Quote of the Day – 1 May – Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Joseph the Worker
“Work done grudgingly, is servitude.
Work done willingly, is service.
Work done lovingly, is a Sacrament!”
Category: SAINT of the DAY
Memorial of St Joseph the Worker – 1 May
Memorial of St Joseph the Worker – 1 May
“May Day” has long been dedicated as a special day for labour and working people. The feast of St. Joseph the Worker was established by Pope Pius XII in 1955 to Christianise labour and give all workers a model and a protector.
By the daily labour in his shop, St. Joseph provided for the necessities of his holy spouse and of the Incarnate Son of God and thus became a role model for labourers. The liturgy for this feast celebrates the right to work and this is a message that needs to be heard and heeded in our modern society. How did this connection with St Joseph the Worker, which is nearly as old as Christianity, get made?
In an effort to keep Jesus from being removed from ordinary life, the Church has from the beginning proudly emphasised that Jesus was a carpenter, obviously trained by Joseph in the satisfaction and the drudgery of that vocation.
Humanity is like God, not only in thinking and loving but also in creating. Whether we make a table or a cathedral, we are called to bear fruit with our hands and mind, ultimately for the building up of the Body of Christ. In addition to this, there is a special dignity and value to the work of caring for the family.
An excerpt from the Vatican II document on the modern world said, “Where men and women, in the course of gaining a livelihood for themselves and their families, offer appropriate service to society, they can be confident that their personal efforts promote the work of the Creator, confer benefits on their fellowmen, and help to realise God’s plan in history.”
St Pope Pius X (1835-1914) composed this prayer to St Joseph, patron of working people, that expresses concisely the Christian attitude toward labour. It summarises also for us the lessons of the Holy Family’s work at Nazareth.
Let us Pray:
Glorious St Joseph,
model of all who devote their lives to labour,
obtain for me the grace to work,
in the spirit of penance, in order thereby,
to atone for my many sins;
to work conscientiously,
setting devotion to duty in preference to my own whims;
to work with thankfulness and joy,
deeming it an honour to employ
and to develop, by my labour,
the gifts I have received from God;
to work with order, peace, moderation and patience,
without ever shrinking from weariness and difficulties;
to work above all with a pure intention
and with detachment from self,
having always before my eyes,
the hour of death and the accounting
which I must then render of time ill spent,
of talents wasted, of good omitted
and of vain complacency in success,
which is so fatal to the work of God.
All for Jesus, all through Mary,
all in imitation of you, O Patriarch Joseph!
This shall be my motto in life and in death,
Amen.
More info on Patronages etc here :
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/05/01/saint-of-the-day-1-may-st-joseph-the-worker/
Memorial of St Joseph the Worker, Feast of the Madonna of Giubino and Memorials of the Saints – 1 May
St Joseph the Worker (Optional Memorial)
Madonna of Giubino:
The Church of the Madonna of Giubino was built in 1721 to house a miraculous marble-relief icon of the Madonna, which is brought to a country chapel during the summer. (A copy of the relief is housed in the Church of St Joseph in Brooklyn, New York, giving testimony to the large emigrant community of Calatafimesi who lived in Brooklyn in the early 20th century). The Church of Maria Santissima di Giubino is dedicated to the patroness of the town. It has a single nave, with an elegant barrel vault decorated with frescoes and ornamental motifs. Inside it there are some important works: the painting with the Assumption, Our Lady with Angels and Saints dated 1617, the altar-piece of All Saints, an 18th-century wooden organ and a 15th-century marble alto-rilievo representing Madonna of Giubino with the Infant Jesus. In 1655 an invasion of grasshoppers was destroying all the crops in the countryside of Calatafimi: the people, assembled in a Church, decided that, after putting all the names of the saints who had an altar in town inside a ballot box, they would choose as a patron that one whose name had been drawn. After they invoked the Holy Ghost, it was chosen the name of Maria Santissima di Giubino by lots. The central part of the triptych with the image of the Virgin was soon taken out from the wall in the country church of Giubino and taken in procession: Calatafimi was free from grasshoppers. Maria Santissima di Giubino was elected patroness of the town (25 April 1655) and the bas-relief of the Virgin of Giubino was then placed on the high altar of the new Church, designed by Giovanni Biagio Amico (the same planner of the Church of Santissimo Crocifisso) in 1721. In 1931 the triptych was recomposed in the town sanctuary and restored. There was a new restoration of the Church in 1978.
—
St Aceolus of Amiens
St Acius of Amiens
St Aldebrandus of Fossombrone
St Amator of Auxerre
St Ambrose of Ferentino
St Andeolus of Smyrna
Bl Arigius of Gap
St Arnold of Hiltensweiler
St Asaph of Llanelwy
St Augustine Schöffler
St Benedict of Szkalka
St Bertha of Avenay
St Bertha of Kent
St Brieuc of Brittany
St Ceallach of Killala
St Cominus of Catania
Evermarus of Rousson
Bl Felim O’Hara
St Grata of Bergamo
St Isidora of Egypt
St Jeremiah the Prophet
St John-Louis Bonnard
Bl Klymentii Sheptytskyi
St Marculf
St Orentius of Auch
St Orentius of Loret
St Patientia of Loret
St Peregrine Laziosi (1260-1345) Incorrupt
Bl Petronilla of Moncel
St Richard Pampuri
St Romanus of Baghdad
St Sigismund of Burgundy
St Theodard of Narbonne
St Thorette
St Torquatus of Guadix
Bl Vivald of Gimignano
Thought for the Day – 30 April – Monday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842) – known as “The Labourer of Divine Providence”.
Thought for the Day – 30 April – Monday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842) – known as “The Labourer of Divine Providence”
Speaking of: Trusting in God’s Providence
A letter from Mother Luisita OCDS
“For greater things you were born.
God will provide for all of our needs. Let us trust that we will receive all from Him who loves us so much and is always watching over us!
As you try to see all things as coming from the hand of God, adore His designs. I would like to see you have more trust in Divine Providence. Otherwise, you will be suffering many disappointments and your projects will meet with failure. Trust, my child, only in God. Everything human is changeable and the one who is for you today will be against you tomorrow. You see how good our God is! We should have more confidence in Him every day and have recourse to prayer, not permitting anything to discourage us or make us sad. He has given me so much confidence in His Divine Will that I leave everything in His hands and I am at peace.
My beloved child, let us praise God in everything because all that happens is for our own good. Try to fulfil your duties the best you can and for God alone and always remain happy and serene in all the tribulations of life. As for me, I have placed all in the hands of God and I have been successful. We have to learn to detach ourselves a little, trust in God alone and do God’s holy will with joy.
How beautiful it is to be in the Hands of God, searching His Divine Gaze in readiness to do whatever He wishes.”
“Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have trust in God, trust also in me.”
John 14:1
One Minute Reflection – – 30 April – Monday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842) – known as “The Labourer of Divine Providence”.
One Minute Reflection – 30 April – Monday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842) – known as “The Labourer of Divine Providence”.
He who gives heed to the word will prosper and happy is he who trusts in the LORD...Proverbs 16:20
REFLECTION – “I am a good for nothing and I don’t even know what to make of myself. But Divine Providence certainly knows what it wants. It is only up to me to support it. Let us go ahead in Domino“….St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo
PRAYER – Lord, by Your grace, we are made one in mind and heart. Give us a love for what You command and a longing for what You promise, so that, amid this world’s changes, our hearts may be set on the world of lasting joy. We make our prayer, through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God with You, forever and ever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 30 April – St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842) – An Intense Day of Love
Saint of the Day – 30 April – St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842) Priest, Founder, Confessor, Apostle of Charity. Born as Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo on 3 May 1786 at Bra, Cuneo, Piedmont region, Italy and died on 30 April 1842 of typhus at Chieri, Turin, Italy. He was buried in the Mary altar in the main chapel in Valdocco, Italy. St Joseph was Canonised on 19 March 1934 by Pope Pius XI. Known as “the labourer of Divine Providence”.
“Joseph Benedict Cottolengo was born in Bra, a small town in the Province of Cuneo, on 3 May 1786. The eldest of 12, six of whom died in infancy, he showed great sensitivity to the poor from childhood. He embraced the way of the priesthood, setting an example to two of his brothers. The years of his youth coincided with the Napoleonic period and the consequent hardships in both the religious and social contexts. Cottolengo became a good priest much sought after by penitents and, in the Turin of that time, a preacher of spiritual exercises and conferences for university students who always met with noteworthy success. At the age of 32, he was appointed canon of the Santissima Trinità, a congregation of priests whose task was to officiate in the Corpus Domini Church and to ensure the decorum of the city’s religious ceremonies but he felt uneasy in this situation. God was preparing him for a special mission and, precisely with an unexpected and decisive encounter, made him realise what was to be his future destiny in the exercise of the ministry.
The Lord always sets signs on our path to guide us according to his will to our own true good. This also happened to Cottolengo, dramatically, on Sunday morning, 2 September 1827. The diligence from Milan arrived in Turin, more crowded than ever. Crammed into it was a whole French family. The mother, with five children, was at an advanced stage of pregnancy and had a high temperature. After traipsing to various hospitals, this family found lodgings in a public dormitory but the woman’s situation was serious and some people went in search of a priest. By a mysterious design they came across Cottolengo and it was precisely he who, heavy hearted, accompanied this young mother to her death, amid the distress of the entire family. Having carried out this painful task, with deep anguish he went to the Blessed Sacrament and knelt in prayer: “My God, why? Why did you want me to be a witness? What do you want of me? Something must be done!”. He got to his feet and had all the bells rung and the candles lit and, gathering in the church those who were curious, told them: “The grace has been granted! The grace has been granted!”. From that time Cottolengo was transformed: all his skills, especially his financial and organisational ability, were used to give life to projects in support of the neediest.
In his undertaking he was able to involve dozens and dozens of collaborators and volunteers. Moving towards the outskirts of Turin to expand his work, he created a sort of village, in which he assigned a meaningful name to every building he managed to build: “House of Faith”, “House of Hope”, “House of Charity”. He adopted a “familystyle”, establishing true and proper communities of people with volunteers, men and women religious and lay people, who joined forces in order to face and overcome the difficulties that arose. Everyone in that Little House of Divine Providence had a precise task: work, prayer, service, teaching or administration. The healthy and the sick shared the same daily burden. With time religious life could be specifically planned in accordance with particular needs and requirements.
Cottolengo even thought of setting up his own seminary to provide specific formation for the priests of his Work. He was always ready to follow and serve Divine Providence and never questioned it. He would say: “I am a good for nothing and I don’t even know what to make of myself. But Divine Providence certainly knows what it wants. It is only up to me to support it. Let us go ahead in Domino”. To his poor and the neediest, he would always call himself “the labourer of Divine Providence”.
He also chose to found beside the small citadels five monasteries of contemplative sisters and one of hermits and considered them among his most important achievements. They were a sort of “heart” which was to beat for the entire Work. He died on 30 April 1842, with these words on his lips: “Misericordia, Domine, Misericordia, Domine. Good and Holy Providence… Blessed Virgin, it is now up to you”. The whole of his life, as a newspaper of the time said, was “an intense day of love”.”….Pope Benedict XVI General Audience, Saint Peter’s Square, Wednesday, 28 April 2010.
Today Cottolengo Fathers, Sisters and Brothers still work together in activities focused on communicating God’s love for the poorest. They are spread out all over the world: Ecuador, India, Italy, Kenya, Switzerland, Tanzania and the United States. Don Cottolengo contracted typhoid while assisting his patients and died in Chieri, Piedmont on 30 April 1842. Cottolengo was beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1917 and was Canonised by Pope Pius XI in 1934.
Joseph Benedict Cottolengo was enlisted among the saints of charity by Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical Deus caritas est. The parish of Saint Joseph Benedict Cottolengo is located in Grosseto, Italy. There is a Via San Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo in Pisa.
Memorials of the Saints – 30 April
St Marie Guyart of the Incarnation (Optional Memorial)
—
St Adjutor of Vernon
St Aimo of Savigny
St Amator of Córdoba
St Aphrodisius of Alexandria
St Cynwl
St Dedë Plani
St Diodoro of Aphrodisias
St Donatus of Euraea
St Erconwald of London
St Eutropius of Saintes
St Forannan
St Genistus of Limoges
St Giuse Tuân
Bl Gualfardus of Augsburg
Bl Hildegard the Empress
St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842)
St Lawrence of Novara
St Louis of Córdoba
St Mariano of Acerenza
St Maximus of Ephesus
St Mercurialis of Forlì
St Peter of Córdoba
St Pomponius of Naples
St Quirinus of Rome
St Rodopiano of Aphrodisias
St Sophia of Fermo
St Swithbert the Younger
Bl Ventura of Spello
Bl William Southerne
Thought for the Day – 29 April – Fifth Sunday of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
Thought for the Day – 29 April – Fifth Sunday of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
Catherine of Siena is one of the most remarkable figures of the fourteenth century and had an influence far beyond her holiness of life. She took part in the politics of both Church and State and was a beacon of light in a very difficult time.
The mystical experiences that were to last throughout her whole life and an intimacy with her Saviour that transformed her whole existence began when she was but six years old. She grew up, known for cheerfulness and merriment, with no indication of the astonishing role she was to play in the work of the Church.
In 1364, she became a member of the Third Order of St Dominic and from this time her influence began to grow in Siena as she gathered around her a circle of followers. She began dictating letters to this circle and to take part in public affairs. (She had never learnt to write, which was not uncommon for women in that era). In 1374, she began to interest herself in furthering a crusade against the Turks and in the return of the Pope from Avignon to Rome. In 1376, she went to Avignon to urge Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome. With her encouragement, he did but died shortly thereafter. In 1375, whilst on a trip to Pisa, she received the Stigmata.
Pope Gregory’s successor, Urban VI, so alienated the Cardinals who elected him, that they decided to elect another pope. This was the beginning of the Great Western Schism in which two and later three, popes, divided the allegiance of Christendom. Catherine was shattered by this division in the Church and went to Rome to work for the reunification of the Church.
Burdened with sorrow and offering herself for the unity of the Church, Catherine died in Rome on 29 April 1380. She left a huge collection of letters as well as her chief work, The Dialogues.
By the sheer force of her personality, St Catherine converted thousands and the mere sight of her would convert hardened sinners. We may not have her personality but we can reach into the lives of others and influence them for good. We cannot have warmth ourselves, without giving it to others. “Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’...Luke 24:32
St Catherine of Siena, Pray for us!
Quote/s of the Day – 29 April – Fifth Sunday of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
Quote/s of the Day – 29 April – Fifth Sunday of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
“Proclaim the Truth
and do not be silent
through fear.”
“Preach the Truth
as if you had a million voices.
It is silence that kills the world.”
“Nothing great is ever achieved,
without much enduring.”
“All the way to heaven is heaven
because Jesus said, “I am the way.”
“Strange that so much suffering is caused
because of the misunderstandings
of God’s true nature.
God’s heart is more gentle
than the Virgin’s first kiss upon the Christ.
And God’s forgiveness to all, to any thought or act,
is more certain than our own being.”
“Everything comes from love,
all is ordained for the salvation of man,
God does nothing without this goal in mind.”
“A soul cannot live without loving.
It must have something to love,
for it was created to love.”
“What is it you want to change?
Your hair, your face, your body?
Why? For God is in love with all those things
and He might weep when they are gone!”
St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
One Minute Reflection – 29 April – Fifth Sunday of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
One Minute Reflection – 29 April – Fifth Sunday of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’….Matthew 25:40
REFLECTION – “Charity is the sweet and holy bond which links the soul with its Creator: it binds God with man and man with God.”…. St Catherine of Siena
PRAYER – Almighty God, You made St Catherine of Siena, a contemplative lover of the Lord’s sufferings and an ardent servant of her neighbour and the Church. Grant that through her prayer, Your people may be united to Christ in His Mystery and true lovers of His sheep. May we live the commands He gave us and see His face in our neighbour. Through Jesus, our Lord, one God with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, amen.
Saint of the Day – 29 April – St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
Saint of the Day – 29 April – St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church, Virgin, Stigmatist, Mystic, Scholastic Philosopher and Theologian, Writer, Reformer, Adviser, Mediator, Dominican Tertiary. St Catherine was born Caterina Benincasa on 25 March 1347 at Siena, Tuscany, Italy and died on 29 April 1380 in Rome, Italy of a mysterious and painful illness which manifested itself suddenly and was never diagnosed. Her body was buried in the Dominican church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. The first funerary monument was erected in 1380 by Blessed Raymond of Capua, her Relics were re-enshrined in 1430 and again in 1466, at the High Altar of the Church. She was Canonised in July 1461 by Pope Pius II.
Patronages – against bodily ills, against fire, against miscarriages, against sexual temptation, against sickness, firefighters, nurses, nursing services, people ridiculed for their piety, joint patron of Europe with St Benedict of Nursia, St Gertrude of Sweden, Sts Cyril & Methodius and St Edith Stein,3 Diocese, Siena, Joint Patron of Italy, with St Francis of Assisi, of Varazze, Italy.
Caterina Benincasa was born in Siena on 25 March 1347, the last of 25 children of the wealthy wool-dyer Jacopo Benincasa and Lapa di Puccio dé Piacenti.
At the age of six, Catherine received her first vision, near the Church of San Domenico. From this moment onwards the child began to follow a path of devotion, taking the oath of chastity only a year later. After initial resistance from her family, eventually her father gave in and left Catherine to follow her inclinations. In 1363, at just 15 years of age, Catherine donned the black cloak of the Dominican Tertiary sisters. In 1367 she began working tirelessly to help the sick at the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala.As her fame spread throughout Christendom, during a visit to the city of Pisa, Catherine received the stigmata from a wooden cross hanging in the Church of Santa Cristina. Her many travels abroad to act as mediator for the Papacy included a trip to Avignon, where she urged Pope Gregory to bring the Papal Court back to Rome from its exile in France.
On returning to Siena, Catherine founded the Monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in the castle of Belcaro. With the death of Pope Gregory XI in 1378, his successor Urban VI had to face strong opposition from a number of cardinals who had elected a second Pope with the name of Clement VII, thereby provoking what would later come to be termed the Great Schism of the West. Pope Urban VI called on Catherine to act as mediator with princes, politicians and members of the Church, with a view to legitimising his election.
In 1380, at just 33, Catherine died and was buried in the Rome church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. In 1461 Pope Pius II proclaimed her saint and in 1866 Pius IX included her as one of the patron saints of Rome. In 1939, along with St Francis of Assisi, St Catherine of Siena was proclaimed patron saint of Italy by Pope Pius XII.
In 1970 Paul VI conferred the title of Doctor of the Universal Church on Catherine and in 1999 she was proclaimed co-patron saint of Europe by Pope John Paul II.
Catherine of Siena is one of the outstanding figures of medieval Catholicism, by the strong influence she has had in the history of the papacy. She is behind the return of the Pope from Avignon to Rome and then carried out many missions entrusted by the pope, something quite rare for a simple nun in the Middle Ages.
Her writings—and especially The Dialogue, her major work which includes a set of treatises she would have dictated during ecstasies—mark theological thought. She is one of the most influential writers in Catholicism, to the point that she is one of only four women to be declared a doctor of the Church. This recognition by the Church consecrates the importance of her writings.
St Catherine’s home now known as The Sanctuary of St Catherine is a major Pilgrimage Site in Siena. The architecture of this sanctuary dedicated to Saint Catherine isn’t entirely original but the atmosphere definitely is. As are many of the objects that belonged to the saint. The rooms have been altered a lot since 1461, when the house was bought by the city of Siena and transformed into a museum. The idea wasn’t faithful architectural conservation but rather preserving her honour and memory, hence the eclectic art collection celebrating her life and work. It’s a sensitive place, full of religious passion and historical references and well reflects the extraordinary life of this woman.
The Oratory of the Bedroom: this houses the small cubicle where Catherine rested and prayed and the stone where the saint would lay her head. This space is connected with the first phase of Catherine’s life, where she would withdraw from the world in contemplation. Images below.
Church of the Crucifix: The church is home to the wooden crucifix from which Saint Catherine received the stigmata, an event which took place in Pisa, where Catherine had gone in 1375 to persuade the Lords of the city to shun the anti-papal league. The stigmata remained visible only to the Saint for the rest of her life, miraculously appearing at the moment of her death.
Memorials of the Saints – 29 April
St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) (Memorial)
Abbots of Cluny: A feast that recognizes the great and saintly early abbots of Cluny Abbey:
• Saint Aymardus of Cluny
• Saint Berno of Cluny
• Saint Hugh of Cluny
• Saint Mayeul
• Saint Odilo of Cluny
• Saint Odo of Cluny
• Saint Peter the Venerable
—
St Antonius Kim Song-u
St Ava of Denain
St Daniel of Gerona
St Dichu
St Endellion of Tregony
St Fiachan of Lismore
St Hugh of Cluny
St Gundebert of Gumber
St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo
St Paulinus of Brescia
St Peter Verona
Bl Robert Gruthuysen
St Senan of Wales
St Severus of Naples
St Theoger
St Torpes of Pisa
St Tychicus
St Wilfrid the Younger
—
Martyrs of Cirta: A group of clergy and laity martyred together in Cirta, Numidia (in modern Tunisia) in the persecutions of Valerian. They were – Agapius, Antonia, Emilian, Secundinus and Tertula, along with a woman and her twin children whose names have not come down to us.
Martyrs of Corfu: A gang of thieves who converted while in prison, brought to the faith by Saint Jason and Saint Sosipater who were had been imprisoned for evangelizing. When the gang announced their new faith, they were martyred together. They were – Euphrasius, Faustianus, Insischolus, Januarius, Mammius, Marsalius and Saturninus. They were boiled in oil and pitch in the 2nd century on the Island of Corcyra (modern Corfu, Greece.
Also known as:
• Martyrs of Corcyra
• Seven Holy Thieves
• Seven Holy Robbers
• Seven Robber Saints
Thought for the day – 28 April – Saturday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and The Memorial of St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716)
Thought for the day – 28 April – Saturday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and The Memorial of St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716)
Louis’s life is inseparable from his efforts to promote genuine devotion to Mary and the Holy Rosary, the mother of Jesus and mother of the Church. Totus tuus (“completely yours”) was Louis’s prayer; Pope John Paul II chose it as his episcopal motto.
Like Mary, Louis experienced challenges in his efforts to follow Jesus. Opposed at times in his preaching and in his other ministries, Louis knew with Saint Paul, “Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but only God, who causes the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7).
Any attempt to succeed by worldly standards runs the risk of betraying the Good News of Jesus.
Mary is “the first and most perfect disciple” and following her example is a foolproof way to holiness and to God.
St Louis de Montfort, Pray for us!
Mary, Mother of God, Mater Ecclesiae, Pray for us!
Quote/s of the Day – 28 April – The Memorial of St Pope Pius V (1504-1572), St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), St Peter Chanel (1803-1841) Martyr and St Gianna Beretta Molla (1922-1962)
Quote/s of the Day – 28 April – The Memorial of St Pope Pius V (1504-1572), St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), St Peter Chanel (1803-1841) Martyr and St Gianna Beretta Molla (1922-1962)
“All the evils of the world,
are due to lukewarm Catholics.”
St Pope Pius V
“God Alone”
“Take advantage of little sufferings
even more than of great ones.
God considers not so much what we suffer,
as how we suffer. . . Turn everything to profit
as the grocer does in his shop.”
St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716)
“It does not matter, whether or not I am killed,
the religion has taken root on the island,
it will not be destroyed by my death,
since it comes not from men but from God.”
St Peter Chanel (1803-1841) Martyr
“Our body is a cenacle, a monstrance:
through its crystal the world should see God.”
“Love and sacrifice are closely linked,
like the sun and the light.
We cannot love without suffering
and we cannot suffer without love.”
St Gianna Beretta Molla (1922-1962)
One Minute Reflection – 28 April – Saturday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Gianna Beretta Molla (1922-1962)
One Minute Reflection – 28 April – Saturday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Gianna Beretta Molla (1922-1962) Today’s Gospel: John 14:7–14
Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it...John 14:13-14
REFLECTION – “The stillness of prayer is the most essential condition for fruitful action. Before all else, the disciple kneels down.”…St Gianna Beretta Molla
PRAYER – Since it is from You God, our Father, that redemption comes to us, Your adopted children, look with favour on the family You love, give us true freedom and to all who believe in Christ and bring us all alike to our eternal heritage. Grant we pray, that by the prayers of Your holy one, St Gianna, we may run this race always in prayer, trusting in Your divine Son’s intercession, to attain the Glory of Your Kingdom and the Light of Your Face. Through Jesus Christ, in the union of the Holy Spirit, one God with You, forever and ever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 28 April – Saturday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716)
Our Morning Offering – 28 April – Saturday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716)
Totus Tuus Ego Sum
I am All Yours
By St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716)
My powerful Queen,
you are all mine through your mercy,
and I am all yours.
Take away from me all that may displease God
and cultivate in me all that is pleasing to Him.
May the light of your faith
dispel the darkness of my mind,
your deep humility
take the place of my pride,
your continual sight of God
fill my memory with His presence.
May the first of the love of your heart
inflame the lukewarmness of my own heart.
May your virtues take the place of my sins.
May your merits be my enrichment
and make up for all
that is wanting in me before God.
My beloved Mother,
grant that I may have
no other spirit but your spirit,
to know Jesus Christ and His Divine will
and to praise and glorify the Lord,
that I may love God
with burning love like yours.
Amen.
Saint of the Day – 28 April – St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716)
Saint of the Day – 28 April – St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716) Priest, Founder, Confessor, Writer, Poet, Apostle of the Holy Eucharist and Adoration, Apostle of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Apostle of the Holy Rosary, Preacher, Missionary Apostolic. St Louis was born on 31 January 1673 at Montfort-La-Cane, Brittany, France – he Died on 28 April 1716 at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sovre, France of natural causes. He was Canonised on 20 July 1947 by Pope Pius XII. Patronages: preachers, Brothers of Saint Gabriel, Company of Mary, Daughters of Divine Wisdom.
St Louis was known in his time as a preacher and was made a missionary apostolic by Pope Clement XI. As well as preaching, he found time to write a number of books which went on to become classic Catholic titles and influenced several popes. He is particularly renowned for his great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the practice of praying the Rosary. He is considered as one of the forerunner writers in the field of Mariology. His most notable works regarding Marian devotions are contained in The Secret of Mary and the True Devotion to Mary. A “founders statue” created by Giacomo Parisini is located in an upper niche of the south nave of Saint Peter’s Basilica.
Today the universal Church celebrates the feast day of Louis-Marie de Monfort, a 17th century saint who is revered for his intense devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
St Louis Marie is perhaps most famously known for his prayer of entrustment to Our Lady, “Totus Tuus ego sum,” which means, “I am all yours.” The St Pope John Paul II took the phrase “Totus Tuus” as his episcopal motto.
Born in Montfort, Brittany, on 31 January 1673, St Louis Marie possessed a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament as a child and was also intimately devoted to the Blessed Virgin, especially through the Rosary. He took the name Marie at his confirmation.
He was ordained a priest in June 1700 and assigned to Nantes. His great desire was to go to the foreign missions, preferably to the new French colony of Canada but his spiritual director advised against it. His letters of this period show that he felt frustrated from the lack of opportunity to preach as he felt he was called to do.
In November 1700 he joined the Third Order of the Dominicans and asked permission not only to preach the rosary but also to form rosary confraternities. He began to consider the formation of a small company of priests to preach missions and retreats under the standard and protection of the Blessed Virgin. This eventually led to the formation of the Company of Mary. At around this time, he first met Blessed Marie Louise Trichet (1684-1759) when he was appointed the chaplain of the hospital of Poitiers. That meeting became the beginning of Blessed Marie Louise’s thirty-four years of service to the poor.
He set off to make a pilgrimage to Rome, to ask Pope Clement XI, what he should do. The Pope recognised his real vocation and, telling him that there was plenty of scope for its exercise in France, sent him back with the title of Apostolic Missionary. On his return from his long pilgrimage to Rome, Montfort made a retreat at Mont Saint Michel “to pray to this archangel to obtain from him the grace to win souls for God, to confirm those already in God’s grace, and to fight Satan and sin”. These occasions gave him time to think, contemplate and write.
For several years he preached in missions from Brittany to Nantes. As his reputation as a missioner grew, he became known as “the good Father from Montfort”.
He left Nantes and the next several years were extraordinarily busy for him. He was constantly occupied in preaching missions, always walking between one and another. Yet he found time also to write – his True Devotion to Mary, The Secret of Mary and the Secret of the Rosary, rules for the Company of Mary and the Daughters of Wisdom and many Hymns. His missions made a great impact, especially in the Vendée. The heated style of his preaching was regarded by some people as somewhat strange and he was poisoned once. Although it did not prove fatal, it caused his health to deteriorate. Yet he continued, undeterred. He went on preaching and established free schools for the poor boys and girls.
Daughters of Wisdom
The bishop of La Rochelle had been impressed with Montfort for some time and invited him to open a school there. Montfort enlisted the help of his follower Marie Louise Trichet who was then running the General Hospital in Poitiers. In 1715 Marie Louise and Catherine Brunet left Poitiers for La Rochelle to open the school there and in a short time it had 400 students. On 22 August 1715, Trichet and Brunet, along with Marie Valleau and Marie Régnier from La Rochelle received the approbation of Bishop de Champflour of La Rochelle to make their religious profession under the direction of Montfort. At the ceremony Montfort told them: “Call yourselves the Daughters of Wisdom for the teaching of children and the care of the poor.” The Daughters of Wisdom grew into an international Order and the placing of Montfort’s founders statue in Saint Peter’s Basilica was based on that Order.
Death and burial
Worn out by hard work and sickness, he finally came in April 1716 to Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre to begin the mission which was to be his last. During it, he fell ill and died on 28 April of that year. He was 43 years old and had been a priest for only 16 years. His last sermon was on the tenderness of Jesus and the Incarnate Wisdom of the Father. Thousands gathered for his burial in the parish church and very quickly there were stories of miracles performed at his tomb. Exactly 43 years later, on 28 April 1759, Marie Louise Trichet also died in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre and was buried next to Montfort. On 19 September 1996, St Pope John Paul II (who beatified Trichet) came to the same site to meditate and pray at their adjacent tombs.
Spirituality
“God Alone”: was the motto of Saint Louis and is repeated over 150 times in his writings.
The Incarnation: “The Incarnation of the Word is for him the absolute central reality.”
Love of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Fidelity to the Cross
Missionary Zeal
Total Consecration to Mary
In Montfort’s approach to Marian consecration, Jesus and Mary are inseparable. He views “consecration to Jesus in Mary” as a special path to being conformed to, united and consecrated to Christ, given that:
” …of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary, His Holy Mother and that the more a soul is consecrated to her, the more will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ.”
“God the Father made an assemblage of all the waters and He named it the sea. He has made an assemblage of all His graces and He has called it Mary.”
Louis de Montfort influenced a number of popes
In the 19th century, Pope Pius IX considered it the best and most acceptable form of Marian devotion, while Pope Leo XIII granted indulgences for practicing Montfort’s method of Marian consecration. Leo beatified Montfort in 1888, selecting for Montfort’s beatification the day of his own Golden Jubilee as a priest.
In the 20th century St Pope Pius X acknowledged the influence of Montfort’s writings in the composition of his encyclical Ad diem illum.
Pope Pius XI stated that he had practised Montfort’s devotional methods since his early youth. Pope Pius XII declared Montfort a saint and stated that Montfort is the guide “who leads you to Mary and from Mary to Jesus.”
St Pope John Paul II once recalled how as a young seminarian he “read and reread many times and with great spiritual profit” a work of de Montfort and that: “Then I understood that I could not exclude the Lord’s Mother from my life without neglecting the will of God-Trinity.” According to his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, the pontiff’s personal motto was “Totus Tuus.” The thoughts, writings, and example of St Louis de Montfort were also singled out by St Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Redemptoris Mater as a distinctive witness of Marian spirituality in the Roman Catholic tradition
While the saint is best known for his spiritual writings, he was also a poet and during his missions managed to compose more than 20,000 verses of hymns. Montfort’s hymns and canticles were, for the most part, meant to be sung in village churches and in the homes of the poor. Some authors argue that a reading of Saint Louis’s hymns is essential for an understanding of him as a man and for appreciating his approach to spirituality. He is also said to have carved at least three statues depicting the Madonna and Child.
St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Pray for us!
Memorials of the Saints – 28 April
St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716) (Optional Memorial)
St Peter Chanel (1803-1841) Martyr (Optional Memorial)
—
St Adalbero of Augsburg
St Agapio of Cirtha
St Artemius of Sens
St Benedict of the Bridge
St Cronan of Roscrea
St Cyril of Turov
Bl Gerard of Bourgogne
St Gianna Beretta Molla (1922-1962)
Bl Józef Cebula
Bl Luchesius
St Pamphilus of Sulmona
St Prudentius of Tarazona
—
St Alexander
St Aphrodisius of Beziers
St Berthold
St Buonadonna
Carino Peter of Balsamo
St Firmiano
St Germaine
St Guido Spada
St Luchtighern of Ennistymon
St Marie Louise Trichet Jesus
St Mark of Galilee
St Peter of Bearn
St Primianus
St Probe
St Tellurium
Martyrs of Alexandia:
Didymus
Theodora
Martyrs of Durostorum:
Dada
Maximus
Quintilian
Martyrs of Languedoc:
Agapius
Aphrodisius
Caralippus
Eusebius
Martyrs of Nicomedia:
Caralampo
Eusebius
Martyrs of Prusa:
Acacius
Menander
Patritius
Polyenus
Martyrs of Ravenna:
Ursicinus
Valeria
Vitalis
Martyrs of Vietnam:
Gioan Baotixta Ðinh Van Thành
Phaolô Pham Khac Khoan
Phêrô Nguyen Van Hien
Pilgrims of Gallinaro:
Arduin
Bernhard
Gerard
Hugh
Thought for the Day – 27 April – Friday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Feast of Our Lady of Montserrat
Thought for the Day – 27 April – Friday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Feast of Our Lady of Montserrat
“If I were a leper my mother would hug me. She would kiss my wounds without fear or hesitation. —Well then, what would the Blessed Virgin Mary do?
When we feel we are like lepers, all full of sores, we have to cry out: Mother! And the protection of our Mother will be like a kiss upon our wounds, which obtains our cure. “…St. Josemaria Escriva (1902-1975) – The Forge, no. 190
Approximately 28 miles northwest of Barcelona, Spain, is the mountain of Montserrat. Located on the mountain is the Benedictine Monastery and Marian Shrine of Montserrat where since the 8th century pilgrims have journeyed to see the miraculous image of Our Lady of Montserrat.
According to tradition, the image of Our Lady was found on the mountain in 718 AD. The Benedictine Monks chose to build their monastery around the statue of Our Lady because they were unable to lift or move it. The statue of Our Lady of Montserrat remains on the mountain today, enshrined within the sanctuary in a beautifully decorated chapel. Our Lady is depicted seated on a throne holding the Child Jesus. Her face and hands have darkened over time due to external elements for which she is affectionately called “La Morenita.”
Saints Peter Nolasco, Ignatius Loyola, and Josemaria Escriva are counted among the many pilgrims that throughout the centuries have gone to Our Lady of Montserrat to seek her intercession. St Josemaria was deeply devoted to Our Lady of Montserrat. During the 1940’s, he frequently visited the shrine and made an especially important visit in 1946 before departing for Rome, which would become his new permanent home and where would begin an important period in the history of Opus Dei.
A CARESS FROM HIS HEAVENLY MOTHER: CURED OF DIABETES
Despite his move to Rome, St Josemaria’s love for the Blessed Virgin Mary under this advocation continued throughout his life. And it was on the feast of Our Lady of Montserrat, 27 April 1954, that he was cured of diabetes, after a very severe attack which brought him to the point of death. The story is told by Jose Miguel Cejas in his book Josemaría Escrivá, un hombre, un camino y un mensaje (“Josemaria Escriva, a man, a way and a message”):
“27 April 1954 and life was going on as usual in Villa Tevere, the headquarters of the Opus Dei prelature in Rome. It was the feast of Our Lady of Montserrat, an ordinary day, filled with prayer and work in the warm Italian springtime. Recently Escriva’s diabetes had intensified. Every week he went for a blood test and the results were progressively worse, in spite of a strict diet and the high doses of insulin he was given daily. Escriva did not lose his peace of mind over this: God led him along paths of abandonment, humility, simplicity and trust. That day, following the doctor’s instructions, at ten to one in the afternoon, Alvaro del Portillo had given him an injection with a new prescription of delayed-action insulin. Afterwards they went down to the dining-room.
Escriva sat down at table and suffered a physical collapse. He realised that he could be about to die and his instant reaction was to ask for absolution.
“Alvaro, give me absolution.”
“But, Father, what are you saying?”
“Absolution!”
As Fr Del Portillo was too surprised to do anything, Escriva began the words for him, “Ego te absolvo – ” and fell unconscious on the floor.
It was an anaphylactic shock. Del Portillo gave him absolution, put some sugar in his mouth and made him swallow it, dashed water in his face and moved his head and limbs and quickly summoned a doctor. Some minutes later, Escriva slowly began to come round, though he found that he could not see anything.
The doctor was astonished, since these types of insulin reaction are normally fatal. However, after some hours Escriva felt better and recovered his sight again. From that day on, his diabetes was cured. It had been a caress from his Heavenly Mother, on the feast of Our Lady of Montserrat.”
Our Lady of Montserrat, pray for us!
St Josemaria Escriva, pray for us!
One Minute Reflection – 27 April – Friday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Feast of Our Lady of Montserrat
One Minute Reflection – 27 April – Friday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Feast of Our Lady of Montserrat – Gospel today John 14:1-6
“Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me.“…John 14:1
REFLECTION – “I will not mistrust Him, Meg, although I shall feel myself weakening and on the verge of being overcome with fear. I shall remember how St Peter at a blast of wind, began to sink, because of his lack of faith and I shall do as he did: call upon Christ and pray to Him for help. And then I trust He shall place His holy hand on me and in the stormy seas hold me up from drowning.”…St Thomas More (1478-1535)
PRAYER – “[Lord God] I believe in You, increase my faith. All my hopes are in You, secure my trust. I love You, teach me to love You more each day… I adore You as my first beginning, I long for You as my final end. I praise You as my constant helper and call on You as my loving protector. Guide me by Your Wisdom, correct me with Your Justice, comfort me with Your Mercy, protect me by Your Power… Lord, enlighten my understanding, enflame my will, purify my heart, sanctify my soul. Help me to repent of my past sins and to rise above my human weaknesses and to grow stronger as a Christian…”(from the Universal Prayer by Pope Clement XI (1649-1721))
Our Morning Offering – 27 April – Friday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Feast of Our Lady of Montserrat (718)
Our Morning Offering – 27 April – Friday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Feast of Our Lady of Montserrat (718)
O Most Blessed and Sweet Virgin Mary
By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church
0 most blessed and sweet Virgin Mary,
Mother of God, filled with all tenderness,
Daughter of the most high King,
Lady of the Angels,
Mother of all the faithful,
On this day and all the days of my life,
I entrust to your merciful heart,
my body and my soul,
all my acts, thoughts, choices,
desires, words, deeds,
my entire life and death,
So that, with your assistance,
all may be ordered to the good
according to the will of your beloved Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen
Feast of Our Lady of Montserrat – 27 April
Feast of Our Lady of Montserrat (718) – 27 April, is a Marian title associated with a venerated statue of the Madonna and Child venerated at the Santa Maria de Montserrat monastery on the Montserrat Mountain in Catalonia, Spain. She is the Patron Saint of Catalonia, an honour she shares with Saint George (Sant Jordi in Catalan). Pope Leo XIII granted the image a Canonical coronation on 11 September 1881. The image is one of the Black Madonnas of Europe, hence its familiar Catalan name, La Moreneta (“the little dark-skinned one” or “the little dark one”). Believed by some to have been carved in Jerusalem in the early days of the Church, it is more likely a Romanesque sculpture in wood from the late 12th century. An 18th century polychromed statue of the same image is also displayed in Saint Peter’s basilica, previously stored in the Vatican Museums which was gifted by the President of Brazil, Joao Goulart on the Papal election of Pope Paul VI in 1963. The image has been on display for Papal masses since the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI.
Blackened by candles that burned before the statue day and night, this particular image dates back to at least the twelfth century. St Ignatius of Loyola made an annual pilgrimage to Montserrat as have a million or more pilgrims every year in modern times.
The mountain named Montserrat rises 20 miles northwest of Barcelona, in the region of Catalonia, which takes it names from the Spanish, Catalan, for “sawn mountain” probably because its rock outgrowths seem to be the teeth of a saw from a distance. These most unusual lofty cone-shaped jags are almost perpendicular. The highest cone rises to a height of nearly 4,000 feet, while the circumference around the entire base of the mountain is measured at about 12 miles. The church which contains the miracle-working statue of the Madonna and Child sits about halfway up the mountain.
According to tradition, the miraculous image was first known as La Jerosolimitana (the native of Jerusalem), since it is thought to have been carved there in the early days of the Church. The statue was eventually given to St Etereo, Bishop of Barcelona, who brought it to Spain.
In the seventh century, when Saracen infidels invaded Spain, the Christians of Barcelona heroically defended it for three years until defeat appeared imminent. Knowing that they could hold out no longer, they decided to take their treasured image of Our Lady to a secret, safe place. Quietly, with the knowledge of the Bishop and the Governor of the city, a group brought the statue to Montserrat, placing it in a small cave, on 22 April 718. A complete account of the origin of the miraculous image, the cause of its removal and the place of its hidden security were recorded and in the archives of Barcelona.
Even though the location of the statue was eventually forgotten, the people of Barcelona never forgot the holy image for almost 200 years. Then, in 890, shepherd boys from Monistrol, a village at the foot of Montserrat, were sent unbeknown to them to be the source of the discovery of the treasure.
While tending their flocks that night the shepherds were surprised by lights and the sound of singing coming from the mountain. When this happened once again, they reported the situation to their priest, who looked into the matter. He, too, heard the singing and saw the mysterious lights, so he reported this to the Bishop, who also witnessed the same occurrences. At last the statue of Our Lady was discovered in the cave and brought out and placed in a small church that was soon built; this little church developed into the present church that was completed in 1592.
In 888 there had already been a chapel dedicated to Our Lady and it was at that spot that the present shrine is located. Eventually a monastery was added, which grew rapidly, because of the miracles wrought there by the Blessed Virgin. According to the caretakers of the shrine, the statue that still presides over the monastery was introduced in the twelfth or thirteenth century. This statue might have replaced an earlier one, which could have been destroyed during one of the many wars.
Carved in wood, the statue is in a sitting position and measures slightly over three feet in height. In Romanesque style, the figure is slender, with an elongated face and a delicate expression. The dress of the Virgin consists of a tunic and cloak both gilded and plain in design which is draped. Beneath the crown is a veil adorned with stars, squares, and stripes in subtle shades of colour. The right hand of the Virgin holds a sphere, while the other is extended in a graceful gesture. The Child Jesus sits on His Mother’s lap and also wears a crown and lovely garments. His right hand is raised in blessing; His left hand holds an object that resembles a large pine cone. A cushion serves as the Madonna’s footrest; she is seated upon a chair that has large legs and whose back is topped by cone-shaped finials. The statue is highly revered not only as a religious treasure but also because of its artistic value. It is almost completely gilded, save the face and hands of both Our Lady and the Child Jesus [and His feet also]. Unlike many old statues which are black because of the kind of wood or the effects of the original paint, the dark colour of Our Lady of Montserrat is attributed to the innumerable candles and lamps used in its veneration. Because of this dark colour it is affectionately called La Moreneta, The Dark Little One. Thus, the Virgin of Montserrat is classified among the Black Madonnas.
The image is in an alcove behind the main altar. It can be reached by climbing decorated stairs to the side of the church. The stairs lead to a large room which is directly behind the alcove where the statue is enthroned. This large room is called the Camarin de La Virgen, the Chamber of the Virgin. A large number of people can fit in the space to pray beside the throne of the Blessed Mother. The pilgrim cannot touch the image, however, since it is protected by a glass.
Although not located on the peak of the mountain as are the sanctuaries of Monte Cassino and Le Puy, the monastery is situated high enough from the surrounding area to make one think it safe from attack. Yet the monastery sustained considerable damage during the Napoleonic invasion. Additional harm was inflicted during civil wars and revolutionary disturbances. The treasured image of the Madonna and Child was hidden during these times but was soon restored to its place of honour when the church and buildings were quickly repaired. These buildings were spared during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia.
Benedictines settled in the monastery hundreds of years ago and still maintain the sanctuary and provide hospitality to the steady stream of pilgrims who go there. The number of historical figures connected to the sanctuary or who have visited it, including one of its hermits, Bernat Boil, who accompanied Christopher Columbus to the New World, thus becoming the first missionary to America. One of Montserrat’s first abbots became Julius II, the Renaissance Pope for whom Michelangelo worked. Emperor Charles V and Philip II of Spain both died with blessed candles from the sanctuary in their hands. King Louis XIV of France had intercessory prayers said at Montserrat for the Queen Mother and Emperor Ferdinand III of Austria made generous financial gifts to the monastery. All the kings of Spain prayed at the shrine, as did Cardinal Roncalli, who later became St Pope John XXIII.
Some of the Saints who visited there were St Peter Nolasco, St Raymond of Penafort, St Vincent Ferrer, St Francis Borgia, St Aloysius Gonzaga, St Joseph Calasanctius, St Anthony Mary Claret and St Ignatius, who as a knight was confessed by one of the monks. After spending a night praying before the image of Our Lady of Montserrat, he began his new life and the founding of Jesuit order. A few miles away is Manresa, a pilgrim shrine of the Society of Jesus. The shrine holds the cave wherein St Ignatius Loyola retired from the world and wrote his Spiritual Exercises.
The Virgin of Montserrat was declared the Patron Saint of the Diocese of Catalonia by Leo XIII. The statue has always been one of the most celebrated images in Spain.
A historian wrote: “In all ages the sinful, the suffering, the sorrowful, have laid their woes at the feet of Our Lady of Montserrat and none have ever gone away unheard or unaided.”
Feast of Our Lady of Montserrat and Memorials of the Saints 27 April
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
—
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).
Thought for the Day – 26 April – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938)
Thought for the Day – 26 April – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938)
“This humble worship that surely is more pleasing to God than many deeds that the world calls charity. . . How much greater in God’s eyes is a heartfelt ‘Hail Mary’ than even the greatest thing done without wholehearted love for God.”
Rafael had only four more years to live. A few months after entering the monastery, he was diagnosed with a virulent form of diabetes. The illness brought with it melancholy and perplexity. Three times the novice’s superiors sent him home to rest and recover his strength. Drafted into the Nationalist Army at the very height of the Spanish Civil War, Rafael was declared unfit for active duty. Returning to the monastery for the last time, he was received as a regular oblate, that is, a man living within the cloister without vows and following a personal rule of life approved by the abbot. Regular oblates were, at that time, somewhat marginalised in monastic communities. Their peculiar status — monks living without vows and without the security that comes from having made profession — was not without its own challenges. Rafael entered fully into the vocation of the oblate, understanding that the oblate is destined for the altar, that is, for sacrifice.
St Rafael, in spite of the brevity and discontinuity of his monastic experience, lived it fully. He remained faithful in the face of bewildering contradictions, uncertainties and apparent failure. He found the Will of God in weakness, in illness, in war, in the inability to make monastic profession and in the sufferings inherent in community life.
Brother Rafael Maria was humble because he accepted one humiliation after another without ever despairing of the mercy of God. He died stripped of everything, without having fulfilled even the legitimate human aspirations that so appealed to him. Configured to the poor and crucified Jesus, he died in the splendour of the Resurrection on 26 April 1938 at the age of 27.
St Pope John Paul II proclaimed Rafael a model for today’s youth but for me, he is a model for us all on how to learn to love suffering, how to learn to love the Cross of Christ and thus suffering in our own crosses in total abandonment to Divine Providence.
“The whole community is gathered in adoration
to ask the Lord for peace,
to pray for those who are dying and to make reparation for so many sins . . .
But one mustn’t spread discouragement. . . .
When we ask for mercy and pardon, we are doing as David did . . .
that is, the Lord will blot out all our sins and those of the whole world,
not by any poor merits of ours
but by the multitude and the greatness of His mercy.”
Saint Rafael Arnáiz Barón, Pray for us!
Quote/s of the Day – 26 April – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938)
Quote/s of the Day – 26 April – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938)
“Every day, I am happier, in my complete abandonment,
into His Hands. I see His will, even in the most insignificant
and tiny things that happen.
In everything I find a lesson, that serves to make me
understand better, His mercy toward me.
I love His designs, with my whole being
and that is enough.
If at times, God is not in the soul,
it is because we do not want Him there.
We have such an accumulation of things to do,
of distractions, of interests, vain desires, conceit,
we have so much world within us,
that God distances Himself…
but, all we have to do is want Him.
It is difficult to explain why one loves suffering!
But I believe, that it can be explained,
because it is not suffering in itself
but rather as it is in Christ
and whoever loves Christ
loves His Cross.
To savour the Cross…to live sick,
unknown, abandoned by all—
only You…and on the Cross.
How sweet the bitterness,
the loneliness, the grief, the pain,
wolfed down and swallowed in silence,
without help.
How sweet the tears shed next to Your Cross.
Ah! If I knew how to tell the world where true happiness is!
But this the world does not understand, nor can it…
because to understand the Cross…one must love it.
To love it one must suffer
and not only suffer
but love the suffering…
In this, Lord, how few follow You to Calvary.”
St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938)
One Minute Reflection – 26 April – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938)
One Minute Reflection – 26 April – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938)
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us, who are being saved, it is the power of God…1 Cor 1:18
REFLECTION – …(I am) “a humble lay brother who has chosen the road of truth in the dark night of the world…only the Cross of Christ sheds light on the path of this life….God is in the detached heart, in the silence of prayer, in the voluntary sacrifice to pain, in the emptiness of the world and its creatures. God is in the Cross and, as long as we do not love the Cross, we will not see Him, or feel Him…. If the world and men knew…. But they will not know; they are very busy in their interests; their hearts are very full of things that are not God.”…St Rafael Arnáiz Barón (1911-1938)
PRAYER – Lord God, we were sinners and Your grace made us holy. We were without hope and You filled us with joy. Stand by us in Your saving work and stay with us in Your gifts of grace. May we never fail to persevere in the path of holiness that comes from following You, carrying our crosses behind the Cross of Your Son and looking forward in hope to the promise His Resurrection. Grant Lord, that our faith may increase and our courage grow, by the prayers of St Rafael Arnáiz Barón. Through Jesus our Lord, one God with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 26 April – St Rafael Arnáiz Barón O.C.S.O. (1911-1938)
Saint of the Day – 26 April – St Rafael Arnáiz Barón O.C.S.O. (1911-1938) 9 April 1911 in Burgos, Spain – 26 April 1938 in Dueñas, Palencia, Spain – Religious Brother of the Cistercian Monastery of the Strict Observance (Trappists), Apostle of Eucharistic Adoration and of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Artist and Writer. Known as Brother María Rafael. Patronages – against diabetes, diabetes mellitus, World Youth Day 2011.
St Rafael Arnáiz Barón was born in Burgos, Spain, on 9 April 1911 into a well-to-do Christian family. He was the eldest of four. As a boy he attended several schools run by Jesuits and his sensitivity to spiritual topics and to art was apparent from boyhood. These qualities were remarkably well balanced giving him an open, joyful attitude to the world, combined with exuberant good humour, respect and humility.
Bouts of fever and pleurisy interrupted his education. When he had recovered his father took him to Zaragoza to consecrate him to Our Lady of the Pillar and his family moved to Oviedo where he completed his secondary schooling.
In 1930 Rafael embarked on architectural studies in Madrid. It was in this year that his deeper commitment to Christ began. After completing his secondary schooling, that summer he had spent a holiday near Avila at the home of his uncle and aunt, the Duke and Duchess of Maqueda. It was they who introduced him to the Trappist Monastery of San Isidoro de Dueñas whose beauty and prayerful atmosphere attracted him.
Rafael was a talented artist, His pictorial powers both in concept and in actual completion were considerable and he was far from fussy. His teacher says of him:
“He was magnificent in the art of decoration and had done
some truly outstanding pieces . . . both in oils and in watercolour,
he worked to large design and without fussiness; he
needed only a few highly descriptive brush strokes to bring
it off; he knew how to give strength and setting to all he did.
He had a very exact sense of colour and in some of his pictures
he was able to achieve the most difficult tints. One peculiarity
was that when Rafael did landscapes, he preferred
to completely exclude from them any sign of people; none of
his works contain a single human figure that could take or
distract from the luminosity of the whole.”
He was called up but declared unfit for active duty. He decided to abandon his architectural studies in Madrid and seek the mystery of the “Absolute” in this Cistercian Monastery of the Strict Observance, which he entered on 16 January 1934 and joyfully received the white habit. He was 23. He said upon entering that this decision had not been prompted by suffering or disappointments but rather by God who, “in his infinite goodness” had given him far more in life than he deserved. Rafael felt deeply suited to the monastic rhythm of Gregorian chant and the Liturgy of the Hours. He wrote many letters to his mother, who after his death collected them in a book and to his uncle and aunt with whom he had a close friendship.
Four months after entering the monastery, after an austere Lent, he was smitten by a serious form of diabetes mellitus which forced him to go home for treatment. Indeed, he was obliged to go back and forth between his home and the monastery again and again between 1935 and 1937. It was at the height of the Spanish Civil War.
Thus, on his final return to the monastery, he was made an oblate, taking the last place and living on the fringes of the community. Canon law at the time did not permit a person in his condition of poor health to take monastic vows.
The Virgin Mary was the love and consolation of Rafael’s life. “It is a pity,” he wrote, “that David [the psalmist] didn’t know the Most Holy Virgin! What marvelous things he would have said about her! A heart as big as his would certainly have been full of love for Mary! Mary! If only I knew how to write!”
He died in the monastery’s infirmary on 26 April 1938 after a final attack of the disease at only 27 years old. He was buried in the monastery cemetery and his remains were later translated to the Abbey Church.
Despite his brief life, he embodies the Cistercian grace in a remarkably pure way. From beginning to end he let himself be led through a series of bewildering contradictions and perplexities illness, war, the inability to pronounce his vows, abnormal community relations until he totally renounced himself. Humiliation was his constant companion.
His one desire was to live in order to love: to love Jesus, Mary, the Cross, his Trappist monastery. His reputation for holiness spread rapidly throughout Spain and his grave at San Isidro became a place of pilgrimage where many favours were received.
On 19 August 1989, at the World Youth Day in Santiago de Compostela, John Paul II proposed Bro. Rafael as a model for young people today and beatified him on 27 September 1992, in Rome. In his Homily at the beatification Mass, the late Pope said of this Spanish Trappist that he set an example, especially for young people, “of a loving and unconditional response to the divine call”. (Vatican.va)
The sainthood process started in Palencia in an informative process that spanned from 28 June 1961 until 30 April 1967 while theologians agreed on 25 January 1974 that all of his spiritual writings were in full accordance with the norms of the faith. The formal introduction to the cause came later on 15 January 1983 and the late Trappist became titled as a Servant of God. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints validated the informative process in Rome on 26 June 1987 and received the Positio dossier in 1987. Theologians approved this dossier on 12 May 1989 as did the C.C.S. on 11 July 1989. The confirmation of his heroic virtue on 7 September 1989 allowed for St Pope John Paul II to sign a decree that titled him as Venerable.
The process for a miracle took place in the location that it originated in and it received C.C.S. validation on 6 October 1989; a medical board approved it on 31 October 1991 as did the theologians on 4 March 1992 and the C.C.S. on 7 April 1992. St John Paul II approved this miracle on 13 June 1992 and beatified the Trappist on 27 September 1992 in Saint Peter’s Square. The process for another miracle opened in Madrid and spanned from 9 April 2005 to 7 May 2006 before its validation on 30 November 2006. Medical experts assented to this on 13 March 2008 as well as theologians on 7 June 2008 and the C.C.S. members on 4 November 2008. Pope Benedict XVI approved this miracle on 6 December 2008 and formalised the date for the sainthood celebration in a consistory on 21 February 2009. Pope Benedict XVI Canonised him on 11 October 2009.
Canonisation miracle
The miracle that led to the Canonisation was the January 2001 healing of Begoña Alonso Leon in Madrid. She was 30 and in the fifth month of being pregnant with her daughter Laura and began to feel severe contractions and headaches as well as signs of eclampsia. On 25 December 2000 – Christmas – she was admitted at seven months into a Madrid hospital due to the symptoms worsening and after an ultrasound was directed to the surgical theatre for a cesarean section. Her daughter was born in good health but Leon’s condition worsened and she was in the intensive care unit for over two weeks. Her rapid healing after this was attributed to the late Trappist whom she appealed to during her illness.
Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel and Memorials of the Saints – 26 April
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
Thought for the Day – 25 April – Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter and the Feast of St Mark the Evangelist
Thought for the Day – 25 April – Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter and the Feast of St Mark the Evangelist
Today we celebrate St Mark, the Evangelist, the first Gospel writer and the friend of Sts Peter and Paul, the cousin of St Barnabas and our Father in faith – our friend too, a chosen member of the Catholic Church who has gone before to show us the way. Mark knew there would be difficulties for believers in every age, for the persecution of the early Church was the beginning “of the labour pains” (13:8), since “the Gospel must first be preached to all nations” (13:10). He has given us a moving story of how God works in mysterious ways and shown us in the actions of Jesus how to be patient in our faith even in the most troubling circumstances, for “he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him as he told you” (16:7). This narrative could only have been created by someone who himself knew suffering, the pain of unfulfilled hopes and the sorrow of untimely death. His faith made him write about it. His hope makes it so convincing! Let us listen to Pope Benedict on being a Catholic today, now, in the world we live in!
Chosen: I think it is worth reflecting on this word. We are chosen. God has always known us, even before our birth, before our conception, God wanted me as a Christian, as a Catholic, He wanted me as a priest. God thought of me, He sought me among millions, among a great many, He saw me and He chose me. It was not for my merits, which were non-existent but out of His goodness; He wanted me to be a messenger of His choice, which is also always a mission, above all a mission and a responsibility for others. Chosen: we must be grateful and joyful for this event. God thought of me, he chose me as a Catholic, me, as a messenger of His Gospel, as a priest. In my opinion it is worth reflecting several times on this and coming back to this fact of His choice; He chose me, He wanted me, now I am responding.
Perhaps today we are tempted to say: we do not want to rejoice at having been chosen, for this would be triumphalism. It would be triumphalism to think that God had chosen me because I was so important. This would really be erroneous triumphalism. However, being glad because God wanted me is not triumphalism. Rather, it is gratitude and I think we should relearn this joy: God wanted me to be born in this way, into a Catholic family, he wanted me to know Jesus from the first. What a gift to be wanted by God so that I could know His face, so that I could know Jesus Christ, the human face of God, the human history of God in this world! Being joyful because He has chosen me to be a Catholic, to be in this Church of His, where subsistit Ecclesia unica; we should rejoice because God has given me this grace, this beauty of knowing the fullness of God’s truth, the joy of his love.
Chosen: a word of privilege and at the same time of humility. However “chosen” — as I said — is accompanied by the word “parepidemois”, exiles, foreigners. As Christians we are dispersed and we are foreigners: we see that Christians are the most persecuted group in the world today, because it does not conform, because it is a stimulus, because it opposes the tendencies to selfishness, to materialism and to all these things.
Christians are certainly not only foreigners; we are also Christian nations, we are proud of having contributed to the formation of culture, there is a healthy patriotism, a healthy joy of belonging to a nation that has a great history of culture and of faith. Yet, as Christians, we are always also foreigners — the destiny of Abraham, described in the Letter to the Hebrews. As Christians we are, even today, also always foreigners. In the work place Christians are a minority, they find themselves in an extraneous situation; it is surprising that a person today can still believe and live like this. This is also part of our life: it is a form of being with the Crucified Christ, this being foreigners, not living in the way that everyone else lives, but living — or at least seeking to live — in accordance with His Word, very differently from what everyone says. And it is precisely this that is characteristic of Christians. They all say: “But everyone does this, why don’t I?” No, I don’t, because I want to live in accordance with God. St Augustine once said: “Christians are those who do not have their roots below, like tree, but have their roots above and they do not live this gravity in the natural downwards gravitation”. Let us pray the Lord that he help us to accept this mission of living as exiles, as a minority, in a certain sense, of living as foreigners and yet being responsible for others and, in this way, reinforcing the goodness in our world.
This is faith: touching Christ with the hand of faith, with our heart and thus entering into the power of His life, into the healing power of the Lord. And let us pray the Lord, that we may touch Him more and more, so as to be healed. Let us pray that He will not let us fall, that He too may take us by the hand and thus preserve us for true life….
LECTIO DIVINA” OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI
Chapel of the Seminary
Friday, 8 February 2013
St Mark, Pray for us!
One Minute Reflection – 25 April – Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter and the Feast of St Mark the Evangelist
One Minute Reflection – 25 April – Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter and the Feast of St Mark the Evangelist
Jesus said to the Eleven, “go out to the whole world and the proclaim the gospel to all creation.”…Mark 16:15
REFLECTION – So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the gospel: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” Strengthened by this mission, the apostles “went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it.”
Those, who with God’s help, have welcomed Christ’s call and freely responded to it, are urged on, by love of Christ, to proclaim the Good News, everywhere in the world. This treasure, received from the apostles, has been faithfully guarded by their successors. All Christ’s faithful are called to hand it on, from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing and by celebrating it, in liturgy and prayer…CCC 2-3
PRAYER – Almighty God, You chose the Evangelist St Mark and ennobled him with grace, to preach the Gospel. Let his teaching so improve our lives and his prayers so support us, that we may walk faithfully in his footsteps, which are the footsteps of Christ our Lord. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
AnaStpaul 
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