Thought for the Day – 30 May – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Bearer of the Treasures of Grace
“The Apostles were completely transformed after the Feast of Pentecost. They had ben ignorant rustics, timid and vacillating. They had hardly understood at all, the lofty teachings of Christ, for they were hoping still for an earthly kingdom in which they would occupy the highest posts.
When they received the Holy Spirit, however, their minds were flooded with supernatural light and they became heroic in their resolution. Ignorant, though they had been, they became masters of Truth, far superior to the sages of Athens or the philosophers of Rome! They were no longer timid and hesitating but, fearlessly encountered the power of the Sanhedrin, the whips of the soldiery, the dangers of long voyages and, Martyrdom itself.
We too have received the illumination and favours of the Holy Spirit. Many times, when we have invoked Him, He has inspired and consoled us. But we may not have responded with the same fervour and self-denial as the Apostles. Let us remember that, to neglect God’s gifts, is to risk our eternal salvation!”
Our Morning Offering – 20 May – “The Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary” and the Feast of Our Lady Queen of the Apostles
Prayer to Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles By St Vincent Pallotti SAC (1795-1850)
Immaculate Mother of God, Queen of the Apostles, we know that God’s commandment of love and our vocation to follow Jesus Christ, impels us to co-operate in the mission of the Church. Realising our own weakness, we entrust the renewal of our personal lives and our Apostolate, to your intercession. We are confident, that through God’s mercy and the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, you, who are our Mother, will obtain the strength of the Holy Spirit, as you obtained it for the Apostles, gathered in the Upper Room. Therefore, relying on your maternal intercession, we resolve, from this moment, to devote our talents, learning, material resources, our health, sickness and trials and every gift of nature and grace, for the greater glory of God and the salvation of all. We wish to carry on those activities, (which especially promote the Catholic Apostolate,) for the revival of faith and love of the people of God and so, bring all men and women, into the faith of Jesus Christ. (And if a time should come when we have nothing more to offer, serviceable to this end,) we will never cease to pray, that there will be one fold and one Shepherd, Jesus Christ. (In this way, we hope to enjoy the results of the Apostolate of Jesus Christ) for all eternity. Amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 25 April – Feast of St Mark Evangelist
The Gospel of Saint Mark was written in Greek around the 60s. He was Martyred in 68 and his Relics are preserved in the St Mark Cathedral of Venice. He is represented by a Winged Lion, one of the four living creatures of the Apocalypse, for he begins his Gospel by narrating St John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness, like a roaring lion.
By Alexander Sytov 1995
“To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed …”
Mark 4:30-31
“And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. He said to them: “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Mark 4:39-40
“Take courage: It is I, do not be afraid. And He got into the boat with them and the wind fell”
Mark 6:50-51
“Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ …, will surely not lose his reward.”
Mark 9:41
“Whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God, like a little child, shall not enter it.”
Mark 10:15
“For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His Life as a ransom for many …”
One Minute Reflection – 25 April – “The Month of the Resurrection” – Feast of St Mark Evangelist – Ezekiel 1:10-14, Luke 10:1-9 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“The harvest indeed, is great …” – Luke 10:2
REFLECTION – “Christ, filled with enthusiasm for His work, prepared to send out labourers… And so He has sent out reapers. “For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps’. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for, others have done the work and you are sharing the fruits of their work” (Jn 4:37-38). Now what is this? Has He sent reapers without sending sowers? Where has He sent the reapers? Where others had already laboured… Where the prophets had already preached, since they themselves were the sowers…
Who were the ones who thus laboured? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Read the account of their labours – in all their works, a Prophecy of Christ is to be found; in this sense, then, they were sowers. As for Moses, the other Patriarchs and all the Prophets, how much they had to put up with in the cold, while they were sowing! It follows that the harvest was already ready in Judah. And we understand that the harvest was ripe at the moment, when so many thousands of people brought along the value of their possessions, placed it at the feet of the Apostles and, setting down the burdens of this world, began to follow Christ the Lord (Acts 4:35; Ps 81:7). The harvest had indeed, come to maturity.
What was the outcome? Out of this harvest a few seeds were set aside, these sowed the whole world and now, see how another harvest rises up that is to be harvested at the end of the ages… It will not be the Apostles but the Angels who will be sent to gather this harvest.” – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop, Father and Doctor of Grace (Sermons on Saint John’s Gospel, no 15).
PRAYER – O God, Who didst exalt Thy blessed Evangelist Mark, by giving him grace to preach Thine Evangel, grant unto us, we beseech Thee, ever to follow more and more what he teaches and ever to be shielded from all evil by his prayers. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
St Anianus of Alexandria (Died c 86) 2nd Bishop of Alexandria, after St Mark and succeeding him. Consecrated by St Mark and disciple of St Mark. He was Ordained by Saint Mark and was also the first convert Mark won for Christ in the region, in c 48. As St Mark was entering Rakotis, a suburb of Alexandria, the strap of his sandal broke. He found a cobbler, St Anianus, to repair it. While he was working on the sandal, the awl slipped in Anianus’ hand, piercing it. Anianus cried ‘“Heis ho Theos” (“God is one”) in response to the pain. Mark took the opportunity to preach the Gospel of Christ to him, at the same time. https://anastpaul.com/2021/04/25/saint-of-the-day-25-april-st-anianus-of-alexandria-died-c-86-sucessor-and-disciple-of-st-mark-the-evangelist/
The Healing of Anianus by Cima da Conegliano
Blessed Boniface of Valperga (Died 1243) Bishop St Callista of Syracuse St Clarentius of Vienne St Ermin of Lobbes St Evodius of Syracuse St Heribaldus of Auxerre St Hermogenes of Syracuse St Kebius St Macaille St Macedonius St Mario Borzaga St Pasicrate of Mesia St Phaebadius of Agen St Philo of Antioch St Robert of Syracuse Bl Robert Anderton Stefano of Antioch St Valenzio of Mesia Bl William Marsden
One Minute Reflection – 20 April – “The Month of the Resurrection” –Feria Day, Thursday in the Second Week of Easter – 1 John 5:4-10, John 20:19-31 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“My Lord and my God.” – John 20:28
REFLECTION – “Thomas said: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in His Hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into His Side, I will not believe.” What an astonishing hardness of heart on this disciple’s part: not even the witness of so many of the brethren, nor even the sight of their joy, were enough to give him faith. Yet, the Lord appeared to take care of him. The good Shepherd does not allow the loss of His sheep (Mt 18:12) having said to His Father: “Thou gave them to me and none of them was lost” (Jn 17:6.12). Let the shepherds learn, then, what care they should show towards their sheep, since the Lord came for a single one. Any care and labour are a small thing, compared with the importance of one soul…
“Put your finger here and see My Hands, and bring your hand and put it into My Side, and do not be unbelieving but believe.” O blessed hand that penetrated the secrets of the Heart of Christ! What riches did they not find in it? It was while resting on this Heart that John drew out the Mysteries of Heaven (Jn 13:25), while penetrating It that Thomas found great treasures – what a wonderful school which forms such disciples! Thanks to this Heart, the former expressed marvellous things, higher than the stars, concerning the Divinity when he said: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1). And the latter, touched by the Light of Truth, cried out this sublime cry: “My Lord and my God!” – St Thomas of Villanova OSA (1486-1555) Hermit of Saint Augustine, Bishop (Sermon for Low Sunday (in Homiliarius Breviarii Romani).
PRAYER – Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord God, unto all Thy servants that they may remain continually in the enjoyment of soundness, both of mind and body and, by the glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary, always a Virgin, may be delivered from present sadness and enter into the joy of Thine eternal gladness. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
One Minute Reflection – 18 April – “The Month of the Resurrection” – Tuesday in the Second Week of Easter – 1 John 5:4-10, John 20. 19-31 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Thomas answered and said to Him: My Lord and my God.” – John 20:28
REFLECTION – “ Why did Thomas seek proof for his faith in this way? … Your love, my brethren, would have preferred it, if lack of faith had left no-one in doubt after the Resurrection. But Thomas bore the uncertainty, not only of his own heart but of all people. And since he was to preach the Resurrection to the gentiles, he sought out, like a good workman, what he would base a Mystery on which demands so much faith. And the Lord showed all the Apostles what Thomas had sought so late. “Jesus came … and showed them His Hands and His Side” (Jn 20:19-20). Indeed, the Person Who entered when the doors were shut, might have been taken for a spirit, by the disciples, if he had not been able to show them that it was none other than He, the Wounds being the mark of His Passion.
Then He came to Thomas and said to him: ”Put your hand in My Side and do not be unbelieving but believe. May the Wounds you are opening make faith flow into the whole world once more, those Wounds which have already poured out the water of Baptism and the Blood of Redemption.” (Jn 19:34). Thomas replied: “My Lord and my God!” Let unbelievers come and hear and, as our Lord said, let them no longer be doubters but believers. Thomas makes known and declares that this is not just a human Body but that, by the Passion of His Body of Flesh, Christ is God and Lord. He Who comes out alive from death and Who rises out of His woundedness is God indeed!” – St Peter Chrysologus (406-450) Bishop of Ravenna, Father and Doctor of the Church (Sermon 84).
PRAYER – Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God that we, who have celebrated the Paschal Feast, may, by Thy bounty, retain its fruits in our daily habits and behaviour. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
Thought for the Day – 5 April – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Agony of Jesus
“While Jesus was praying and suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and the Apostles were unconcernedly sleeping, a group of hired ruffians approached, led by the traitor, Judas. Jesus went to meet them and quietly allowed Himself to be fettered by these rascals. He could have struck them to the ground in an instant or, as He said Himself, called more than twelve legions of Angels to His defence (Cf Mt 16:33). But this was the hour of the power of darkness. “This is your hour and the power of darkness” (Lk 22:53). When the Apostles saw Him being bound and led away, like an evil-doer, they deserted Him and ran away. “Then, all the disciples left him and fled” (Mt 26:56).
We also, may have been guilty of such shameful conduct on many occasions! Whenever God granted us the experience of His consoling presence by means of His grace or favours, we formed the most generous resolutions. But, in the presence of difficulties or of bad example from others, we may have shamefully deserted Jesus! Let us reflect whether this is so and reinforce our good resolutions.”
Quote/s of the Day – 4 April – The Memorial of St Isidore of Seville (c 560-636) Bishop, Confessor, Father & Doctor of the Church
“We, as Catholics, are not permitted to believe anything of our own will, nor to choose, what someone has believed, of his [own will]. We have God’s Apostles as authorities, who did not themselves, of their own wills, choose anything of what they wanted to believe but faithfully transmitted, to the nations, the teachings of Christ.”
“In the active life, all the vices, are first of all, to be removed by the practice of good works, so that, in the contemplative life, a man may, with now purified mental gaze, pass onto the contemplation of the Divine Light.”
Thought for the Day – 3 April – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Betrayal of Judas
“Failure to comply with the extraordinary graces which Jesus had granted him was responsible for the fall of Judas. Whoever receives a great deal must give as much! Judas had been called to the dignity of the Apostolate. At the Last Supper, he received the fullness of the Priesthood along with the other Apostles and received Jesus Himself into his soul, under the species of the Consecrated bread. In spite of all this, he deserted and betrayed his Master.
What about us? Let us consider how many spiritual and temporal graces God has bestowed on us, throughout our lives. Have we been thankful for them? If we have not corresponded generously with all these favours, or if we have done worse and have rejected them by sin, let us repent and resolve to do better. The example of Judas should, at the least, teach us this lesson!”
One Minute Reflection – 17 March – Friday of the Third Week in Lent and the Memorial of St Patrick (c385-461) Bishop, Confessor, “The Apostle of Ireland” – Ecclesiasticus Sirach 44:16-27; 45:3-20, Matthew 25:14-23 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“A man going abroad, called his servants and handed over his goods to them.” – Matthew 25:14
REFLECTION – “There is no question but that this Householder is Christ. After His Resurrection, when He was about to return triumphantly to the Father, He called His Apostles and entrusted them with the Gospel teaching, giving more to one, less to the other, never too much or too little but according to the abilities of those who received it. In the same way, the Apostle Paul said that he had fed with milk those unable to take solid food (1Co 3,2)…
Five, two, one talent: let us take these to be the different graces granted to each, whether the five senses for the first; understanding of faith and works for the second; the reasons for distinguishing us from other creatures, for the third. “The one who received five talents went away and traded with them and made another five.” That is to say, besides the physical and material senses he had received, he added knowledge of heavenly things. His knowledge was raised from the creatures to the Creator, from the corporal to the incorporeal, from the visible to the invisible, from the transient to the eternal. “The one who received two made another two.” This one likewise, according to his ability, doubled in the school of the Gospel what he had learned in the school of the Law. Or perhaps we could say, that he understood that knowledge of faith and the works of this present life, lead to future happiness. “But the man who received one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.” In the grip of works here below and of worldly pleasures, the wicked servant neglected God’s commands. However, let us note that, according to another evangelist, he wrapped it in a linen cloth – by this we could understand that he took away the force of his Master’s teaching, by a life of softness and pleasure…
The Master welcomed the first two servants… with the same words of praise. “Come,” He said, “share in your master’s joy and receive what eye has not seen and ear has not heard and what has not entered the human heart” (1Cor 2,9). What greater reward could be bestowed on a faithful servant?” – St Jerome (343-420) Translator of Sacred Scripture (the Vulgate), Father and One of the Original Four Doctors of the Latin Church .
PRAYER – O, God, Who graciously sent blessed Patrick, Thy Confessor and Bishop, to preach Thy glory to the nations, grant through his merits and intercession that by Thy mercy, we may be able to accomplish what Thou command. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
Our Lenten Journey with St Francis de Sales – 1 March – Ember Wednesday
“The troubles of my heart are multiplied, deliver me from my necessities. See my abjection and my labour and forgive me all my sins.” Psalm 24:17-18
“The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgement with this generation and will condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold, One greater than Jonah is here.” Matthew 12:41
REPENTANCE St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Doctor Caritatis
“LET ANYONE WHO IS STANDING BE FEARFUL lest he fall, says the Apostle [1 Cor 10:12]; let no-one glory in finding himself expressly called by God, to a place where there seems nothing to fear. Let no-one presume on his good works and think he has nothing more to fear. St Peter, who had received so many graces, who had promised to accompany Our Lord to prison and even to death itself [Lk 22:33], denied Him, nevertheless, at the whimpering taunt of a chambermaid! Judas sold Him for such a small sum of money!
These falls were both very great but there was this difference. One acknowledged his guilt; the other despaired. Yet, our Saviour had inspired in the heart of both, the same Peccavi [admission of guilt] (“I have sinned”) that same Peccavi that God inspired in David’s heart. [2 Kgs (2 Sm.) 12:13]. Yes, He inspired it in both Apostles but one rejected it and the other accepted it. Hearing the cock crow, St Peter remembered what he had done and the word his good Master had spoken to him. Then, acknowledging his sin, he went out and wept so bitterly [Matt 26:74-75; Lk 22:61-62] that he received what we today call a Plenary Indulgence and full remission of all his sins. O happy St Peter! By such contrition for your sins you received a full pardon for such great disloyalty!
From this time on, St Peter never ceased weeping, principally when he heard the cock crow at night and morning, for he remembered this crowing as the signal for his conversion. It is also reported that he shed so many tears that they hollowed his cheeks into two furrows. With these tears he, who had been a great sinner became a great saint. “O glorious St Peter, how happy you are to have done such great penance for such great disloyalty. By it you were reinstated in grace. You, who deserved eternal death became worthy of eternal life.” Not only that but St Peter received here below, special favours and privileges and was lavished with blessings on earth and in Heaven.
On the other hand, although Judas received the same inspiration for the same Peccavi, he rejected it and despaired. I know that efficacious and sufficient grace differ, as theologians say but I am not here to prove and dispute, whether Judas’ inspiration … was as efficacious as David’s, or only sufficient. It was certainly sufficient. This Peccavi, sent to the heart of Judas, was truly like that formerly sent to David. Why then was Judas not converted?
O miserable man! He saw the gravity of his crime and despaired. Truly, he confessed his sin, for in returning to the chief priests the thirty pieces of silver for which he had sold his good Master, he acknowledged aloud that he had sold innocent blood. [Matt. 27:3-5]. But these priests would give him no absolution. Alas, did not this unhappy man know that Our Lord alone could give it to him, that He was the Saviour and held Redemption in His hands? Had he not seen this truth clearly in those whose sins Jesus had remitted? Certainly, he knew it but he did not wish, nor dare to ask pardon. To make him despair, the devil showed him the enormity and hideousness of his crime and, perhaps, made him fear that if he asked his Master’s pardon, He might impose too great a penance. Perhaps, for fear of such penance, he was unwilling to ask for forgiveness. Thus, despairing, he hanged himself and his body burst wide open, all his entrails spilling out [Acts 1:18] and he was buried in the deepest of Hells.” – Sermon for Good Friday 25 March 1622.
Quote/s of the Day – 24 February – Friday after Ash Wednesday and the Feast of St Matthias, Apostle – Acts 1:15-26, Matthew 11:25-30 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“And praying, they said: Thou, Lord, Who knows the hearts of all men, show which of these two Thou hast chosen, to take the place of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas hath, by transgression, fallen …”
Acts 1:24-25
“When we stand in the light it is not we who illumine the light and cause it to shine but we are illuminated and made shining by the light… God grants His blessings on those who serve Him because they are serving Him and on those who follow Him because they are following Him but He receives no blessing from them because He is perfect and without need.”
St Irenaeus(c130-c208) Bishop, Father of the Church
“You did not choose Me but I chose you…”
John 15:16
“That is amazing grace! For what were we before Christ had chosen us besides being wicked and lost? What then has He chosen in those who are not good? You cannot say, I am chosen because I believed. For if you believed in Him, you had already chosen Him. Nor can you say, before I believed I did good works and, therefore, was chosen. For what good work is there before faith when the Apostle says, “Whatever is not of faith is sin?” What is there for us to say, then but that we were wicked and were chosen, that by the grace of having been chosen, we might become good?”
St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Grace
“… It was their vocation to call sinners to repentance, to heal those who were sick, whether in body or spirit, to seek in all their dealing, never to do their own will but the will of Him who sent them and, as far as possible, to save the world by their teaching.”
St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Bishop, Father & Doctor of the Church
One Minute Reflection – 24 February – Friday after Ash Wednesday and the Feast of St Matthias – Acts 1:15-26, Matthew 11:25-30 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I Am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy, and My burden light.” … Matthew 11:29-30
REFLECTION – “You are to “take my yoke upon you and learn from me.” You are not learning from me how to refashion the fabric of the world, nor to create all things visible and invisible, nor to work miracles and raise the dead. Rather, you are simply learning of me: “that I am meek and lowly in heart.”
If you wish to reach high, then begin at the lowest level. If you are trying to construct some mighty edifice in height, you will begin with the lowest foundation. This is humility. However great the mass of the building you may wish to design or erect, the taller the building is to be, the deeper you will dig the foundation. The building in the course of its erection, rises up high but he who digs its foundation, must first go down very low. So then, you see even a building is low before it is high and the tower is raised, only after humiliation.”… St Augustine(354-430) Father & Doctor (Sermon 69)
PRAYER – O God, Who added blessed Matthias to the company of Thy Apostles, grant, we beseech Thee, that by his intercession we may ever be aware of the depth of Thy love for us. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
St Evetius of Nicomedia Bl Ida of Hohenfels St Liudhard Bl Lotario Arnari Blessed Marco De’ Marconi OSH (1480-1510) Monk of the Order of the Hermits of Saint Jerome (The Hieronymites). St Modestus of Trier St Peter the Librarian St Praetextatus of Rouen St Primitiva St Sergius of Caesarea Bl Simon of Saint Bertin
Quote/s of the Day – 23 February – The Memorial of St Peter Damian (1007-1072) Doctor of the Church
“Let us detach ourselves in spirit from all that we see and cling to that which we believe. This is the Cross which we must imprint on all our daily actions and behaviour.”
“I scourge both flesh and spirit because I know that I have offended in both flesh and spirit.”
“May Christ be heard in our language, may Christ be seen in our life, may He be perceived in our hearts”
“Let us faithfully transmit to posterity, the example of virtue, which we have received, from our forefathers.”
St Alexander Akimetes St Boswell St Dositheus of Egypt St Felix of Brescia St Florentius of Seville St Giovanni Theristi (1049–1129) Monk Bl John of Hungary
St Lazarus Zographos (c 810-c 867) Priest, Monk known as “the Painter and the Iconographer.” Lazarus lived before and during the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm. The Roman Martyrology states of him today: “St Lazarus, a Monk, whom the Iconoclast Emperor Theophilus ordered to be put to torture for having painted holy images. His hand was burned with a hot iron but, being healed by the power of God, he painted anew the holy images which had been defaced and finally rested in peace.” Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2022/02/23/saint-of-the-day-23-february-st-lazarus-zographos-810-865/
St Martha of Astorga St Medrald St Milburga (Died 715) Abbess Bl Milo of Benevento St Ordonius St Polycarp of Rome St Romana
St Serenus the Gardener (Died 307) Martyr. Serenus was by birth a Grecian. He left his family estate, friends and country to serve God in celibacy, penance and prayer. With this design he bought a garden in Sirmium in Pannonia, which he cultivated with his own hands and lived on the fruits and herbs it produced. His Life and Death: https://anastpaul.com/2019/02/23/saint-of-the-day-23-february-st-serenus-the-gardener-died-307-martyr/
Martyrs of Syrmium – 73 Christians who were Martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know no details about them, and only six of their names – Antigonus, Libius, Rogatianus, Rutilus, Senerotas and Syncrotas.
One Minute Reflection – 6 February – “The Month of the Blessed Trinitys” – St Titus (Died c96) Bishop, Confessor – Ecclesiasticus 44:16-27; 45:3-20, Luke 10:1-9 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them forth two-by-two, before Him into every town and place, where He, Himself, was about to come.” – Luke 10:1
REFLECTION – “Beloved brothers, our Lord and Saviour sometimes gives us instruction by Words and sometimes by Actions. His very Deeds are our commands and whenever He acts silently, He is teaching us what we should do. For example, He sends His disciples out to preach, two-by-two because the precept of charity is twofold—love of God and of one’s neighbour.
The Lord sends His disciples out to preach in twos, in order to teach us, silently, that whoever fails in charity toward his neighbour, should by no means take upon himself the office of preaching.
Rightly is it said, that He sent them ahead of Him into every city and place, where He ,Himself was to go. For the Lord follows after the preachers because preaching goes ahead to prepare the way and then, when the words of exhortation have gone ahead and established Truth in our minds, the Lord comes to live within us. To those who preach ,Isaiah says: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. And the psalmist tells them: Make a way for Him who rises above the sunset. The Lord rises above the sunset because, from that very place where He slept in death, He rose again and manifested a greater glory. He rises above the sunset because, in His Resurrection, He trampled underfoot the death, which He endured. Therefore, we make a way for Him who rises above the sunset ,when we preach His glory to you, so that when He, Himself follows after us, He may illumine you with His Love.
Let us listen now to His words as He sends His preachers forth: The harvest is great but the labourers are few. Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into His harvest. That the harvest is good but the labourers are few cannot be said without a heavy heart, for although there are many to hear the good news there are only a few to preach it. Indeed, see how full the world is of Priests but yet, in God’s harvest, a true labourer is rarely to be found;,although we have accepted the Priestly office, we do not fulfil its demands!
Think over, my beloved brothers, think over His Words: Pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into His harvest. Pray for us, so that we may be able to labour worthily on your behalf, that our tongue may not grow weary of exhortation, that after we have taken up the office of preaching, our silence may not bring us condemnation from the Just Judge! ” – St Gregory the Great (540-604) Pope, Father and Doctor of the Church (An excerpt from his Homily 17, On the Gospels).
PRAYER – O God, Who adorned blessed Titus, Thy Confessor and Bishop, with the virtues of an apostle, grant, through his merits and intercession that by living justly and piously in this world, we may be found worthy to enter Heaven. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
Our Morning Offering – 6 February – St Titus (Died c96) Bishop, Confessor
O Fathers of Our Ancient Faith
O Fathers of our ancient faith, With all the heav’n, we sing your fame Whose sound went forth in all the earth To tell of Christ and bless His Name.
You took the Gospel to the poor, The Word of God alight in you, Which in our day is told again, That timeless Word, forever new.
You told of God, Who died for us And out of death triumphant rose, Who gave the Truth which made us free and changeless through the ages goes.
Praise Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Whose gift is faith that never dies, A light in darkness now, until The Day-Star in our hearts arise.
O Fathers of Our Ancient Faith is written by the Benedictine Nuns of Stanbrook Abbey. In the Divine Office it is sung at Morning Prayer in the Common of Apostles. It is set to the anonymous tune associated with the 7th century Latin hymn, Creator Alme Siderum.
Saint of the Day – 6 February – St Titus (Died c96) Bishop, Confessor, Disciple of St Paul, Missionary, Peacemaker, Teacher, Administrator, Friend – Patron of Crete.
Saint Titus, Bishop and Confessor From the Liturgical Year, 1904
We are to celebrate today, the Feast of a holy Bishop of the Apostolic Age–a Disciple of the Apostle St Paul. Little is known of his life but, by addressing to him, one of his inspired Epistles, the Apostle of the Gentiles has immortalised his memory. Wheresoever the Faith of Christ has been or shall be preached, Titus’ name has been venerated by the Faithful and, as long as the world lasts, the holy Church will read to her children, this Epistle, which was written, indeed, to a simple Bishop of the Isle of Crete but was dictated by the Holy Ghost and, therefore, destined to be a part of those Sacred Scriptures, which contain the Word of God. The counsels and directions given in this admirable Letter, were the rule of the holy Bishop, for whom St Paul entertained a very strong affection. St Titus had the honour of establishing the Christian Religion in that famous Island, which was one of the strongholds of Paganism. He survived his master, who was put to death by Nero. Like St John, he sweetly slept in Christ at a very advanced age, respected and loved by the Church he had founded. As we have already observed, his life left but few traces behind it; but these few are sufficient, to prove him to have been, one of those wonderful men, whom God chose as the directors of His infant Church.
Titus, Bishop of Crete, was initiated into the Christian faith by Paul the Apostle and being prepared by the Sacraments, he shed so bright a light of sanctity on the infant Church that he merited to be chosen as one of the Disciples of the Doctor of the Gentiles. Being called to bear the burden of preaching the Gospel, so ardent and persevering was he, in the discharge of that duty that he endeared himself to St Pau,l so much, as to make the Apostle say in one of his Epistles that being come to Troas, to preach the Faith in that City, he found no rest for his heart because he found not there his brother Titus. And having, a short time after this, gone to Macedonia, he thus expresses his affection for his disciple in these terms -“ But God who comforteth the humble, comforted us by the coming of Titus.”
Being sent to Corinth by the Apostle, he acquitted himself in this mission (which mainly consisted in collecting the alms, given by the piety of the faithful, towards alleviating the distress of the Hebrew Church) with so much prudence and patience that he not only confirmed the Corinthians in the Faith of Christ but made them so desirous of a visit from Paul, who had been their first teacher in the faith that they shed tears of longing affection.
After having undertaken several journeys both by sea and land, in order to sow the seed of the Divine Word among people of various tongues and Countries and, after having supported, with great firmness of soul, countless anxieties and fatigues, in order to plant the standard of the Cross – he landed at the Island of Crete, in company with his master, St Paul. The Apostle made him Bishop of the Church which he had founded in that Island and it is not to be doubted but that Titus so discharged his duty, as that he became a model to the Faithful, according to the advice given to him by his master, in good works, in doctrine, in integrity, in gravity.
St Titus left with St Paul
Thus did he become a shining light, pouring forth the rays of the Christian Faith on them that were sitting in the darkness of idolatry and lies, as in the shadow of death. Tradition tells us that he passed into Dalmatia, where he laboured with extraordinary zeal to enlist that people under the Banner of the Cross.
At length, full of days and merit, in the ninety-fourth year of his age, he slept in the Lord, the death of the just, on the vigil of the nones of January (4 January) and was buried in the Church in which the Apostle had appointed him Minister of the Word. St John Chrysostom and St Jerome pass great eulogium upon this holy Bishop and his name is inscribed in the Roman Martyrology on the day abovementioned but in establishing his Feast to be celebrated, with an Office and Mass, throughout the Catholic world, by the Clergy secular and regular, the Sovereign Pontiff Pius the Ninth ordered it to be kept on the first vacant day following the anniversary of the Saint’s death, which is today, 6 February.
St Titus (First Century-c96) Bishop, Confessor, Disciple of St Paul, Missionary, Peacemaker, Teacher, Administrator, Friend – Patron of Crete. The New Testament does not record his death.
Saint Pedro Bautista Blásquez y Blásquez OFM (1542-1597) Priest Martyr and the 26 Martyrs of Japan – Died by Crucifixion on 5 February 1597. Canonised on 8 June 1862 by Pope Pius IX.
St Amand of Moissac St Amand of Nantes St Andrew of Elnone Bl Angelus of Furci St Antholian of Auvergne St Brinolfo Algotsson Cassius of Auvergne Bl Diego de Azevedo St Ethelburga of Wessex Bl Francesca of Gubbio St Gerald of Ostia St Gonsalo Garcia OFM St Guarinus St Guethenoc St Hildegund St Ina of Wessex St Jacut St Liminius of Auvergne St Maximus of Aurvergne St Mel of Ardagh St Melchu of Armagh St Mun of Lough Ree St Relindis of Eyck St Revocata St Saturninus St Tanco of Werden St Theophilus St Theophilus the Lawyer
St Vaast of Arras (c 453-539 or 540) Bishop – The First Bishop of Arras, France , Hermit, Ascetic, Miracle-worker, Advisor to King Clovis. The Roman Martyrology reads: “In Arras in Belgian Gaul, today in France, Saint Vedastus, Bishop, who, sent by Saint Remigius Bishop of Rheims to the devastated City, catechised King Clovis, re-established the Church and held it for about forty years and brought to an end, the need of work for evangelisation among the previously still pagan peoples of the region.” St Vaast is another Patron of eye diseases, problems and blindness. Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2022/02/06/saint-of-the-day-6-february-saint-vaast-of-arras-c-453-539-or-540/
St Victorinus of Auvergne
Martyrs of Emesa: St Luke the Deacon St Mucius the Lector
St Geminian of Modena Bl John Angelus St Julius of Novara Blessed Louise degli Albertoni TOSF (1474-1533) Widow, Mystic, Ecstatic, Apostle of the sick, the poor, the deprived, Miracle-worker. St Madoes St Marcella St Martin Manuel St Nicetas of Novgorod St Tryphaena of Cyzicus St Tysul St Ulphia of Amiens St Waldo of Evreux St Wilgils
Martyrs of Corinth – 14 Saints: A group of Christians tortured and Martyred together in Corinth, Greece in the persecutions of Decius. We know nothing about them except some names – Anectus, Claudius, Codratus, Crescens, Cyprian, Diodorus, Dionysius, Nicephorus, Papias, Paul, Serapion, Theodora, Victor and Victorinus.
Martyrs of Canope: A group of Christians tortured and Martyred together in Corinth, Greece in the persecutions of Decius. We know nothing about them except some names – Anectus, Claudius, Codratus, Crescens, Cyprian, Diodorus, Dionysius, Nicephorus, Papias, Paul, Serapion, Theodora, Victor and Victorinus.
Martyred in Alexandria, Egypt: Cyriacus Metranus Saturninus Tarskius Thyrsus Victor Zoticus
Our Morning Offering – 24 January – Feast of Saint Timothy, Bishop and Martyr
O Fathers of Our Ancient Faith
O Fathers of our ancient faith, With all the heav’n, we sing your fame Whose sound went forth in all the earth To tell of Christ and bless His Name.
You took the Gospel to the poor, The Word of God alight in you, Which in our day is told again, That timeless Word, forever new.
You told of God, Who died for us And out of death triumphant rose, Who gave the Truth which made us free and changeless through the ages goes.
Praise Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Whose gift is faith that never dies, A light in darkness now, until The Day-Star in our hearts arise.
O Fathers of Our Ancient Faith is written by the Benedictine Nuns of Stanbrook Abbey. In the Divine Office it is sung at Morning Prayer in the Common of Apostles. It is set to the anonymous tune associated with the 7th century Latin hymn, Creator Alme Siderum.
St Filip Geryluk St Guasacht St Ignacy Franczuk Bl John Grove St Julian Sabas the Elder St Macedonius Kritophagos Blessed Marcolino Amanni of Forli OP (1317-1397) Priest and Friar of the Order of Preachers, the Dominicans, Mystic.
St Projectus St Sabinian of Troyes St Suranus of Sora St Thyrsus Bl William Ireland
Martyrs of Asia Minor – 4 Saints: A group of ChristiansMmartyred together for their faith. The only details to survive are four of their names – Eugene, Mardonius, Metellus and Musonius. They were burned at the stake in Asia Minor.
Martyrs of Podlasie – 13 Beati: Podlasie is an area in modern eastern Poland that, in the 18th-century, was governed by the Russian Empire. Russian sovereigns sought to bring all Eastern-rite Catholics into the Orthodox Church. Catherine II suppressed the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine in 1784. Nicholas I did the same in Belarus and Lithuania in 1839. Alexander II did the same in the Byzantine-rite Eparchy of Chelm in 1874 and officially suppressed the Eparchy in 1875. The Bishop and the Priests who refused to join the Orthodox Church were deported to Siberia or imprisoned. The laity, left on their own, had to defend their Church, their liturgy and their union with Rome. On 24 January 1874 soldiers entered the village of Pratulin to transfer the parish to Orthodox control. Many of the faithful gathered to defend their parish and Church. The soldiers tried to disperse the people but failed. Their commander tried to bribe the parishioners to abandon Rome but failed. He threatened them with assorted punishments but this failed to move them. Deciding that a show of force was needed, the commander ordered his troops to fire on the unarmed, hymn-singing laymen. Thirteen of the faithful died, most married men with families, ordinary men with great faith. We know almost nothing about their lives outside of this incident. Their families were not allowed to honour them or participate in the funerals and the authorities hoped they would be forgotten. Their names are:
Anicet Hryciuk
Bartlomiej Osypiuk
Daniel Karmasz
Filip Geryluk
Ignacy Franczuk
Jan Andrzejuk
Konstanty Bojko
Konstanty Lukaszuk
Lukasz Bojko
Maksym Hawryluk
Michal Wawryszuk
Onufry Wasyluk
Wincenty Lewoniuk Martyrdom:
shot on 14 January 1874 by Russian soldiers in Podlasie, Poland
buried nearby without rites by those soldiers.
Martyrs of Antioch: Babylas Epolonius Prilidian Urban
One Minute Reflection – 18 January – Feast of the Chair of the Apostle, St Peter at Rome – 1 Peter 1:1-7, Matthew 16:13-19 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Upon this rock I will build my church” … Matthew 16:18
REFLECTION – “Nothing escaped the Wisdom and Power of Christ, the elements of nature lay at His service, spirits obeyed Him, Angels served Him. … And yet, out of all the world, Peter alone was chosen to stand at the head, for the calling of all the peoples and the oversight of all the Apostles and Fathers of the Church. Thus, even though there are many Priests and shepherds among the People of God, Peter governed them all in person, while Christ also governs them in the capacity of Head. …
The Lord asks all the Apostles what people think of Him and they all say the same thing, so long as they are making known the doubts deriving from human ignorance. But when the Lord demands to know, what the disciples themselves think, the first to confess the Lord is he, who is the first in dignity of the Apostles. As he had said: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” Jesus answers him: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” That is to say, blessed are you because My Father taught this to you. Earthly opinion has not led you astray but it is heavenly inspiration that has instructed you. It is not flesh and blood that enabled you to discover Me but He, Whose only Son I Am.
“And so I say to you,” that is to say- just as my Father has manifested My Divinity to you, so I Am making known your superiority to you. “You are Peter” namely, I am the unshakeable Rock, the Cornerstone who makes two peoples one (Eph 2:14), the foundation other than which, no-one can lay any other (1 Cor 3:11). But you also, you are rock, since you are impregnable by My Strength and, what I have by virtue of My Power, you have in common with Me, by the fact,, that you participate in it. “On this rock I will build My Church” … On the firmness of this foundation, He says, will I build an everlasting temple and My Church, whose summit is to reach to Heaven, will be raised on the strength of that faith.” … Saint Pope Leo the Great (400-461) Father and Doctor of the Church ( 4th sermon for the Anniversary of his Consecration).
PRAYER – O God, Who together with the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven didst bestow on thy blessed Apostle Peter the pontifical power of binding and loosing, grant that by the aid of his intercession, we may be released from the bonds of our sins. ThroughJesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
One Minute Reflection – 3 January – “The Month of the Most Holy Name of Jesus” – Octave Day of St John, Apostle – Ecclesiasticus 15:1-6, John 21:19-24 –Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“This is that disciple who bears witness concerning these things and who has written these things and we know that his witness is true.” – John 21:24
REFLECTION – “In proportion to the grace that caused Jesus to love him and enabled him to rest on Jesus’ Breast at the Supper (Jn 13:23), John abundantly received [the Spirit’s gifts] of understanding and wisdom (Is 11:2) – understanding with which to comprehend Scripture, wisdom with which to compose his own books with wonderful skill. As a matter of fact, he did not receive this gift right from the time when he rested on our Lord’s Breast, even if he was subsequently able to draw from that Heart “in which are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3). When he says, that when he went into the tomb “he saw and he believed,” he acknowledges that “they did not yet understand the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead” (Jn 20:9). Like all the other Apostles, John received its fullness, when the Holy Spirit came [at Pentecost] and when grace had been given to each of them “according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Eph 4:7). …
The Lord Jesus loved this disciple more than all the others … and opened the secrets of Heaven to him … to make of him the author of that profound Mystery which man can say nothing about, of himself: the Mystery of the Word, God’s Utterance, the Word made flesh. This is the fruit of that love. Yet even though He loved him, it was not to him that Jesus said: “You are Peter, and on this rock I shall build my Church” (Mt 16:18) … While He loved all His disciples and especially Peter, with a love in mind and soul, our Lord loved John with the love of His Heart …. In the order of Apostleship, Simon Peter received the first place and the “keys of the Kingdom of heaven” (Mt 16:19) but John, won another inheritance, the spirit of understanding, “a wealth of joy and gladness” (Sir 15:6).” – Rupert of Deutz (c 1075- c 1130) Benedictine Monk, Theologian and Writer (The Works of the Holy Spirit, IV, 10 SC 165)
PRAYER – O Lord, graciously shed light upon Thy Church, so that, enlightened by the teachings of blessed John, Thy Apostle and Evangelist, she may gain Thy everlasting rewards.Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
Our Morning Offering – 3 January – Octave Day of St John, Apostle
An Exile for the Faith By Father Nicolas Le Tourneux (1640– 1686) Trans. by Fr Edward Caswall C. Orat. (1814–1878)
An exile for the faith Of thy Incarnate Lord, Beyond the stars, beyond all space, Thy soul imprisoned soared, There saw in glory Him, Who liveth and was dead; There Judah’s Lion and the Lamb That for our ransom bled.
There of the Kingdom learnt The mysteries sublime; How, sown in Martyrs’ blood, the faith Should spread from clime to clime. The Holy City, bathed In her dear Spouse’s Light, Pure seat of bliss, thy spirit saw And gloried in the sight.
Now to the Lamb’s clear fount, To drink of life their fill, Thou callest all; O Lord, in me This blessed thirst instil. To Jesus, Virgin-born, Praise with the Father be, Praise to the Spirit Paraclete, Through all eternity. Amen.
St Anysia of Thessalonica St Anysius of Thessalonica
St Egwin of Worcester OSB (Died 717) Bishop of Worcester, England, Benedictine Monk, Reformer and Penitent, miracle-worker. Egwin was devout and lived for God from his youth. His biographers say, that king, clergy and the faithful, all united in demanding Egwin’s elevation to Bishop. About St Egwin: https://anastpaul.com/2020/12/30/saint-of-the-day-30-december-saint-egwin-of-worcester-osb-died-717/
St Elias of Conques St Eugene of Milan St Geremarus
St Hermes of Moesia St Jucundus of Aosta St Liberius of Ravenna
Blessed Margherita Colonna (c 1255-1284) Virgin, Nun, Mystic, Apostle of the poor. Beatified on 17 September 1847 by Pope Pius IX. The Roman Martyrology states: “At Palestrina in Lazio, Blessed Margherita Colonna, Virgin, who preferred poverty for Christ to the riches and pleasures of the world, which she served by professing the Rule of St Clare.” Her Life: https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/30/saint-of-the-day-30-december-blessed-margherita-colonna-c-1255-1284/
St Perpetuus of Tours Bl Raoul of Vaucelles St Rainerius of Aquila (Died c 1077) Bishop Bl Richard of Wedinghausen St Ruggero of Canne St Sebastian of Esztergom
Martyrs of Alexandria – 5 Saints: A group of Christians Martyred in the unrest caused by Monophysite heretics. We know the names for five of them – Appian, Donatus, Honorius, Mansuetus and Severus. They were martyred in c 483 at Alexandria, Egypt.
Martyrs of Oia – 6 Saints: A group of Christians Martyred together, date unknown. The only details to have survived are the names – Cletus, Florentius, Papinianus, Paul, Serenusa and Stephen. They were martyred in Oia, Greece.
Martyrs of Spoleto – 4 Saints: A group of Christians Martyred in the persecutions of DioSletian – Exuperantius, Marcellus, Sabinus and Venustian. They were martyred in 303 in Spoleto, Italy.
Thought for the Day – 27 December – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
St John, the Apostle and Evangelist
“Both in his Gospel and in his letters, St John continually emphasises the virtue of charity. He stresses the need for love of God and love of our neighbour, “God is love,” he says, “and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him” (1 Jn 4:16). According to St Jerome, when the Apostle John was almost a hundred years old and lacked the strength to speak for very long, he was accustomed to go, supported by his disciples, to gatherings of the faithful. There he prepared, on every occasion, the same exhortation: “My children, love one another.” His followers grew tired of this and finally asked him why he kept repeating the same phrase. “Because that is God’s command,” je replied, “and if we do no more than obey it, that is sufficient!”
Let us meditate on his words and let us remember that our love for God is futile, unless it is accompanied by a practical love for our neighbour. The love of God cannot be separated, from the love of our fellow-men.”
Our Prayers to the Saints – 27 December – St John the Apostle and Evangelist, the Beloved
Indulgenced Prayer to St John (Indulgence 200 days, once a day, Pope Leo XIII, 1897)
O Glorious Apostle, who, on account of thy virginal purity, wast so beloved by Jesus as to deserve to lay thy head upon His Divine breast and to be left, in His place, as son to His most holy Mother; I beg thee to inflame me with a most ardent love for Jesus and Mary. Obtain for me from Our Lord that I, too, with a heart purified from earthly affections, may be made worthy, to be ever united to Jesus. as a faithful disciple and to Mary, as a devoted child,, both here on earth and eternally in Heaven. Amen.
AnaStpaul 
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