Quote of the Day – 12 October – The Memorial of Blessed Jan Beyzym SJ (1850–1912), “Apostle of the Lepers of Madasgascar”
“What you do for the least of my creatures,
that you do unto me.
We must be like the merchants of this earth –
we must always aim at a greater gain.'”
Journeying with Newman
The Thanksgiving Novena for, with and to
the beloved and blessed John Henry Newman
Day Eight – 11 October
Servant of the Church
Intention:
That we are given the Grace
to see the Church as more than a
human institution but as the Body of Christ.
“The Church of God, cannot change,
what she was that she is.
What our forefathers were, such are we,
we look like other men
but we have that in us,
which none others have –
the latent element of an indomitable fortitude.
This may not be the age of Saints
but all times are the age of Martyrs!”
From his writings
Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Prayer:
Please pray one decade of the Rosary (any you choose) for this Intention and add the following Prayer:
O God our heavenly Father,
we offer You heartfelt thanks
for the life and holiness of John Henry Newman.
In him You give us,
an inspiring example of priest and teacher,
heroic and humble, in his labour
for the salvation of souls
and the pursuit of holiness.
Through his intercession,
we ask You to lead us,
by the kindly light of the Holy Spirit
and so grant us peace and joy,
in the one fold of the Redeemer.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 30 September – The Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest, Father and Doctor of the Church (347-419)
An excerpt from his Commentary on Isaiah
“I interpret as I should, following the command of Christ – search the Scriptures and seek and you shall find. Christ will not say to me what He said to the Jews: You erred, not knowing the Scriptures and not knowing the power of God. For if, as Paul says, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God and if the man who does not know Scripture does not know the power and wisdom of God, then ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.
Therefore, I will imitate the head of a household who brings out of his storehouse things both new and old and says to his spouse in the Song of Songs: I have kept for you things new and old, my beloved. In this way permit me to explain Isaiah, showing that he was not only a prophet but an evangelist and an apostle as well. For he says about himself and the other evangelists – How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news, of those who announce peace. And God speaks to him as if he were an apostle – Whom shall I send, who will go to my people? And he answers: Here I am; send me.
No-one should think, that I mean to explain, the entire subject matter of this great book of Scripture, in one brief sermon, since it contains all the mysteries of the Lord. It prophesies that Emmanuel is to be born of a virgin and accomplish marvellous works and signs. It predicts His death, burial and resurrection from the dead as the Saviour of all men. I need say nothing about the natural sciences, ethics and logic. Whatever is proper to holy Scripture, whatever can be expressed in human language and understood by the human mind, is contained in the book of Isaiah. Of these mysteries the author himself testifies when he writes – You will be given a vision of all things, like words in a sealed scroll. When they give the writings to a wise man, they will say – Read this. And he will reply: I cannot, for it is sealed. And when the scroll is given to an uneducated man and he is told: Read this, he will reply: I do not know how to read.
Should this argument appear weak to anyone, let him listen to the Apostle – Let two or three prophets speak and let others interpret, if, however, a revelation should come to one of those who are seated there, let the first one be quiet. How can they be silent, since it depends on the Spirit who speaks through His prophets whether they remain silent or speak? If they understood what they were saying, all things would be full of wisdom and knowledge. But it was not the air vibrating with the human voice that reached their ears but rather, it was God speaking within the soul of the prophets, just as another prophet says: It is an angel who spoke in me and again, Crying out in our hearts, Abba, Father and I shall listen to what the Lord God says within me.”
Most Holy Name of Mary (Optional Memorial): Feast of the entire Latin Church. It was first observed at Cuenca, Spain in 1513, then extended to the universal Church and assigned to its present place and rank by Pope Innocent XI in 1683 in thanksgiving to God and the Blessed Virgin for the liberation of Vienna, France and the signal victory over the Turks on 12 September 1683. It is the titular feast of the Society of Mary (Marianists) and of the Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
Blessed Mother:
https://anastpaul.com/2017/09/12/blessed-memorial-of-the-most-holy-name-of-mary-12-september/
St Ailbe
Bl Apolinar Franco
St Autonomous
St Curonotus
St Dominic Magoshichi
St Eanswida
St Francis of Saint Bonaventure
St Franciscus Ch’oe Kyong-Hwan
St Guy of Anderlecht (c 950–1012)
St Juventius of Pavia
Bl Maria Luisa Angelica/Gertrude Prosperi (1799-1847)
St Mancius of Saint Thomas
St Paul of Saint Clare
Bl Pierre-Sulpice-Christophe Faverge
St Sacerdos of Lyon
St Silvinus of Verona
St Tomás de Zumárraga Lazcano
—
Martyrs of Alexandria – 6 saints: A group of Christians martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know little more than their names – Hieronides, Leontius, Sarapion, Seleusius, Straton and Valerian. They were drowned c 300 at Alexandria, Egypt.
Martyrs of Phrygia – 3 saints: Three Christians who were martyred for destroying pagan idols. We know little more than their names – Macedonius, Tatian and Theodolus. They were burned to death in 362 in Phrygia (modern Turkey).
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Fortunato Arias Sánchez
• Blessed Francisco Maqueda López
• Blessed Jaume Puigferrer Mora
• Blessed Josep Plana Rebugent
• Blessed Julián Delgado Díez
Quote of the Day – 2 September – The Memorial of St Solomon Le Clercq FSC (1745-1792) Martyr
“As for us, we hold, to what we believed,
ten and twenty years ago,
to what our forefathers believed,
one hundred years ago
and one thousand years ago
and to that which,
the whole Catholic world,
has always believed.”
One Minute Reflection – 2 September – Monday of the Twenty-second week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Luke 4:16–30
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free… Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”... Luke 4:18,21
REFLECTION – “The ‘today’, proclaimed by Christ that day, applies to every age, it echoes for us too in this Square, reminding us of the relevance and necessity of the salvation Jesus brought to humanity. God comes to meet the men and women of all times and places, in their real life situations. He also comes to meet us. It is always He who takes the first step, He comes to visit us with His mercy, to lift us up from the dust of our sin. He comes to extend a hand to us in order to enable us to return from the abyss into which our pride made us fall and He invites us, to receive the comforting truth of the Gospel and to walk on the paths of good. He always comes to find us, to look for us.
Let us return to the synagogue. Surely that day, in the synagogue of Nazareth, Mary, His Mother, was also there. We can imagine her heart beating, a small foreboding of what she will suffer under the Cross, seeing Jesus, there in the synagogue, first admired, then challenged, then insulted, threatened with death. In her heart, filled with faith, she kept everything. May she help us to convert from a god of miracles to the miracle of God, who is Jesus Christ.” … Pope Francis, 31 January 2016 Angelus, St Peter’s Square
PRAYER – Almighty God and Father, open our eyes to see the coming of Your Son, to recognise Him in His Word, to hear His voice as He calls each one of us. Christ be near at either hand! Grant that by the prayers of His Mother, we may hear and follow Your Son and never be among those who wish to throw Him out. Through Christ our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 23 August – Friday of the Twentieth week in Ordinary Time, Year C and the Memorial of St Rose of Lima (1586-1617)
“If only we would learn how great it is
to possess divine grace and how many riches it has within itself,
how many joys and delights.
We would devote all our concern to winning for ourselves
pains and afflictions,
in order to attain the unfathomable treasure of grace.”
“Apart from the Cross
there is no other ‘ladder’
by which we might get to heaven.”
“We must not fail
to help our neighbours,
because in them we serve Jesus.”
