dei Sette Veli / Our Lady of the Seven Veils, Foggia, Italy (11th Century) – 22 March:
In the Cathedral of Foggia one can find an ancient and mysterious image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This icon, called “Our Lady of the Seven Veils,” once caused Saint Alphonsus to go into ecstasy, which I will describe below. As a young priest, St Pio of Pietreclina would make a visit to this image everyday. In the eleventh century Foggia, Italy was a tiny town perched around the Tavern of the Owl. One day some local farmers saw three flames over a small pond or bog. Intrigued, they dug where the miraculous fire had been and discovered a large “table” buried in the mud. They realised that this “table” was actually a Byzantine icon that had remained somewhat preserved despite being soaked in water and mud. The image was cleaned and then cloaked with new veils. I assume there were seven veils and hence the name but I cannot verify this. The icon was then placed in the local Tavern of the Owl for veneration. Soon the tavern became a place of pilgrimage. In 1080 Robert Guiscard built a church to honour the sacred image. In 1172 the church was expanded by William II “the Good” of Sicily. The “face hole” is all that one can now see of the original wooden icon. It is black and the face is now indiscernible. However, on Maundy Thursday of 1731, the Virgin Mary’s white face appeared in this portal, which was usually black and dark. Saint Alphonsus Liguori heard about apparition and went to Foggia to venerate the Immaculate Mother of the Saviour. He also received an apparition of the Virgin’s face in the small black portal. He described the Blessed Virgin’s face on that occasion as a girl of 13-14 with a white veil. The apparitions of the Virgin’s face on the icon continued until about 1745. As the city grew larger, the church was decorated and enriched. The Normans, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese, Spaniards and Bourbons considered the church to be one of the most important in Italy. It has served as the site for several royal weddings. Today, the image is said to be covered in seven layers of precious metal and embroidered material – hence the name Madonna of the Seven Veils.
St Avitus of Périgord St Basil of Ancyra St Basilissa of Galatia St Benevenuto Scotivoli of Osimo Bl Bronislaw Komorowski St Callinica of Galatia Bl Clemens August von Galen St Darerca of Ireland St Deghitche St Epaphroditus of Terracina St Failbhe of Iona Bl François-Louis Chartier St Harlindis of Arland Bl Hugolinus Zefferini St Lea of Rome Bl Marian Górecki St Nicholas Owen S.J. (1562-1606)
St Octavian of Carthage St Paul of Narbonne St Saturninus the Martyr St Trien of Killelga
Pope Francis institutes new celebration of Mary, Mother of the Church
Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
DECREE
on the celebration
of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mother of the Church
in the General Roman Calendar
The joyous veneration given to the Mother of God by the contemporary Church, in light of reflection on the mystery of Christ and on his nature, cannot ignore the figure of a woman (cf. Gal 4:4), the Virgin Mary, who is both the Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church.
In some ways this was already present in the mind of the Church from the premonitory words of Saint Augustine and Saint Leo the Great. In fact the former says that Mary is the mother of the members of Christ, because with charity she co-operated in the rebirth of the faithful into the Church, while the latter says that the birth of the Head is also the birth of the body, thus indicating that Mary is at once Mother of Christ, the Son of God, and mother of the members of his Mystical Body, which is the Church. These considerations derive from the divine motherhood of Mary and from her intimate union in the work of the Redeemer, which culminated at the hour of the cross.
Indeed, the Mother standing beneath the cross (cf. Jn 19:25), accepted her Son’s testament of love and welcomed all people in the person of the beloved disciple as sons and daughters to be reborn unto life eternal. She thus became the tender Mother of the Church which Christ begot on the cross handing on the Spirit. Christ, in turn, in the beloved disciple, chose all disciples as ministers of his love towards his Mother, entrusting her to them so that they might welcome her with filial affection.
As a caring guide to the emerging Church, Mary had already begun her mission in the Upper Room, praying with the Apostles while awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14). In this sense, in the course of the centuries, Christian piety has honoured Mary with various titles, in many ways equivalent, such as Mother of Disciples, of the Faithful, of Believers, of all those who are reborn in Christ and also as “Mother of the Church” as is used in the texts of spiritual authors as well as in the Magisterium of Popes Benedict XIV and Leo XIII.
Thus the foundation is clearly established by which Blessed Paul VI, on 21 November 1964, at the conclusion of the Third Session of the Second Vatican Council, declared the Blessed Virgin Mary as “Mother of the Church, that is to say of all Christian people, the faithful as well as the pastors, who call her the most loving Mother” and established that “the Mother of God should be further honoured and invoked by the entire Christian people by this tenderest of titles”.
Therefore the Apostolic See on the occasion of the Holy Year of Reconciliation (1975), proposed a votive Mass in honour of Beata Maria Ecclesiæ Matre, which was subsequently inserted into the Roman Missal. The Holy See also granted the faculty to add the invocation of this title in the Litany of Loreto (1980) and published other formularies in the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1986). Some countries, dioceses and religious families who petitioned the Holy See were allowed to add this celebration to their particular calendars.
Having attentively considered how greatly the promotion of this devotion might encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety, Pope Francis has decreed that the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, should be inscribed in the Roman Calendar on the Monday after Pentecost and be now celebrated every year.
This celebration will help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet and to the Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Redeemed, the Virgin who makes her offering to God.
The Memorial therefore is to appear in all Calendars and liturgical books for the celebration of Mass and of the Liturgy of the Hours. The relative liturgical texts are attached to this decree and their translations, prepared and approved by the Episcopal Conferences, will be published after confirmation by this Dicastery.
Where the celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, is already celebrated on a day with a higher liturgical rank, approved according to the norm of particular law, in the future it may continue to be celebrated in the same way.
Anything to the contrary notwithstanding.
From the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 11 February 2018, the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes.
Quote/s of the Day – 20 February 2018 -The First Memorial of Saints Francisco (1908-1919) and Jacinta (1910-1920) – “The Shepherds of Fatima”
“We were burning in that light which is God and we were not consumed. What is God like? It is impossible to say. In fact, we will never be able to tell people”
St Francisco Marto of Fatima (1908-1919)
“Speak ill of no-one and avoid the company of those who talk (ill) about their neighbours.”
St Jacinta Marto of Fatima (1910-1920)
“Father, to You I offer praise, for you have revealed these things to the merest children”. Today Jesus’ praise takes the solemn form of the beatification of the little shepherds, Francisco and Jacinta. With this rite the Church wishes to put on the candlelabrum these two candles which God lit to illumine humanity in its dark and anxious hours. …Father, to You I offer praise for all Your children, from the Virgin Mary, Your humble Servant, to the little shepherds, Francisco and Jacinta. May the message of their lives live on forever to light humanity’s way!”
St Pope John Paul (1920-2005) on the Beatification of Francisco and Jacinta, 13 May 2000
One Minute Reflection – 20 February 2018 – Tuesday of the First Week of Lent and The First Memorial of Saints Francisco (1908-1919) and Jacinta (1910-1920)
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit..” …John 12:24
REFLECTION – “In Lucia’s account, the three chosen children found themselves surrounded by God’s light as it radiated from Our Lady. She enveloped them in the mantle of Light that God had given her. According to the belief and experience of many pilgrims, if not of all, Fatima is more than anything this mantle of Light that protects us, here, as in almost no other place on earth. We need but take refuge under the protection of the Virgin Mary and to ask her, as the Salve Regina teaches: “show unto us… Jesus”.
“The Lord, who always goes before us, said this and did this (Jn 12:24). Whenever we experience the cross, He has already experienced it before us. We do not mount the cross to find Jesus. Instead it was He who, in His self-abasement, descended even to the cross, in order to find us, to dispel the darkness of evil within us and to bring us back to the light.”…Pope Francis at the Canonisation of Saints Francisco and Jacinta on 14 May 2017
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, just as the little children, Francisco and Jacinta, were chosen to be bearers of Your message, grant we pray, that by their prayers on our behalf, we too may Your bearers of light. Be with us, holy Mother, during our Lenten journey to the Resurrection of your Son, help us to become like little children and in that new purity, shine with His Light. Through Jesus our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Saints of the Day – 20 February 2018 – Today, is the First Memorial of Saints Francisco (1908-1919) and Jacinta Marta (1910-1920) who were Canonised last year, 13 May 2017 – “The Shepherds of Fatima”
Between 13 May and 13 October 1917, three Portuguese shepherd children from Aljustrel, received apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria, near Fátima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon. At that time, Europe was involved in an extremely bloody war. Portugal itself was in political turmoil, having overthrown its monarchy in 1910; the government disbanded religious organisations soon after.
At the first appearance, Mary asked the children to return to that spot on the thirteenth of each month for the next six months. She also asked them to learn to read and write and to pray the rosary “to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.” They were to pray for sinners and for the conversion of Russia, which had recently overthrown Czar Nicholas II and was soon to fall under communism. Up to 90,000 people gathered for Mary’s final apparition on 13 October 1917, when Our Lady of the Rosary asked them to build a chapel on the rocky hillside. This apparition is now known as the Miracle of the Sun. The entire crowd saw a remarkable sight. The sun seemed to dance in the sky. It was spinning like a top and shooting off brilliant colours of the rainbow. Suddenly the sun dropped treacherously close to earth. People dropped to their knees and the sun just as quickly returned to its play in the sky.
Less than two years later, Francisco died of influenza in his family home. He was buried in the parish cemetery and then re-buried in the Fátima basilica in 1952. Jacinta died of influenza in Lisbon in 1920, offering her suffering for the conversion of sinners, peace in the world and the Holy Father. She was re-buried in the Fátima basilica in 1951, when it was discovered that her body is incorrupt. Their cousin Lúcia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun and was still living when Jacinta and Francisco were beatified in 2000; she died five years later.
Pope Francis canonised the younger children on his visit to Fátima to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first apparition, last year, 13 May 2017.
The shrine of Our Lady of Fátima is visited by up to 20 million people a year.
Madonna del Pilerio: The term Pilerio probably derives from piliero (pillar), or it could be older and derive from the greek puleròs (guardian, guardian of the city gate). The cult of the Madonna del Pilerio as the patron saint of Cosenza, dates back to the end of the 16th century. It is said that in the year 1576, while the plague desolated different regions of Italy, a devotee, praying before the icon of the Madonna del Pilerio, noticed a stain similar to the pestiferous bubo (the marks of the plague), present on the face of the Image. The phenomenon was noted by the people and by the ecclesiastical authorities. The stain was considered a prodigy and a revealing sign of the protection of the Madonna for the City of Cosenza, saved by her from the plague. Since then the Virgin of Pilerio became the Protectress of the City.
The news of the prodigious sign did not take long to spread and from the neighbouring countries a growing rush of devotees began. The pilgrimages continued over time and grew in number, so much so that in 1603, the Archbishop Monsignor Giovan Battista Costanzo (1591-1617), to better serve the influx of pilgrims, removed the painting from the place where it was and placed it before on one of the pillars of the central nave of the Duomo, then on the main altar and finally in 1607 in the specially built chapel dedicated to the Virgin and where even today is venerated. On April 17, 1607, at the unanimous request of the inhabitants of Cosenza, the Archbishop Mgr. Costanzo crowned the Virgin of Pilerio Regina and Patrona della Città. In 1783 a violent earthquake struck down on Cosenza. On that occasion another sign was found on the face of the image of the Pilerio.
—
St Alexius of Kiev
St Ammonius of Alexandria
Bl Anthony of Saxony
St Anthony Kauleas
St Benedict of Aniane (747-821)
Bl Benedict Revelli
St Damian of Africa
St Damian of Rome
St Ethelwald of Lindisfarne
St Eulalia of Barcelona
St Gaudentius of Verona
St Goscelinus of Turin
Bl Gregory of Tragurio
Bl Humbeline of Jully
St Jak Bushati
St Julian of Alexandria
St Julian the Hospitaller
Bl Ladislaus of Hungary
Bl Ludan
St Meletius of Antioch
St Modestus of Alexandria
St Modestus of Carthage
St Modestus the Deacon
Bl Nicholas of Hungary
St Sedulius
Bl Thomas of Foligno
—
Martyrs of Albitina – 46 saints:
During the persecutions of Diocletian, troops were sent to the churches of Abitina, North Africa on a Sunday morning; they rounded up everyone who had arrived for Mass and took them all to Carthage for interrogation by pro-consul Anulinus. The 46 who proclaimed their Christianity were executed. We know some of their names and stories.
• Ampelius
• Cassiano
• Ceciliano
• Cecilia
• Danzio
• Deciano
• Emeritus
• Ercolina
• Eva
• Fausto
• Felice (2 by this name)
• Felix
• Gennara (2 by this name)
• Gennaro
• Giriale
• Hilarion
• Maggiore
• Margherita
• Martino
• Mary
• Massimiano
• Matrona (2 by this name)
• Onorata
• Pelusio
• Pomponia
• Prima
• Quinto
• Regiola
• Restituta
• Rogatian (3 by this name)
• Rogato (2 by this name)
• Saturninus the Elder
• Saturninus the Younger
• Seconda (2 by this name)
• Thelica
• Victoria
• Vincenzo
• Vittoriano
• Vittorino
They were tortured to death in 304 in prison at Albitina, North Africa.
Martyred in England:
Bl George Haydock
Bl James Fenn
Bl John Nutter
Bl John Munden
Bl Thomas Hemeford
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
Josep Gassol Montseny
Thought for the Day – 11 February – Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes and the 26th World Day of Prayer for the Sick
On 8 December 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus. A little more than three years later, on 11 February 1858, a young lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous. This began a series of visions. During the apparition on 25 March, the lady identified herself with the words: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
Bernadette was a sickly child of poor parents. Their practice of the Catholic faith was scarcely more than lukewarm. Bernadette could pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Creed. She also knew the prayer of the Miraculous Medal: “O Mary conceived without sin.”
During interrogations Bernadette gave an account of what she saw. It was “something white in the shape of a girl.” She used the word aquero, a dialect term meaning “this thing.” It was “a pretty young girl with a rosary over her arm.” Her white robe was encircled by a blue girdle. She wore a white veil. There was a yellow rose on each foot. A rosary was in her hand. Bernadette was also impressed by the fact that the lady did not use the informal form of address (tu), but the polite form (vous). The humble virgin appeared to a humble girl and treated her with dignity.
Through that humble girl, Mary revitalised and continues to revitalise the faith of millions of people. People began to flock to Lourdes from other parts of France and from all over the world. In 1862 Church authorities confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions and authorised the cult of Our Lady of Lourdes for the diocese. The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes became worldwide in 1907.
Lourdes has become a place of pilgrimage and healing but even more of faith. Church authorities have recognised over 60 miraculous cures, although there have been accounts of many more. To people of faith this is not surprising. It is a continuation of Jesus’ healing miracles—now performed at the intercession of his mother. Some would say that the greater miracles are hidden. Many who visit Lourdes return home with renewed faith and a readiness to serve God in their needy brothers and sisters.
There still may be people who doubt the apparitions of Lourdes. Perhaps the best that can be said to them are the words that introduce the film The Song of Bernadette: “For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.”
Let us Pray:
Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes By St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)
To Mary, Mother of tender love,
we wish to entrust all those
who are ill in body and soul,
that she may sustain them in hope.
We ask her also to help us to be welcoming
to our sick brothers and sisters.
Hail Mary, poor and humble Woman,
Blessed by the Most High!
Virgin of hope, dawn of a new era,
We join in your song of praise,
to celebrate the Lord’s mercy,
to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom
and the full liberation of humanity.
Hail Mary, lowly handmaid of the Lord,
Glorious Mother of Christ!
Faithful Virgin, holy dwelling-place of the Word,
Teach us to persevere in listening to the Word,
and to be docile to the voice of the Spirit,
attentive to His promptings in the depths of our conscience
and to His manifestations in the events of history.
Hail Mary, Woman of sorrows,
Mother of the living!
Virgin spouse beneath the Cross, the new Eve,
Be our guide along the paths of the world.
Teach us to experience and to spread the love of Christ,
to stand with you before the innumerable crosses
on which your Son is still crucified.
Hail Mary, woman of faith,
First of the disciples!
Virgin Mother of the Church, help us always
to account for the hope that is in us,
with trust in human goodness and the Father’s love.
Teach us to build up the world beginning from within:
in the depths of silence and prayer,
in the joy of fraternal love,
in the unique fruitfulness of the Cross.
Holy Mary, Mother of believers,
Our Lady of Lourdes,
pray for us. Amen
One Minute Reflection – – 11 February – 6th Sunday of Year B, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes and the 26th World Day of Prayer for the Sick
….if you will, you can make me clean…Mark 1:41.
REFLECTION – “Jesus, who is present in our suffering neighbour, wishes to be present in every act of charity and service of ours, which is expressed also, in every glass of water we give “in his name” (cf Mk 9:41). Jesus wants love, the solidarity of love, to grow from suffering and around suffering. He wants, that is, the sum of that good which is possible in our human world. A good that never passes away. The Pope, who wishes to be a servant of this love, kisses the forehead and kisses the hands of all those who contribute to the presence of this love and to its growth in our world. He knows, in fact and believes that he is kissing the hands and the forehead of Christ himself, who is mystically present in those who suffer and in those who, out of love, serve the suffering.”…St Pope John Paul, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes – 1979
PRAYER – Christ of our sufferings,
Christ of our sacrifices,
Christ of our Gethsemane,
Christ of our difficult transformations,
Christ of our faithful service to our neighbour,
Christ of our pilgrimages to Lourdes,
Christ of our community, today, in St Peter’s Basilica,
Christ our Redeemer,
Christ our Brother!
Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for us that we may live this solidarity of love, in You and with You and for You, amen.
Mater Ecclesiae: “Behold, your son… Behold, your mother.
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.”
(John 19:26-27)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Church’s service to the sick and those who care for them must continue with renewed vigour, in fidelity to the Lord’s command (cf. Lk 9:2-6; Mt 10:1-8; Mk 6:7-13) and following the eloquent example of her Founder and Master.
The theme for this year’s Day of the Sick is provided by the words that Jesus spoke from the Cross to Mary, His Mother, and to John: “Woman, behold your son … Behold your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home” (Jn 19:26-27).
1. The Lord’s words brilliantly illuminate the mystery of the Cross, which does not represent a hopeless tragedy, but rather the place where Jesus manifests his glory and shows his love to the end. That love in turn was to become the basis and rule for the Christian community and the life of each disciple.
Before all else, Jesus’ words are the source of Mary’s maternal vocation for all humanity. Mary was to be, in particular, the Mother of her Son’s disciples, caring for them and their journey through life. As we know, a mother’s care for her son or daughter includes both the material and spiritual dimensions of their upbringing.
The unspeakable pain of the Cross pierces Mary’s soul (cf. Lk 2:35) but does not paralyse her. Quite the opposite. As the Lord’s Mother, a new path of self-giving opens up before her. On the Cross, Jesus showed His concern for the Church and all humanity and Mary is called to share in that same concern. In describing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Acts of the Apostles show that Mary began to carry out this role in the earliest community of the Church. A role that never ceases.
2. John, the beloved disciple, is a figure of the Church, the messianic people. He must acknowledge Mary as his Mother. In doing so, he is called to take her into his home, to see in her the model of all discipleship and to contemplate the maternal vocation that Jesus entrusted to her, with all that it entails: a loving Mother who gives birth to children capable of loving as Jesus commands. That is why Mary’s maternal vocation to care for her children is entrusted to John and to the Church as a whole. The entire community of disciples is included in Mary’s maternal vocation.
3. John, as a disciple who shared everything with Jesus, knows that the Master wants to lead all people to an encounter with the Father. He can testify to the fact that Jesus met many people suffering from spiritual sickness due to pride (cf. Jn 8:31-39) and from physical ailments (cf. Jn 5:6). He bestowed mercy and forgiveness upon all, and healed the sick as a sign of the abundant life of the Kingdom, where every tear will be wiped away. Like Mary, the disciples are called to care for one another, but not only that. They know that Jesus’ heart is open to all and excludes no one. The Gospel of the Kingdom must be proclaimed to all, and the charity of Christians must be directed to all, simply because they are persons, children of God.
4. The Church’s maternal vocation to the needy and to the sick has found concrete expression throughout the two thousand years of her history in an impressive series of initiatives on behalf of the sick. This history of dedication must not be forgotten. It continues to the present day throughout the world. In countries where adequate public health care systems exist, the work of Catholic religious congregations and dioceses and their hospitals is aimed not only at providing quality medical care but also at putting the human person at the centre of the healing process, while carrying out scientific research with full respect for life and for Christian moral values. In countries where health care systems are inadequate or non-existent, the Church seeks to do what she can to improve health, eliminate infant mortality and combat widespread disease. Everywhere she tries to provide care, even when she is not in a position to offer a cure. The image of the Church as a “field hospital” that welcomes all those wounded by life is a very concrete reality, for in some parts of the world, missionary and diocesan hospitals are the only institutions providing necessary care to the population.
5. The memory of this long history of service to the sick is cause for rejoicing on the part of the Christian community and especially those presently engaged in this ministry. Yet we must look to the past above all to let it enrich us. We should learn the lesson it teaches us about the self-sacrificing generosity of many founders of institutes in the service of the infirm, the creativity, prompted by charity, of many initiatives undertaken over the centuries, and the commitment to scientific research as a means of offering innovative and reliable treatments to the sick. This legacy of the past helps us to build a better future, for example, by shielding Catholic hospitals from the business mentality that is seeking worldwide to turn health care into a profit-making enterprise, which ends up discarding the poor. Wise organisation and charity demand that the sick person be respected in his or her dignity and constantly kept at the centre of the therapeutic process. This should likewise be the approach of Christians who work in public structures; through their service, they too are called to bear convincing witness to the Gospel.
6. Jesus bestowed upon the Church his healing power: “These signs will accompany those who believe… they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover (Mk 16:17-18). In the Acts of the Apostles, we read accounts of the healings worked by Peter (cf. Acts 3:4-8) and Paul (cf. Acts 14:8-11). The Church’s mission is a response to Jesus’ gift, for she knows that she must bring to the sick the Lord’s own gaze, full of tenderness and compassion. Health care ministry will always be a necessary and fundamental task, to be carried out with renewed enthusiasm by all, from parish communities to the most largest healthcare institutions. We cannot forget the tender love and perseverance of many families in caring for their chronically sick or severely disabled children, parents and relatives. The care given within families is an extraordinary witness of love for the human person, it needs to be fittingly acknowledged and supported by suitable policies. Doctors and nurses, priests, consecrated men and women, volunteers, families and all those who care for the sick, take part in this ecclesial mission. It is a shared responsibility that enriches the value of the daily service given by each.
7. To Mary, Mother of tender love, we wish to entrust all those who are ill in body and soul, that she may sustain them in hope. We ask her also to help us to be welcoming to our sick brothers and sisters. The Church knows that she requires a special grace to live up to her evangelical task of serving the sick. May our prayers to the Mother of God see us united in an incessant plea that every member of the Church may live with love the vocation to serve life and health. May the Virgin Mary intercede for this Twenty-sixth World Day of the Sick; may she help the sick to experience their suffering in communion with the Lord Jesus and may she support all those who care for them. To all, the sick, to healthcare workers and to volunteers, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican, 26 November 2017
Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Blessed Memorial of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes/Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception – (11 February and 16 July of 1858) – Patron of the ill and infirm, protection from disease, France, 6 cities and a Diocese.
The memorial commemorates the eighteen (18) apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Bernadette Soubiroux that occurred between 11 February and 16 July of 1858 near the town of Lourdes in the Hautes-Pyrenees region of France. Though there would be other people with her, only Saint Bernadette could see the Lady.
During the 9th appearance, on 25 February, the Lady told Bernadette to drink from a spring that suddenly appeared in the grotto where the apparitions occurred. During the 12th appearance, on 1 March, a visitor washed her arm in water from the spring and some nerve damage in it was immediately cured. There is a tradition of miraculous cures at the grotto, or received by those who drink or are bathed in its waters. Bernadette later said that the water had no special properties but it helped focus the faithful who received the cures through faith and prayer.
During the 13th appearance, on 2 March, the Lady told Bernadette to tell local priests that they should build a chapel at the grotto and have processions to be made to it; the priests were understandably sceptical but due to the numbers of pilgrims coming to the area, construction of several churches was started within a few years.
During the 16th appearance, on 25 March, the Lady identified herself as “the Immaculate Conception”.
Due to the number of people gathering at the site and making treks to the area, on 8 June 1858, the mayor of Lourdes barricaded the grotto and stationed guards to prevent public access; visitors were fined for kneeling near the grotto or talking about it and Bernadette saw the last appearance of the Lady from outside the barricade. The grotto was re-opened to the public in October 1858 by order of Emperor Louis Napoleon III and the pilgrims have not stopped coming since.
Church Approval:
• on 18 January 1862 Bishop Bertrand-Sévère Mascarou-Laurence, with the authorisation of Pope Pius IX, declared that the faithful are “justified in believing the reality of the apparition”
• national French pilgrimages to the site began in 1873
• the basilica of Notre-Dame de Lourdes was consecrated in 1876
• Blessed Pope Pius IX formally granted a canonical coronation to the statue of Our Lady in the courtyard of the basilica on 3 July 1876
• Church of the Rosary consecrated in 1901
• a special office and Mass were authorised by Pope Leo XIII
• observance of the feast extended to the whole Church by St Pope Pius X in 1907
Our Lady of Lourdes (11 February and 16 July of 1858) – (Optional Memorial)
World Day of the Sick
—
St Ampelius of Africa
St Ardanus of Tournus
Bl Bartholomew of Olmedo
St Caedmon
St Calocerus of Ravenna
St Castrensis of Capua
St Dativus the Senator
Bl Elizabeth Salviati
St Etchen of Clonfad
St Eutropius of Adrianopolis
St Felix the Senator
St Gobnata
St Pope Gregory II
Bl Gaudencia Benavides Herrero
St Helwisa
St Jonas of Muchon
St Lucius of Adrianople
St Pope Paschal I
St Pedro de Jesús Maldonado-Lucero
St Saturninus of Africa
St Secundus of Puglia
St Severinus of Agaunum
St Soter of Rome
St Theodora the Empress
Bl Tobias Francisco Borrás Román
—
Guardians of the Holy Scriptures: Also known as –
• Anonymous Martyrs in Africa
• Martyrs of Africa
• Martyrs of Numidia
• Martyrs of the Holy Books
A large number of Christians tortured and murdered in Numidia (part of modern Algeria) during the persecutions of Diocletian, but whose names and individual stories have not survived. They were ordered to surrender their sacred books to be burned. They refused. Martyrs. c 303 in Numidia.
Martyrs of Africa – 5 saints: A group of five Christians who were martyred together; we know nothing else but the names of four of them – Cyriacus, Oecominius, Peleonicus and Zoticus.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY NINE– 10 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY NINE
O glorious Mother of God,
to you we raise our hearts and hands
to implore your powerful intercession
in obtaining from the benign Heart of Jesus
all the graces necessary
for our spiritual and temporal welfare,
particularly for the grace of a happy death.
O Mother of our Divine Lord,
as we conclude this novena for the special favour
we seek at this time.
……………………………(make your request)
Mary and Bernadette
We feel animated with confidence that your prayers in our behalf
will be graciously heard. O Mother of My Lord,
through the love you bear to Jesus Christ
and for the glory of His Name,
hear our prayers and obtain our petitions.
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY EIGHT– 9 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY EIGHT
O Immaculate Mother of God,
from heaven itself you came to appear to the little Bernadette
in the rough Grotto of Lourdes!
And as Bernadette knelt at your feet
and the miraculous spring burst forth
and as multitudes have knelt ever since
before your shrine, O Mother of God,
we kneel before you today to ask that in your mercy
you plead with your Divine Son to grant
the special favour we seek in this novena.
…………………………….. (make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY SEVEN– 8 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY SEVEN
O Almighty God,
who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
did prepare a worthy dwelling place for Your Son,
we humbly beseech You,
that as we contemplate the apparition of Our Lady in the Grotto of Lourdes,
we may be blessed with health of mind and body.
O most gracious Mother Mary, beloved Mother of Our Lord and Redeemer,
look with favour upon us as you did that day on Bernadette
and intercede with Him for us
that the favour we now so earnestly seek may be granted to us.
………………………………(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength and consolation. Amen
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY SIX– 7 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY SIX
O glorious Mother of God,
so powerful under your special title of Our Lady of Lourdes,
to you we raise our hearts and hands
to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining
from the gracious Heart of Jesus
all the helps and graces necessary
for our spiritual and temporal welfare
and for the special favour we so earnestly seek in this novena.
……………………………(make your request)
O Lady of Bernadette,
with the stars of heaven in your hair
and the roses of earth at your feet,
look with compassion upon us today
as you did so long ago on Bernadette in the Grotto of Lourdes.
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate,
Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Morning Offering – 7 February – The Memorial of Blessed Pope Pius IX (1792-1878)
Prayer in honour of Our Lady of Perpetual Help By Blessed Pope Pius IX (1792-1878)
O Lord Jesus Christ,
who gave us Your Mother, Mary,
whose renowned image we venerate,
to be a Mother ever ready to help us;
grant we beseech You,
that we who constantly implore her motherly aid,
may merit to enjoy perpetually
the fruits of Your redemption,
Who lives and reigns forever and ever.
Amen.
Saint of the Day 7 February – Blessed Pope Pius IX (1792-1878) Bishop of Rome, Writer. The longest regining Pope. Bl Pius was born as Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti on 13 May 1792 in Senigallia, Italy and he died on 7 February 1878 in Vatican City of natural causes. He reigned from 16 June 1846 to the day of his death. He is the longest-reigning Pope in the history of the Church, serving for over 31 years. During his Pontificate, Pius IX convened the First Vatican Council (1869–70), which decreed Papal Infallibility and promulgated the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, thus articulating a long-held belief that Mary, the Mother of God, was conceived without original sin. He conferred the title Our Mother of Perpetual Succour on a famous Byzantine icon from Crete entrusted to the Redemptorists. Pope Pius IX named three new Doctors of the Church: Hilary of Poitiers (1851), Alphonsus Liguori (1871), and Francis de Sales (19 July 1877).Patronages – Pius Seminary of Rome, Senigallia, Diocese of Senigallia, First Vatican Council. His body is incorrupt.
Bl Pope Pius IX was born in Senigallia, Italy, on 13 May 1792, the son of Gerolamo of the Counts Mastai Ferretti and Caterina Solazzi, of the local nobility. He was baptised on the day of his birth with the name Giovanni Maria. Of delicate physical constitution but of very lively intelligence, his childhood was marked by little voluntary mortifications and an intense religious life.
In 1809 he moved to Rome for higher studies. A disease not well diagnosed, which some called epilepsy, forced him to interrupt his studies in 1812. He was accepted into the Pontifical Noble Guard in 1815 but because of his illness he was immediately discharged. It was at this time that St Vincent Pallotti predicted that he would become Pope and that the Virgin of Loreto would free him eventually from the disease.
After serving briefly in the Tata Giovanni Educational Institute, he participated as a catechist in 1816 in a memorable mission in Senigallia and, immediately thereafter, decided to enter the ecclesiastical state. He was ordained a priest in 1819. Conscious of his noble rank, he committed himself to avoiding a prelatial career in order to remain only at the service of the Church.
He celebrated his first Mass in the Church of St Anne of the Carpenters at the Tata Giovanni Institute, of which he was named rector, remaining there until 1823. He was immediately recognised as assiduous in prayer, in the ministry of the Word, in the celebration of the liturgy, in the confessional and above all in his daily ministry at the service of the humblest and neediest. He admirably united the active and the contemplative life: ready for pastoral needs but always interiorly recollected, with strong Eucharistic and Marian devotion and fidelity to daily meditation and the examination of conscience.
In 1823 he left the institute to serve the Apostolic Nuncio in Chile, Mons. Giovanni Muzi. There he remained until 1825, when he was elected President of St Michael’s Hospice, a grand but complex institution in need of effective reform. To it Mastai applied himself with more than gratifying results but without ever neglecting his priestly duties. Two years later, at the age of 35, he was consecrated Archbishop of Spoleto. In 1831 the revolution which had begun in Parma and Modena spread to Spoleto. The Archbishop did not want the shedding of blood and repaired, as much as possible, the deleterious effects of the violence. When calm was restored, he obtained a pardon for all, even for those who did not merit it.
Another turbulent see awaited Mastai in Imola, where he was transferred in 1832. He remained an eloquent preacher, prompt in charity toward everyone, zealous for the supernatural as well as the material well-being of his Diocese, devoted to his clergy and seminarians, a promoter of education for the young, sensitive to the needs of the contemplative life, devoted to the Sacred Heart and to Our Lady, benevolent towards all but firm in his principles. In 1840 he received the Cardinal’s hat at the age of 48.
Despite having shunned honours, on the evening of 16 June 1846 Mastai found himself burdened with the greatest of them: he was elected Pope and took the name Pius IX.
He had a difficult pontificate, but precisely because of that he was a great Pope, certainly one of the greatest. Thoroughly aware of being the “Vicar of Christ” and responsible for the rights of God and of the Church, he was clear, simple consistent. He combined firmness and understanding, fidelity and openness.
He began with an act of generosity and Christian sensitivity: amnesty for political crimes. His first Encyclical was a programmatic vision but anticipated the “Syllabus”: in it he condemned secret societies, freemasonry and communism. In 1847 he promulgated a decree granting extensive freedom of the press and instituted a civil guard, the municipal and communal council, the Council of State and the Council of Ministers. From then on his interventions as Father of all nations and temporal Prince continued unabated.
The question of Italian independence, which he sympathised with, did not set the Prince against the Pope, a fact that alienated the most intransigent liberals. The situation came to a head on 15 November when Pellegrino Rossi, the head of government, was killed and Pius IX had to take refuge in Gaeta. After the proclamation of the Roman Republic (9 February 1849), he moved to Portici and later returned to Rome (12 April 1850). He reorganised the Council of State, established the Council for Finances, granted a new amnesty, re-established the Catholic hierarchy in England and in Holland.
In 1853 he condemned Gallican doctrines and founded the well-known “Seminario Pio”. He established the Commission on Christian Archaeology, defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December 1854 and blessed the rebuilt St Paul’s Basilica which had been destroyed by fire in 1823.
In 1856 he approved the plan for railways in the Papal States and on 24 April 1859 inaugurated the first section between Rome and Civitavecchia. In 1857 he visited the Papal States and was welcomed everywhere with rejoicing. He sent missionaries to the North Pole, India, Burma, China and Japan.
Meanwhile dark clouds gathered over him with the Italian “Risorgimento”, the Piedmontese annexations that were dismantling the Papal States and the expropriation of the Legations. Suffering but undaunted, he continued to show his charity and concern for all. In 1862 he established a dicastery to deal with the concerns of Eastern-rite Catholics; in 1864 he published his Syllabus condemning modern errors; in 1867 he celebrated the 18th centenary of the martyrdom of Peter and Paul; in 1869 he received the homage of the entire world for the golden jubilee of his priestly ordination. Later that year he opened the First Vatican Ecumenical Council, the pearl of his pontificate, and closed it on 18 July 1870.
With the fall of Rome (20 September 1870) and of the temporal power, the saddened Pontiff considered himself a prisoner of the Vatican, resisting the “Laws of Guarantees”, but approving the “Work of Congresses”. He consecrated the Church to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, disciplined the participation of Catholics in political life with the Non expedit and restored the Catholic hierarchy of Scotland. Suffering from poor health, he gave his last address to the parish priests of Rome on 2 February 1878. On 7 February the longest pontificate in history ended with his holy death. His body is incorrupt. He was Beatified on 3 September 2000 by St Pope John Paul II. (vatican.va).
Writings
• Amantissimi Redemptoris – On Priests and the Care of Souls, by Pope Pius IX, 3 May 1858 • Apostolicae Nostrae Caritatis – Urging Prayers For Peace, by Pope Pius IX, 1 August 1854 • Beneficia Dei – On The Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of His Pontificate, by Pope Pius IX, 4 June 1871 • Cum Nuper – On Care for Clerics, by Pope Pius IX, 20 January 1858 • Cum Sancta Mater Ecclesia – Pleading for Public Prayer, by Pope Pius IX, 27 April 1859 • Etsi Multa – On the Church in Italy, Germany, and Switzerland, by Pope Pius IX, 21 November 1873 • Exultavit Cor Nostrum – On the Effects of the Jubilee, by Pope Pius IX, 21 November 1851 • Graves ac Diuturnae – On the Church in Switzerland, by Pope Pius IX, 23 March 1875 • Gravibus Ecclesiae – Proclaiming a Jubilee for 1875, by Pope Pius IX, 24 December 1874 • Incredibili – On Persecution in New Granada, by Pope Pius IX, 17 September 1863 • Ineffabilis Deus – The Immaculate Conception, by Pope Pius IX, 8 December 1854 • Levate – On the Afflictions of the Church, by Pope Pius IX, 21 October 1867 • Maximae Quidem – On the Church in Bavaria, by Pope Pius IX, 18 August 1864 • Meridionali Americae – On the Seminary for Native Clergy, by Pope Pius IX, 30 September 1865 • Neminem Vestrum – On The Persecution Of Armenians, by Pope Pius IX, 2 February 1854 • Nemo Certe Ignorat – On Discipline for Clergy, by Pope Pius IX, 25 March 1852 • Nostis et Nobiscum – On The Church In The Pontifical States, by Pope Pius IX, 8 December 1849 • Nullis Certe Verbis – On the Need for Civil Sovereignty, by Pope Pius IX, 19 January 1860 • Omnem Sollicitudinem – On The Greek-Ruthenian Rite, Pope Pius IX, 13 May 1874 • Optime Noscitis – On Episcopal Meetings, by Pope Pius IX, 5 November 1855 • Optime Noscitis – On The Proposed Catholic University Of Ireland, by Pope Pius IX, 20 March 1854 • Praedecessores Nostros – On Aid for Ireland, by Pope Pius IX, 25 March 1847 • Quae in Patriarchatu – On the Church in Chaldae, by Pope Pius IX, 16 November 1872 • Quanta Cura – Condemning Current Errors, by Pope Pius IX, 8 December 1864 • Quanto Conficiamur Moerore – On Promotion of False Doctrines, by Pope Pius IX, 10 August 1863 • Quartus Supra – On the Church in Armenia, by Pope Pius IX, 6 January 1873 • Qui Nuper – On Pontifical States, by Pope Pius IX, 18 June 1859 • Qui Pluribus – On Faith And Religion, by Pope Pius IX, 9 November 1846 • Quod Nunquam – On the Church in Prussia, by Pope Pius IX, 5 February 1875 • Respicientes – Protesting the Taking of the Pontifical States, by Pope Pius IX, 1 November 1870 • Saepe Venerabiles Fratres – On Thanksgiving For Twenty-Five Years Of Pontificate, by Pope Pius IX, 5 August 1871 • Singulari Quidem – On the Church in Austria, by Pope Pius IX, 17 March 1856 • Syllabus of Errors, by Pope Blessed Pius IX, 8 December 1864 • Ubi Nos – On Pontifical States, by Pope Pius IX, 15 May 1871 • Ubi Primum – On Discipline for Religious, by Pope Pius IX, 17 June 1847 • Ubi Primum – On The Immaculate Conception, by Pope Pius IX, 2 February 1849 • Vix Dum a Nobis – On the Church in Austria, by Pope Pius IX, 7 March 1874
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Bl Adalbert Nierychlewski
St Adaucus of Phrygia
St Amulwinus of Lobbes
St Anatolius of Cahors
Bl Anna Maria Adorni Botti
Bl Anselmo Polanco
Bl Anthony of Stroncone
St Augulus
St Chrysolius of Armenia
Bl Eugenie Smet
St Fidelis of Merida
Bl Felipe Ripoll Morata
St Giles Mary of Saint Joseph
Bl Jacques Sales
St John of Triora
St Juliana of Bologna
Bl Klara Szczesna
St Lorenzo Maiorano
St Luke the Younger
St Maximus of Nola
St Meldon of Péronne
St Moses the Hermit
St Parthenius of Lampsacus
Bl Peter Verhun
Bl Pope Pius IX (1792-1878)
St Richard the King
Bl Rizziero of Muccia
Bl Rosalie Rendu
St Theodore Stratelates
Bl Thomas Sherwood
St Tressan of Mareuil
Bl William Saultemouche
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY FIVE– 5 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY FIVE
O Mary Immaculate, Mother of God and our mother,
from the heights of your dignity look down mercifully upon us while we,
full of confidence in your unbounded goodness
and confident that your Divine Son
will look favourably upon any request you make of Him on our behalf,
we beseech you to come to our aid
and secure for us the favour we seek in this novena.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY FOUR– 5 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY FOUR
O Immaculate Queen of Heaven,
we your wayward, erring children,
join our unworthy prayers of praise and thanksgiving
to those of the angels and saints and of your own-
that the One, Holy, and Undivided Trinity may be glorified
in heaven and on earth.
Our Lady of Lourdes,
as you looked down with love and mercy upon Bernadette
as she prayed her rosary in the grotto,
look down now, we beseech you,
with love and mercy upon us.
From the abundance of graces granted you by your Divine Son,
sweet Mother of God,
give to each of us all that your motherly heart sees we need
and at this moment look with special favour
on the grace we seek in this novena.
……………………………..(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity,
Mary Immaculate,
Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength and consolation. Amen.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY THREE– 4 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY THREE
“You are all fair, O Mary
and there is in you no stain of original sin.”
O Mary, conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to thee.
O brilliant star of sanctity,
as on that lovely day, upon a rough rock in Lourdes
you spoke to the child Bernadette
and a fountain broke from the plain earth
and miracles happened
and the great shrine of Lourdes began,
so now I beseech you to hear our fervent prayer
and do, we beseech you, grant us the petition we now so earnestly seek.
……………………………….. (make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
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