Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, MARIAN HYMNS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN TITLES, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, REDEMPTORISTS CSSR, To JESUS through MARY

Our Morning Offering – 16 March – Look Down, O Mother Mary! By St Alphonsus

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 16 March – Saturday of the Fourth Week in Lent and our Mother Mary’s Day

Look Down, O Mother Mary!
By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, (1696-1787)
Most Zealous Doctor
Transl, Fr Edmund Vaughan, CSSR in 1863

Look down, O Mother Mary!
From thy bright throne above;
Cast down upon thy children
One only glance of love.

And if a heart so tender
With pity flows not o’er,
Then turn away, O Mother!
And look on us no more.

See how, ungrateful sinners,
We stand before thy Son;
His loving heart upbraids us
The evil we have done.

But if thou wilt appease Him,
Speak for us—but one word;
Thou only canst obtain as
The pardon of our Lord.

O Mary, dearest Mother!
If thou wouldst have us live,
Say that we are thy children,
And Jesus will forgive.

Our sins make us unworthy
That title still to bear
But thou art still our Mother,
Then show a Mother’s care.

Open to us thy mantle,
There stay we without fear,
What evil can befall us
If, Mother, thou art near?

O sweetest, dearest Mother!
Thy sinful children save;
Look down on us with pity,
Who thy protection crave.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 16 March – Blessed Robert Dalby (Died 1589) Priest Martyr

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 16 March – Blessed Robert Dalby (Died 1589) Priest Martyr
Born at Hemingborough near Wakefield in North Yorkshire, England and died on 16 March 1589 at York, England by being hanged, drawn, and quartered during the persecutions of Elizabeth I. Also known as – Robert Drury. Additional Memorial – 29 October as one of the Martyrs of Douai. Blessed Robert was Beatified on 15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI. A point of interest is that Yorkshire, as you will have noticed, was particularly strong in the Catholic Faith, regardless of the rampant and violent persecutions. Having lived in Yorkshire for 10 years, I have lots to tell you sometime soon.

The Blesseds John Amias and Robert Dalby, “At the Place of Execution” Illustration for Memoirs of Missionary Priests by Bishop Challoner (Jack, 1878)

Robert was born a Protestant and became a minister. But he became intrigued with Catholicism and after studying the Faith Robert became a Catholic. In September 1586, he went to study the subjects of the Priesthood, at the English College at Rheims. He was Ordained a Priest at Chalons on 16 April 1588.

On 25 August of that same year, he set out for England. He was arrested almost immediately upon landing at Scarborough on the Yorkshire coast and was imprisoned in York Castle. He was in contravention of English Law which made it a capital oiffence to be a Catholic Priest and which Law carried the penalty of Death by means of hanging, drawing and quartering.

A fellow Priest, Fr John Amias, accompanied him. They remained imprisoned from 25 August until 16 March 1589. The Court Sentencing was proclaimed for both Priests. Upon the arrival at the place of execution, the two Priests prostrated themselves in prayer. Fr John was chosen to be executed first, so Robert Dalby had to watch his fellow Priest being hanged and quartered before his own turn came but he displayed no hesitation in going to his death for the Faith of the Church of his Christ.

Those who venerated these young Priests, shortly after their deaths, reported many miracles. Both Priests were declared Blessed by Pope Pius XI on 15 December 1929.

Blessed John Amias here:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-blessed-john-amias-1589-priest-martyr/

Martyrs of Douai
Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Saturday of the Fourth Week in Lent, Day Seven St Joseph, Our Lady of the Fountain, Constantinople (460) and the Saints of 16 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saturday of the Fourth Week in Lent – FAST

Our Lady of the Fountain, Constantinople (460) – 16 March:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/16/our-lady-of-the-fountain-constantinople-460-and-memorials-of-the-saints-16-march/

NOVENA for the INTERCESSION of ST JOSEPH
DAY SEVEN: CLICK here: DAY SEVEN

St Abban of Kill-Abban
St Abraham Kidunaia
St Agapitus of Ravenna
St Aninus of Syria

St Benedicta of Assisi OSC (Died 1260) Poor Clare Nun, Abbess.
St Benedicta’s Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-st-benedicta-of-assisi-osc-died-1260/

St Cyprianus Deacon Martyr
St Dionysius of Aquileia
St Dentlin of Hainault
Bl Eriberto of Namur
St Eusebia of Hamage
St Felix of Aquileia

St Finian Lobhar, surnamed “the Luminous Leper” (Died c 560) Bishop, Confessor, Abbot, Founder of Monasteries, Mystic, Miracle-worker.
St Finan’s Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-saint-finian-lobhar-surnamed-the-luminous-leper-died-c-560/

Bl Ferdinand Valdes

Blessed Giovanni de Surdis Cacciafronte OSB (1125 – 1184) Bishop and Martyr, Abbot.
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-blessed-giovanni-de-surdis-cacciafronte-osb-1125-1184/

St Gregory Makar

St Heribert of Cologne (c 970–1021) Archbishop of Cologne, a Miracle-worker and Counsellor. Canonised in 1075 by Pope Saint Gregory VII.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-st-heribert-c-970-1021/

St Hilary of Aquileia
Bl Joan Torrents Figueras

Blessed John Amias (1589) Priest, Martyr, Married layman and father of seven children, then a Widower and a home Missionary Priest. John was Beatified on 15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI.
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-blessed-john-amias-1589-priest-martyr/

St Julian of Anazarbus
St Largus of Aquileia
St Malcoldia of Asti
St Megingaud of Wurzburg
St Papas
St Patrick of Clermont
Blessed Robert Dalby (Died 1589) Priest Martyr

Bl Torello of Poppi Hermit

Posted in "Follow Me", GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 15 March – The Last Artifice of the Devil –Making even Virtue, an Occasion of Sin! (Part Four)

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Thought for the Day – 15 March – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

XXXII: … The Last Artifice of the Devil –
Making even Virtue, an Occasion of Sin!
(Part Four)

“Further, I would advise you to be very reserved in making known the gifts which God may have bestowed upon you, for this is almost always displeasing to your Lord, as He, Himself, plainly shows us in the following lesson.

Appearing once in the form of a child to a devout servant of His, she asked Him, with great simplicity, to recite the Angelical Salutation.
He readily began:
“Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus”
and then stopped, being unwilling to praise Himself in the words which follow. And while she was praying Him to proceed, He withdrew Himself from her,
leaving His servant full of consolation because of the heavenly doctrine which, by His example, He had thus revealed to her.

Do you also learn to humble yourself and to acknowledge yourself, with all your works, to be the nothing which you are.
This is the foundation of all other virtues.
God, before we existed, created us out of nothing and now, that we exist through
Him, He wills that the whole spiritual edifice should be built on this foundation the knowledge that of ourselves we are nothing.
And the deeper we dig into this knowledge, the higher will the building rise.
And, in proportion, as we clear away the earth of our own misery, the Divine Architect will bring solid stones for its completion.

And never imagine that you can dig deep enough — on the contrary, think this of yourself, that if anything belonging to a creature could be infinite, it would be your unworthiness!
With this knowledge, duly carried into practice, we possess all good, without it, we are little better than nothing, although we should do the works of all the Saints and be continually absorbed in God.

O blessed knowledge, which makes us happy on earth and blessed in Heaven!
O Light, which, issuing from darkness, makes the soul bright and clear!
O unknown joy which sparkles amid our impurities!
O nothingness which, once known, makes us lords of all!”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/12/thought-for-the-day-12-march-the-last-artifice-of-the-devil-making-even-virtue-an-occasion-of-sin-part-one/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/13/thought-for-the-day-13-march-the-last-artifice-of-the-devil-making-even-virtue-an-occasion-of-sin-part-two/
PART THREE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/14/thought-for-the-day-14-march-the-last-artifice-of-the-devil-making-even-virtue-an-occasion-of-sin-part-three/


Posted in CHRIST the PHYSICIAN, GOD ALONE!, JANUARY month of THE MOST HOLY NAME of JESUS, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on HELL, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on MORTAL SIN, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, SELF-DISTRUST, St Francis de Sales, The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY NAME, Thomas a Kempis

Quote/s of the Day – 15 March – Let us weep for our sins and increase in love for our Divine Redeemer .

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 15 March – Friday of the Fourth Week in Lent – 3 Kings 17:17-24; John 11:1-45 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“I Am
the Resurrection
and the
Life”

John 11:25

“Love Him, then, keep Him as a friend.
He will not leave you as others do,
or let you suffer lasting death.
Sometime, whether you will or not,
you will have to part with everything.
Cling, therefore, to Jesus in life and death,
trust yourself to the glory of Him,
Who alone can help you
when all others fail.“

Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

“If thou art bound down by sickness,
if sorrows weary thee,
if thou art trembling with fear,
invoke the name of Jesus!”

St Lawrence Justinian (1381-1456)

“A person who is conscious of his misery,
can certainly have great confidence in God.
In fact, he cannot have true confidence in Him,
without this consciousness of his misery.
This knowledge and acknowledgement
of our misery, leads us to the presence of God.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of the Church

“Although the sinner
does not believe in Hell,
he will, nevertheless, go there,
if he has the misfortune to die
in mortal sin.”

St Anthony Mary Claret (1807-1870)

“Let us weep for our sins
and increase in love for our Divine Redeemer.
The Crucifix will teach us,
as it taught the Saints,
the lesson of charity towards God
and towards our neighbour.
It will teach us to hate sin and to love virtue.
If we cherish it during life,
it will be our consolation
to kiss the Crucifix at the moment of death.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

Posted in BAPTISM, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, LENT 2024, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on PURITY, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on THE VOICE OF GOD, The RESURRECTION, The WORD

Our Lenten Journey with the Angels and the Saints – 15 March – Do Not Fall Back Again Into Death!

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Lenten Journey with the Angels and the Saints – 15 March – Friday of the Fourth Week in Lent – 3 Kings 17:17-24; John 11:1-45 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Now, by this I know t
hat thou art a man of God
and the Word of the Lord
in thy mouth is true.”
3 Kings 17:24

“ Lazarus, come forth!”
John 11:43

Do Not Fall Back Again Into Death!

St Gregory Nazianzen (330-390)
Father & Doctor of the Church

“Laid to rest in the tomb, you heard the resounding call.
Is there any Voice greater than that of the Word?
Then you came out, you who were dead not merely for four days but for a very long time indeed.
You were raised with Christ … your burial bands fell to the ground.
Do not fall back again now into death; do not rejoin those who dwell in the tombs; do not allow yourself to be stifled by the burial bands of your sins.
For would you be able to come back to life once again?
Would you be able to bring out, from the death of here below, the resurrection of all men at the end of time? …

So let the Lord’s call resound in your ears!
Do not close them today to the teaching and admonitions of the Lord.
If you used to be blind, without light in your tomb, open your eyes lest you sink into the sleep of death.
In the Light of the Lord, behold light! in the Spirit of God, fix your eyes on the Son.
If you take to yourself the Word, in its entirety, then you focus onto your soul, all the power of Christ Who heals and restores to life ….
Do not be afraid to put some work into preserving your Baptismal purity and set the ways that lead to the Lord, within your heart.
Take care to preserve the act of acquittal which you received through pure grace ….

Let us be Light, as the disciples learned, from He Who is the Great Light: “You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:14).
Let us be lamps in this world by holding up on high the Word of Life, by being a life force for others.
Let us set out in search of God, in search of the One Who is the First and Purest of Lights.” – (Sermon on Holy Baptism).

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The LAST THINGS, The RESURRECTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 15 March – Lazarus, come forth!

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One Minute Reflection – 15 March – “The Month of St Joseph” – St Clement Mary Hofbauer CSsR (1751-1820) “The Apostle of Vienna” –Friday of the Fourth Week in Lent – 3 Kings 17:17-24; John 11:1-45 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Lazarus, come forth! And at once he who had been dead came forth, bound feet and hands with bandages and his face was tied up with a cloth. ”- John 11:43-44

REFLECTION – “Here we have a man past the prime of life, a corpse, decaying, swollen, in fact, already in a state of dissolution, so that even his own relatives did not want the Lord to draw near the tomb because the decayed body enclosed therein, was so offensive . And yet, he is brought into life by a single call, confirming the proclamation of the resurrection, that is to say, that expectation of it, as universal, that we learn by a particular experience to entertain. For as in the regeneration of the universe, the Apostle tells us that “the Lord Himself will descend with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel” and by a trumpet sound, raise up the dead to incorruption — so now too, he who is in the tomb, at the Voice of command, shakes off death as if it were only sleep. He rids himself of the corruption that had come on his condition of a corpse, leaps forth from the tomb whole and sound, not even hindered as he leaves by the bonds of the grave cloths round his feet and hands.” … St Gregory of Nyssa (c335–c395) Father of the Church (On the Making of Man, 25).

PRAYER – From all perils of soul and body defend us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, and by the intercession of blessed and gloriosus ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of blessed Joseph, of Thy blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and of blessed N.St Clement Mary Hofbauer and all the Saints, graciously grant us safety and peace that all adversities and errors being overcome, Thy Church may serve Thee in security and freedom. 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).

Posted in INDULGENCES, JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, MATER DOLOROSA - Mother of SORROWS, NOVEMBER - Month of the SOULS in PURGATORY, Our MORNING Offering, PAPAL PRAYERS, PRAYERS for the SOULS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRECIOUS BLOOD PRAYERS, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD

Our Morning Offering – 15 March – Indulgenced prayer, By the Merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 15 March – Feast of the Most Precious Blood for the Friday after Laetare Sunday

By the Merits of the
Precious Blood of Jesus
By Servant of God Pope Pius VII (1742-1823)
Papacy from 1800 to 1823
Indulgenced Act of Oblation to Our Father

Eternal Father!
I offer Thee the merits
of the Precious Blood of Jesus,
Thy well-beloved Son,
my Saviour and my God,
for all my wants,
spiritual and temporal,
in aid of the Holy Souls in Purgatory
and chiefly for those
who most loved this Precious Blood,
the price of our redemption
and who were most devout
to the sorrows and pains
of most Holy Mary,
our dear Mother.

Glory be to the Blood of Jesus,
now and forever
and throughout all ages.
Amen.

Indulgence of 300 days, each time this prayed is offered,
22 September 1817 with a Plenary Indulgence, once a month,
under the usual conditions.

Note of Interest: On 15 August 1811 – the Feast of the Assumption – it is recorded that the Pope celebrated Mass and was said to have entered a trance and began to levitate in a manner that drew him to the Altar. This particular episode aroused great wonder and awe among attendants, which included the French soldiers guarding him, who were awestruck at what had occurred and left records of it.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 15 March – Saint Eusebius II of Vercelli (Died c520) Bishop

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Saint of the Day – 15 March – Saint Eusebius II of Vercelli (Died c520) Bishop of Vercelli, Italy. Also known as – Eusebio II.

Neither the volume printed in 1581, edited by the Eusebian Chapter which contained the ancient litanies and the Offices of the Cathedral of Vercelli, nor the Eusebian Calendar, published in 1676, mention him.

What is certain, is that under this portrait, part of the ancient series of the first 40 Bishops of Vercelli, painted in the Cathedral, one could read his name, with the ranking of “the Second.”

Now let us frame the historical period of his Episcopate — to the left, i.e. a predecessor, is the Bishop Emilian, who ruled the Diocese of Vercelli at the end of the 5th Century (Died 501), was succeeded by a Bishop whose name is unknown. Then immediately after came our Eusebius II, who, in fact was the 12th Bishop of the See. Some local historians believe his Episcopacy to have occurred from 515 to 534 but without proof of this supposition.

The Bollandist hagiographers, who placed his memory on 15 March, established the date of his death around 520 and expressed themselves with his praise, saying that, following the example of the Diocesan Protobishop, St Eusebius I of Vercelli (Died 1 August 371), his namesake, fulfilled his pastoral duties with the utmost diligence and charity.

And Bishop Ferrero also expressed himself in these terms, in his work on the Bishops of Vercelli,which he published in the second edition, in 1609.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, REDEMPTORISTS CSSR, SAINT of the DAY, The SEVEN PASSION Feasts

Friday of the Fourth Week in Lent, FEAST OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS, St Joseph Novena Day Six, Notre Dame de Sous-Terre / Our Lady of the Underground, Chartres, France (911), St Clement Mary Hofbauer and the Saints for 15 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Friday of the Fourth Week in Lent – FAST AND ABSTINENCE

FEAST OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS is a Feast for the Fridays of Lent, which has been in the General Roman Calendar from 1849 to 1969 with the same Office as that of the Solemnity of the Precious Blood in July..
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/07/10/the-solemnity-of-the-most-precious-blood-of-of-our-lord-jesus-christ-and-the-litany/
AND MORE:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/24/friday-of-the-fourth-week-in-lent-fast-and-abstinence-feast-of-the-most-precious-blood-of-jesus-the-archangel-saint-gabriel-our-lady-of-the-flowering-thorn-france-and-memorials-of-the-saints/

NOVENA for the Intercession of ST JOSEPH
DAY SIX: Click Link HERE: DAY SIX

Notre Dame de Sous-Terre / Our Lady of the Underground, Chartres, France (911) – 15 March:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/15/our-lady-of-the-underground-chartres-france-911-and-memorials-of-the-saints-15-march/

St Clement Mary Hofbauer C.Ss.R (1751-1820) “The Apostle of Vienna” Hermit, Priest, Religious, Co-Founder of the Redemptorist Order (in Austria).
He was Canonised on 20 May 1909 by Pope Pius X.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/03/15/saint-of-the-day-15-march-st-clement-mary-
hofbauer-c-ss-r-1751-1820/

Bl Anthony of Milan
St Aristobulos of Britannia
St Bodian of Hanvec
St Eoghan of Concullen
St Eusebius II of Vercelli (Died c520) Bishop
Bl Francis of Fermo
St Longinus the Centurian
Bl Ludovico de la Pena
St Mancius of Evora
St Matrona of Capua
St Matrona of Thessaloniki
St Menignus of Parium
Bl Monaldus of Ancona
St Nicander of Alexandria
St Peter Pasquale
St Sisebuto
St Speciosus
St Vicenta of Coria
Bl Walter of Quesnoy

Blessed William Hart (1558-1583) 25 year old Priest Martyr and Missionary.
AND His Farewell to a Mother (Heart-rending)
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/15/saint-of-the-day-15-march-blessed-william-hart-1558-1583-priest-martyr-and-his-farewell-to-a-mother-heart-rending/
AND His Last Words:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/15/quote-s-of-the-day-15-march-blessed-william-hart-1558-1583-priest-martyr/

St Pope Zachary (Died 752) – Papal Ascension 5 December 741- 752. Abolitionist of slavery,Apostle of the poor, Diplomat of skill and subtlity, Administrator of great renown, Peace-maker.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/15/saint-of-the-day-15-march-saint-pope-zachary-died-752/

Posted in ACT of CONTRITION, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on GOOD WORKS, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on PURITY of INTENTION, QUOTES on VANITY, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 14 March – The Last Artifice of the Devil –Making even Virtue, an Occasion of Sin! (Part Three)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 14 March – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

XXXII: … The Last Artifice of the Devil –
Making even Virtue, an Occasion of Sin!
(Part Three)

“Consider next, that not only do all the works which you have done. fall short of the Light which has been given you to know them and the grace to execute them but too, that in themselves, they are very imperfect and are deficient of that pure intention and due diligence and fervour, with which they should be performed and which should always accompany them.

If, then, you will well consider this, you will see reason, rather for shame, than for vain complacency because, it is but too true that the graces which we receive pure and perfect from God, are sullied in their use, by our imperfections.

Again, compare your works with those of the Saints and other servants of God — for by such comparison, you will find that your best and greatest, are of base alloy and of little worth.
Next, measure them by those which Christ wrought for you in the Mystery of His life and of His continual Cross and setting aside the consideration of His Divinity, view His works in themselves alone — considering both the fervour and the purity of the love with which they were wrought and, you will see that all your works are indeed, as nothing.

And lastly, if you will raise your thoughts to the Divinity and the boundless Majesty of your God and the service which He deserves at your hands, you will plainly see that your works should excite in you not vanity but fear!

Therefore, in all your ways, in all your works, however holy they maybe, you must cry unto your Lord with all your heart, saying:
“God be merciful to me a sinner!”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/12/thought-for-the-day-12-march-the-last-artifice-of-the-devil-making-even-virtue-an-occasion-of-sin-part-one/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/13/thought-for-the-day-13-march-the-last-artifice-of-the-devil-making-even-virtue-an-occasion-of-sin-part-two/

Posted in CATECHESIS, QUOTES on GOOD WORKS, QUOTES on PRAYER

Quote/s of the Day – 14 March – St Lawrence Justinian on the Holy Mass and Prayer

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 14 March – St Lawrence Justinian on Prayer

“There is no prayer or good work
so great, so pleasing to God,
so useful to us,
as the Holy Mass.”

“No human tongue can enumerate
the favours which emanate from
the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The sinner is reconciled with God,
the just man becomes more upright,
sins are wiped away,
vices are uprooted,
virtue and merit increases
and the devil’s schemes are frustrated.”

“By the practice of prayer
we can construct an impregnable citadel,
in which we shall be securely protected
against all the snares of the enemy.”

“The exterior works of Martha,
without the interior spirit of Mary,
cannot be perfect.
He deceives himself.
who expects, without the aid of prayer,
to succeed in the work of saving souls,
— a work as dangerous as it is sublime!
Without the reflection of prayer,
he shall certainly faint on the way!”

St Lawrence Justinian (1381-1455)

Posted in CATECHESIS, CHRIST the PHYSICIAN, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY COMMUNION, LENT 2024, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

Our Lenten Journey with the Angels and the Saints – 14 March – His Life-giving Eucharist

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Lenten Journey with the Angels and the Saints – 14 March – Thursday of the Fourth Week in Lent – 4 Kings 4:25-38, Luke 7:11-16 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Seek the Lord and be strengthened,
seek His Face evermore.”
Psalm 104:4

“Young man, I say to thee, arise!”
Luke 7:14

His Life-giving Eucharist

St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444)
Father & Doctor of the Church

“Even for restoring the dead to life, the Saviour did not stop at acting by Word alone, although it was the bearer of Divine Commands.
For such a surpassing work, He took His own Flesh as His assistant – if one might put it that way – that He might show, that it has the power to give life and, that He might cause it to be seen that it is entirely One with Him.
For, it is indeed His very own Flesh and not an alien body.

This is what happened when He restored life to the synagogue leader’s daughter, saying to her: “My child, arise!” (Mk 5:41).
He took her by the hand, as it is written.
As God, He gave her back her life, by His all-powerful command and animated her too, by contact with His Holy Flesh.
Thus, He bore witness that, in Flesh as in His Word, one and the same Divine energy was at work.
In the same way, too, when he came to a Town called Nain, where the widow’s only son was being buried, He touched the coffin, saying: “Young man, I say to thee, arise!” (Lk 7:14).

Thus, He not only conferred to His Word the power to raise the dead but He even touched the dead, to show that His Body is Life-giving and, through His Flesh, He caused life to pass into their corpses.
If the touch alone of His Sacred Flesh restores life to a corrupting body, what profit shall we not discover in His Life-giving Eucharist when we make of it our food?
It will wholly transform into its own property which is immortality, those who participate in it.” – (Commentary on the Gospel of John Ch 4).

Posted in "Follow Me", CATECHESIS, CHRIST the PHYSICIAN, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on DIVINE PROVIDENCE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, St Francis de Sales, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 14 March – ‘ …The great and excellent Physician …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 14 March – “The Month of St Joseph” – Thursday of the Fourth Week in Lent – 4 Kings 4:25-38, Luke 7:11-16 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Young man, I say to thee, arise!” – Luke 7:14

REFLECTION – “Our Lord, the great and excellent Physician of our infirmities, announced everywhere, before coming into this world, both His arrival and the maladies He would cure; sometimes by His prophets. …”

What wonder then if, in the Gospel, we find Him surrounded by the sick, by sinners and by publicans! O vain and foolish murmuring of the Hebrews, when they said: “This man receiveth sinners.” Whom would you wish Him to receive? Is it not the honour of a Physician to be sought for by the sick and so much the more, as their maladies are considered incurable? …

Thus, how were the poor Prodigal and the unfortunate Absalom received by their fathers? And, otherwise, what would become of us, for all have sinned? Every man is a liar, that is to say, a sinner. If we say that we are without sin, we deceived ourselves. Return to the Lord, and forsake your injustice, for His Mercy is great towards those who are converted to Him. Why is He called Saviour, unless in order to save? …

But, oh, miserable that we are! We are often called and we only turn a deaf ear. “I have called and you have not heard,” says God. We are drawn and we obstinately resist Him. He complains, saying: “All the day long have I stretched out My hands to this incredulous and rebellious people! ”…

Let us then depart, let us depart from Egypt, let us approach Our Lord, let us make provision of good works; let the feet of our affections be bare, let us clothe ourselves with innocence, let us not be satisfied with crying for mercy, let us go forth from Egypt, let us delay no longer.
The hour is come to arise from sleep, since we know that He receives sinners; the Angels await our repentance, the Saints pray for it!” – (Consoling Thoughts on God and Providence).

PRAYER – Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who are chastising the flesh by fasting, may rejoice in this holy practice and thus, with earthly passions subdued, we may the more readily direct our thoughts to Heavenly things. Through the same 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).

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DYING / LAST WORDS, Our MORNING Offering, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on THANKSGIVING

Our Morning Offering – 14 March – Lord Jesus Christ, Have Mercy Upon Me. The Dying Prayer of St Richard of Chichester

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Our Morning Offering – 14 March – Thursday of the 4th Week in Lent

Lord Jesus Christ,
Have Mercy Upon Me.
The Dying Prayer of
St Richard of Chichester (1197-1253)

Lord Jesus Christ,
I thank Thee
for all the blessings Thou hast given me
and for all the sufferings and shame,
Thou didst endure for me,
on which account,
that pitiable cry of sorrow was Thine:
“Behold and see, if there was any sorrow
like unto My sorrow!”
Thou knowest Lord,
how willing I should be, to bear insult
and pain, and death for Thee,
therefore, have mercy upon me,
for to Thee do I commend my spirit.
Amen

St Richard recited this prayer on his deathbed, surrounded by the Clergy of his Diocese. The words were transcribed, in Latin, by his Confessor and friend, Fr Ralph Bocking (who ultimately also became his Biographer), a Dominican Friar. The prayer was eventually published in the Acta Sanctorum, an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Saints. The British Library copy contains Fr Bocking’s transcription of the prayer in his handwriting as below:

Gratias tibi ago,
Domine Jesu Christe,
de omnibus beneficiis
quae mihi praestitisti;
pro poenis et opprobrious,
quae pro me pertulisti;
propter quae planctus ille lamentabilis
vere tibi competebat.
Non est dolor similis sicut dolor meus.

However, the first English translation is as above an not the version below, or the one more commonly known as “Day by Day” which words were never in the original and were added and used in the extremely sacrilegious and blasphemous “Godspell” – even though the common version with the rhyming “Triplet” (i.e. clearly, dearly, nearly) – is the one found commonly in Hymn and Prayer Books.
Bearing in mind that this was “The Dying Prayer ” of St Richard, it is obviously highly unlikely that he would have requested the grace of daily sanctity, “day by day!”

Thanks be to Thee,
my Lord Jesus Christ
For all the benefits
Thou hast given me,
For all the pains and insults
Thou hast borne for me.
O most merciful Redeemer,
Friend and Brother,
May I know Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly.
Amen

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 14 March – Saint Pauline of Thuringia (Died 1107) Widow

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Saint of the Day – 14 March – Saint Pauline of Thuringia (Died 1107) Widow, Mother, Nun. Died on 14 March 1107 in Fulda, Germany of natural causes.
Also known as – Pauline of Fulda, Pauline of Hirsau, Pauline of Münsterschwarzach, Pauline of Zell, Paolina, Paulina.

Born to the Saxon nobility, Pauline was married, after the early death of her first husband to Ulric de Scharaplan. The couple were blessed with children, although we do not know anything about them.

After the death of Ulric and the sole upbringing of her children, she decided to enter religious life and asked the Pope for advice. He directed her to Udone, the Abbot of St Blasien Monastery. Unfortunately, however, in that period both the Abbot and Pauline’s father died.

Pauline then decided to retire with some companions to a forest in Thuringia, where she founded a double Monastery. The direction was entrusted to a Monk while Werner, Pauline’s son, took care of material things as a Lay Brother and Administrator.

In 1107 Pauline and her Nuns decided to separate from the Monks at Thuringia. She undertook to lead them to a Monastery at Hirsau but while travelling Pauline fell ill and was admitted to the Hospice at Munsterchwarzach. Here she received a visit from the Superior of Thuringia Monastery, who blessed her with the administration of the last Rites and Sacraments. She died on 14 March 1107.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Thursday of the 4th Week in Lent, Day Five of the St Joseph Novena and the Saints for 14 March

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Thursday of the 4th Week in Lent – FAST

NOVENA to ST JOSEPH
DAY FIVE – Click Link HERE: DAY FIVE

Notre Dame de la Breche, Our Lady of the Breach, Chartres, France (1568) – 14 March:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/14/fourth-sunday-of-lent-laetare-sunday-2021-notre-dame-de-la-breche-chartres-france-1568-and-memorials-of-the-saints-14-march/

St Agno of Zaragoza
St Alexander of Pydna
St Aphrodisius of Africa
Bl Arnold of Padua
St Boniface Curitan
St Diaconus
St Eutychius of Mesopotamia

Blessed Eva of Liège (c 1205-1265) Virgin, Recluse, “Apostle of the Blessed Sacrament” and assistant to St Juliana of Cornillon in the establishment of the Feast of Corpus Christi.
Dear Holy Eva:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/14/saint-of-the-day-14-march-blessed-eva-of-liege-c-1205-1265-virgin/

St Lazarus of Milan (Died c449) Archbishop of Milan – This Saint has 2 Feast Days, today and 11 February — the latter is the day celebrated in Milan in the Ambrosian Rite and the day on which I had previously prepared his Biography.
https://anastpaul.com/2021/02/11/saint-of-the-day-11-february-saint-lazarus-of-milan-died-449-archbishop-of-milan/

St Leo of the Agro Verano

St Leobinus of Chartres (Died c 558) Bishop of Chartres, Queen, Apostle of Prayer and Almsgiving, Foundress.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/14/saint-of-the-day-14-march-saint-leobinus-of-chartres-died-c-558/

St Matilda of Saxony (c 894-968) Queen, Apostle of Prayer and Almsgiving, Foundress.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/03/14/saint-of-the-day-14-march-st-matilda-of-saxony/

St Maximilian
St Pauline of Thuringia (Died 1107) Widow
St Peter of Africa
St Philip of Turin
St Talmach
Bl Thomas Vives

47 Martyrs of Rome – Forty-seven people who were Baptised into the Faith in Rome, Italy by Saint Peter the Apostle and were later Martyred together during the persecutions of Nero. Martyred c67 in Rome, Italy

Martyrs of Valeria – Two Monks Martyred by Lombards in Valeria, Italy who were never identified.
After the monks were dead, their killers could still hear them singing Psalms. They were hanged on a tree in Valeria, Italy.

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on GOOD WORKS, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on THANKSGIVING, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on THE WORLD, QUOTES on VANITY, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 13 March – The Last Artifice of the Devil –Making even Virtue, an Occasion of Sin! (Part Two)

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Thought for the Day – 13 March – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

XXXII: … The Last Artifice of the Devil –
Making even Virtue, an Occasion of Sin!
(Part Two)

“Again, in the life of grace and the performance of good works, what good or meritorious deed, could your nature perform by itself, if deprived of Divine assistance?

For, considering, on the other hand, the multitude of your past transgressions and moreover, the multitude of other sins from which, God’s compassionate Hand, has alone withheld you, you will find that your iniquities, being multiplied, not only by days and years but, by acts and habits of sin, (one evil habit drawing another after it), would have swelled to an almost infinite amount and so, have made of you, another infernal Lucifer!

Hence, if you would not rob God of the praise of His goodness but cleave faithfully to Him, you must learn, day-by-day, to think more humbly of yourself.
And be very careful to deal justly in this judgement of yourself, or it may do you no little injury.
For, if in the knowledge of your own iniquity, you surpass a man who, in his blindness, accounts himself to be something, you will lose exceedingly and fall far below him in the action of the will, if you desire to be esteemed and regarded by men, for that which you know yourself, not to be.

If, then, you desire that the consciousness of your vileness and sinfulness should protect you from your enemies and make you dear to God, you must not only despise yourself, as unworthy of any good and deserving of every evil but, you must love to be despised by others, detesting honours, rejoicing in shame and
stooping on all occasions to offices which others hold in contempt.
You must make no account at all of their judgement, lest you be, thereby, deterred from this holy exercise.
But take care that the end in view be solely your own humiliation and
self-discipline, lest you be in any degree influenced by a certain lurking pride and spirit of presumption which, under some specious pretext or other, often causes us to make little or no account of the opinions of others.

And should you perchance come to be loved, esteemed, or praised by others for any good gift bestowed upon you by God, be not moved, a single step, thereby but, collect yourself steadily within the stronghold of this true and just judgement of yourself, first turning to God and saying to Him with all your heart :

“O Lord, never let me rob Thee of Thy honour
and the glory of Thy grace.
To Thee be praise and honour and glory,
to me, confusion of face.”

And then say mentally of him who praises you:

“Whence is it that he accounts me good,
since truly, my God and His works, are alone good?”

For by thus, giving back to the Lord that which is His own, you will keep your enemies afar off and prepare yourself to receive greater gifts and favours from your God.

And if the remembrance of good works exposes you to any risk of vanity, view them instantly, not as your own but as God’s and say to them :

“I know not how you did appear and originate in my mind,
for you derived not your being from me
but the good God and His grace created, nourished and preserved you.
Him alone, then, will I acknowledge as your true
and first Parent, Him will I thank
and to Him, will I return all the praise.
Amen!”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/12/thought-for-the-day-12-march-the-last-artifice-of-the-devil-making-even-virtue-an-occasion-of-sin-part-one/

Posted in "Follow Me", CARMELITES, CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on THE VOICE OF GOD, The HEART, The HOLY FACE

Quote/s of the Day – 13 March – I am the Light of the world

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Quote/s of the Day – 13 March – Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Lent – Isaias 1:16-19, John 9:1-38 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“I am the Light of the world;
he who follows me will not walk in darkness
but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

“Arise, be enlightened, …
for thy Light is come!”

Isaias 60:1

“Let us listen to the holy Voice of God
which summons us from on high,
from the holy mountain top.
There, we must hasten – I make bold to say –
like Jesus, Who is our leader
and has gone before us into Heaven.
There, with Him, may the eyes of our mind
shine with His light and the features of our soul
be made new; may we be transfigured with Him
and moulded to His image,
ever becoming divine,
being transformed in an ever greater degree of glory.”

St Anastasius Sinaita (Died 6th Century)
Priest and Abbot

Eternal Light, Shine into our Hearts
By St Alcuin of York (735-804)

Eternal Light, shine into our hearts,
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil,
Eternal Power, be our support,
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the
darkness of our ignorance,
Eternal Pity, have mercy on us
that with all our heart
and mind
and soul
and strength,
we may seek Thy Face
and be brought,
by Thine Infinite Mercy
to Thy Holy Presence;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord
Amen

“The endurance of darkness
is the preparation for great light!”

St John of the Cross (1542-1591)

Posted in "Follow Me", AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, LENT 2024, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on TRUTH, The WORD

Our Lenten Journey with the Angels and the Saints – 13 March – A Command and A Promise

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Our Lenten Journey with the Angels and the Saints – 13 March – Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Lent – Isaias 1:16-19, John 9:1-38 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Wash yourselves, be clean,
take away the evil of your deeds
from my eyes …”
Isaias 1:16

“And Jesus passing by, saw a man
who was blind from his birth. …
As long as I Am in the world,
I Am the Light of the world.
When He had said these things,
He spat on the ground
and made clay of the spittle
and spread the clay upon his eyes,”
John 9:1,5-6

A Command and A Promise

St Augustine (354-430)
Father and Doctor of Grace

“The Lord tells us – I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me, will not walk in darkness but will have the Light of life.
In these few words He gives a COMMAND and makes a PROMISE.
Let us do what He commands, so that we may not blush to covet what He promises and to hear Him say on the Day of Judgement:
“I laid down certain conditions for obtaining My Promises. Have you fulfilled them?”
If you say: “What did you command, Lord our God?”
He will tell you: “I commanded you to follow Me.
You asked for advice on how to enter into life. What life, if not the life about which it is written: With Thee is the fountain of life?”

Let us do now what He commands!
Let us follow in the footsteps of the Lord!
Let us throw off the chains which prevent us from following Him.
Who can throw off these shackles without the aid of the One addressed in these words: You have broken my chains?
Another psalm says of Him: The Lord frees those in chains, the Lord raises up the downcast.

Those who have been freed and raised up follow the Light.
The Light they follow speaks to them: I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me, will not walk in darkness.
The Lord gives Light to the blind.
Brethren, that Light shines on us now, for we have had our eyes anointed with the eye-salve of faith.
His saliva was mixed with earth to anoint the man born blind.
We are of Adam’s stock, blind from our birth, we need Him to give us Light.
He mixed saliva with earth and so it was prophesied: Truth has sprung up from the earth.
He Himself has said: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. …

If you love Me, follow Me. “I do love you,” you protest “but how do I follow you?”
If the Lord your God said to you: “I am the Truth and the Life,” in your desire for truth, in your love for life, you would certainly ask Him to show you the way to reach them.
You would say to yourself: “Truth is a great reality, life is a great reality – if only it were possible for my soul to find them!” – (An excerpt from: On John [Treatise 34]).

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 13 March – ‘… The Hand of God … ‘

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 13 March – “The Month of St Joseph” – Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Lent – Isaias 1:16-19, John 9:1-38 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“I am the light of the world. When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and spread the clay upon his eyes,” – John 9:5-6

REFLECTION – “To the man who had been blind from birth He gave sight, not by means of a word but by an outward action, doing this, not without a purpose or because it so happened but that He might show forth, the Hand of God which, at the beginning had moulded man. And, therefore, when His disciples asked Him, for what cause the man had been born blind, whether for his own or his parents’ faults, He replied: “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents,but that the Works of God, should be made manifest in him.” Now the Work of God is the fashioning of man. For, as Scripture says, He made [man] by a kind of process: “And the Lord took clay from the earth and formed man.” (Gn 2:7). Wherefore also, the Lord spat on the ground and made clay and smeared it upon the eyes, pointing to the original fashioning, how it was effected and manifesting the Hand of God to those who can understand, by what [Hand] man was formed out of the dust…

And, inasmuch, as man, with respect to that formation which, after Adam, had fallen into transgression, needed the layer of regeneration, [the Lord] said to him [upon whom He had conferred sight], after He had smeared his eyes with the clay: “Go to Siloam and wash,” thus restoring to him, both [his perfect] confirmation and that regeneration which took place, by means of the smearing. And so, when he had washed, he emerged seeing that he might both know Him Who had fashioned him and might learn [to know] Him, Who has conferred life upon him …

But He, the very same Who formed Adam at the beginning, with Whom also the Father spoke, [saying], “Let Us make man after Our Image and Likeness,” revealing Himself in these last times to men, formed visual organs for him, who had been blind, [in that body which he had derived] from Adam.” – St Irenaeus (130-202) Bishop, Martyr, Theologian, Father of the Church (Against Heresies, V, 15, 2-4).

PRAYER – O Lord, we beseech Thee, in Thy mercy, pour forth Thy grace into our hearts, that, as we abstain from material food, so may we restrain our senses from sin. 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)

Posted in CATHOLIC TIME, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS to the SAINTS, St Francis de Sales, St JOSEPH

Our Morning Offering – 13 March – Glorious St Joseph! By St Francis de Sales

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Our Morning Offering – 13 March – Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Lent – “The Month of the St Joseph” and his special day of the week in Catholic time

Glorious St Joseph!
Prayer for the Intercession
of St Joseph in All Our Needs
By St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritatis

Glorious St Joseph, Spouse of Mary,
grant us thy paternal protection,
we beseech thee, by the Heart of Jesus Christ.
O thou, whose power extends
to all our necessities
and can render possible for us,
the most impossible things.
Open thy fatherly eyes
to the needs of thy children.
In the trouble and distress
which afflicts us,
we confidently have recourse to thee.
Deign to take under thy charitable charge
this important and difficult matter,
cause of our worries.
Make its happy outcome
be for God’s glory
and for the good of His devoted servants.
Amen

Posted in Against ICONOCLASM, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 13 March – Saint Nicephorus (c758-829) Bishop, Confessor

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Saint of the Day – 13 March – Saint Nicephorus (c758-829) Bishop and Confessor, Defender of Sacred images. Nicephorus was the Bishop of Constantinople from 806-815, Scholar and Writer. Born in c758 in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey) and died at the Monastery he had founded on the Black Sea coast on 5 April 828 or 2 June 829 (sources vary). Both these dates are variously celebrated in his honour.

The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Constantinople, the Bishop St Nicephorus. In defence of the traditions of his forefathers and of the Churrch, the worship of Sacred images, he opposed the Iconoclast Emperor, by whom he was sent into exile, where he underwent a long martyrdom of fourteen years and departed for the Kingdom of God.”

This champion of the orthodox view in the second contest over the veneration of images belonged to a noted family of Constantinople. He was the son of the Imperial Secretary Theodore and his pious wife ,Eudoxia. Eudoxia was a strict adherent of the Church and Theodore had been banished by the Emperor Constantine Copronymus (741-75) on account of his steadfast support of the teaching of the Church concerning images.

While still young Nicephorus was brought to the Court, where he too became an Imperial Secretary. In 787, with two other officials of high rank, he represented the Empress Irene in 787 at the Second Council of Nicaea (the Seventh Ecumenical Council) which declared the Doctrine of the Church regarding images. Shortly after this Nicephorus sought solitude on the Thracian Bosporus, where he had founded a Monastery. There he devoted himself to ascetic practices and to the study both of secular learning, as grammar, mathematics and philosophy as well as to the that of the Sacred sciences especially the Scriptures.

Later he was recalled to the capital and given charge of the great hospital for the destitute, possibly that founded by St Basil the Great. Upon the death of Bishop Tarasius (25 February, 806), there was great division among the Clergy and higher Court officials, as to the choice of his successor. Finally, with the assent of the Bishops and Emperor, Nicephorus was appointed. Although still a layman, he was known by all to be very religious and highly educated. He received Holy Orders and was Consecrated Bishop on Easter Sunday, 12 April 806. He was opposed for a time by St Theodore the Studite after Nicephorus forgave a Priest who married Emperor Constantine VI toTheodota, despite the fact the Constantine’s wife, Mary, still lived. He seems to have been a gentle and forgiving man, devoted to reconciliation.

But in regard to Sacred images, Nicephorus challenged the Iconoclast policies of Emperor Leo V the Armenian without fear and was deposed by a Synod of Iconoclast Bishops at the conniving of the Emperor. Nearly assassinated on several occasions, Nicephorus was finally exiled to the Monastery he had founded on the Black Sea, spending his remaining years there in prayer.

He died in 829, never having been able to return to his See. While Bishop, he brought various reforms to his large Diocese and inspired zealous shepherded his faithful flock. He was also the Author of anti-Iconoclast writings and two historical works, a Chronographia and Brevianim.

In 847, St Nicephorus’ remains were solemnly brought back to Constantinople by Bishop Methodius I and interred in the Church of the Holy Apostles, where they were the object of an annual festival celebrated with much devotion.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Wednesday of the FOURTH WEEK in LENT, “The Salus Populi Romani” / Our Lady of the Empress, Rome (593), Day Four of the St Joseph Novena and the Saints for 13 March

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Wednesday of the FOURTH WEEK in LENT – FAST

“The Salus Populi Romani” / Our Lady of the Empress, Rome (593) – 13 March:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/13/our-lady-of-the-empress-rome-the-salus-populi-romani-593-and-memorials-of-the-saints-13-march/

NOVENA for the INTERCESSION of ST JOSEPH
DAY FOUR:Clink Link here: DAY FOUR

St Leander of Seville (c534-c 600) BIshop, Confessor of the Faith, Teacher, Writer, Apostle of Spain and Evangelisation, Father of the Church – Patron of Episcopal attire and Liturgical garments. Saint Leander, as Bishop, instituted the practice of praying the Nicene Creed during Mass—a practice which continues today.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/saint-of-the-day-13-march-st-leander-of-seville/

Blessed Agnellus of Pisa OFM (c1195-1236) Frair of the Order of Friars Minor, received into the Franciscans Order by Saint Francis himself, Missionary. Agnellus was the Founder of the Order in England and its First Minister Provincial.
About Blessed Agnellus:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/13/saint-of-the-day-13-march-blessed-agnellus-of-pisa-ofm-c1195-1236-priest/

St Ansovinus of Camerino (Died 868) Bishop, Hermit, Peace-maker, Spiritual Adviser and Confessor to the Holy Roman Emperor, Miracle-worker.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/13/saint-of-the-day-13-march-saint-ansovinus-of-camerino-died-868/

Bl Berengar de Alenys
St Christina of Persia
St Euphrasia

Blessed Françoise Tréhet (1756-1794) Virgin Martyr, Religious Sister, Teacher, Apostle of Charity. Martyr of the French Revolution. She was Beatified on 19 June 1955 by Pope Pius XII at Rome, Italy.
Her Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/13/saint-of-the-day-13-march-bl-francoise-trehet-1756-1794-
martyr/

St Gerald of Mayo
St Grace of Saragossa

St Heldrad of Novalese (Died c 875) Priest and Benedictine Abbot.
St Heldrad’s Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/13/saint-of-the-day-13-march-st-heldrad-of-novalese-died-c-875/

Bl Judith of Ringelheim
St Kevoca of Kyle
St Mochoemoc
St Nicephorus (c758-829) Bishop and Confessor, Defender of Icons
Bl Peter II of La Cava
St Pientius of Poitiers
St Ramirus of Leon

St Roderick of Córdoba.(Died 857) Spanish Priest and Martyr
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/13/saint-of-the-day-13-march-saint-roderick-died-857-priest-and-martyr/

St Sabinus of Egypt
St Sancha of Portugal

Posted in GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, QUOTES on VANITY, QUOTES on VIRTUE, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 12 March – The Last Artifice of the Devil –Making even Virtue, an Occasion of Sin! (Part One)

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Thought for the Day – 12 March – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

XXXII: … The Last Artifice of the Devil –
Making even Virtue, an Occasion of Sin!
(Part One)

“The cunning and malicious serpent never fails to tempt us, by his artifices, even by means of the very virtues we have acquired, thus, leading us to regard them and ourselves with complacency, they may become our ruin, exalting us on high, that we may fall into the sin of pride and vainglory!

To preserve yourself from this danger, choose for your battlefield, the safe and level ground of a true and deep conviction of your own nothingness – that you are nothing, that you know nothing, that you can do nothing and have nothing but misery and sin and deserve nothing but eternal damnation.

Entrench yourself firmly within the limits of this truth and suffer not yourself to be enticed, so much as a hair’s breadth therefrom, by any evil thought, or anything else which may befall you; knowing well that there are so many enemies, who would slay or wound you, should you fall into their hands.

In order to acquit yourself well in this exercise of the true knowledge of your own nothingness, observe the following rule:

“As often as you reflect upon yourself
and your own works and worth,
consider always what you are of yourself
and not what you are by the aid of God’s grace
and so, esteem yourself,
as you shall thus find yourself to be.”

Consider first the time before you were in existence and you will see yourself to have been, during all that abyss of eternity, a mere nothing and, that you did nothing and could have done nothing, towards giving yourself an existence!

Next, consider the time since you did receive a being from the sole bounty of God.
And here, also, if you leave to Him that which is His own, (His continual care of you which sustains you every moment of your life), what are you of yourself but still a mere nothing?!

For, undoubtedly, were He to leave you for one moment to yourself, you would instantly return to that first nothingness from whence you were drawn by His Almighty Hand.
It is plain that, in the order of nature and viewed in yourself alone, you have no reason to esteem yourself, or to desire the esteem of others!”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HYMNS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

Quote/s of the Day – 12 March – St Gregory the Great

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 12 March – St Gregory the Great (540-604) Pope, Confessor, Father & Doctor of the Church, “Father of the Fathers” “The Apostle of England”

Anglorum Iam Apostolus
The Apostle of England
By St Peter Damian (1007-1072)
Bishop, Confesssor, Father and Doctor
A Tribute to his fellow Monk
St Gregory the Great (540-604)
Pope, Confessor, Father & Doctor of the Church

Apostle to the English lands
Now with the Angel hosts he stands.
Make haste, St Gregory, relieve
And help the people who believe.

From riches and from wealth you turned.
The glory of the world you spurned
That you might follow, being poor,
Prince Jesus, Who was poor before.

This Christ, High Pontifex, decreed
That you would take His Church’s lead
And learn St Peter’s steps to tread,
The rule of all called in his stead.

You wondrously solved, riddles deep
The mystic secrets Scriptures keep,
For Truth Himself, has taught you these:
The lofty sacred Mysteries.

O Pontifex, our leader bright,
The Church’s honour and its light,
Through dangers let them all be brought,
The ones you carefully have taught.

The unborn Father, let us praise
And to His Son like glory raise
And to their Equal, Majesty.
All glory to the Trinity.
Amen

FOR:
St Gregory the Great (540-604)
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/12/quote-s-of-the-day-12-march-f-st-gregory-the-great/

Posted in ArchAngels and Angels, CHRIST the PHYSICIAN, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2024, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on STRENGTH, SAINT of the DAY

Our Lenten Journey with the Angels and the Saints – 12 March – Pride, Strength, That I May See!

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Our Lenten Journey with the Angels and the Saints – 12 March – Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Lent – St Gregory the Great (540-604), Pope, Confessor, Father & Doctor of the Church, “Father of the Fathers” “The Apostle of England”

Pride, Strength, That I May See!

St Gregory the Great (540-604),
Pope, Confessor, Father & Doctor of the Church

“Whenever something is to be done needing great power,
Michael is sent forth, so that from his action
and from his name, we can understand
that no-one can do what God can do.
Hence that old enemy, who through pride,
desired to be like God, saying,
“I will scale the heavens,
I will set up my throne,
I will be like the Most High,”
is shown at the end of the world,
left to his own strength and about to undergo
the final punishment, as destined to fight
with Michael the Archangel.
Similarly, Gabriel was sent to Mary;
he who is called “strength of God” came to announce Him,
Who deigned to appear in humility
to conquer the powers of the air.
And Raphael is interpreted, as we said,
“Medicine of God,” for when he touched the eyes of Tobias
to do the work of healing, he dispelled the night of his blindness.”

Practice: If I am tempted to pride today I will ask St Michael to help me conquer my pride. I will have great confidence in his prayers for this intention since it was he who brought down Lucifer, the very spirit of pride. “Who is like unto God!”
And to St Gabriel, in my weakness, I may ask prayers for strength and of St Raphael, his prayers to cure my many hurts, both physical and spiritual.

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on DISCIPLESHIP, QUOTES on MISSION, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SAINT of the DAY, St PAUL!, St PETER!, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS, The HOLY CROSS, The SIGN of the CROSS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 12 March– ‘… [Thou] didst boldly set up the trophy of the Cross of Christ, upon those Roman walls …’

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One Minute Reflection – 12 March – “Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Lent – St Gregory the Great (540-604), Pope, Confessor, Father & Doctor of the Church, “Father of the Fathers” – 1 Peter 5:1-4; 5:10-11; Matthew 16:13-19 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“And I say to thee: That thou art Peter and upon this rock, I will build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” – Matthew 16:18

REFLECTION – “When the twelve holy Apostles had received from the Holy Ghost the power to speak all languages, they divided the regions of the earth amongst themselves, as fields for their Gospel labours. Then was Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, sent to the Capital City of the Roman Empire that he might make the Light to shine, from the head, to the whole body of the civilised nations. At that time, what nation was there which had no representative in Rome? What nations would be ignorant of what Rome had learned?

Here were to be refuted the theories of philosophers, here dissolved the vanities of earthly wisdom, here overthrown the worship of devils, here destroyed the impiety of every sacrilege; here, where superstitious zeal had collected all the error and vanity of the world. Therefore, to this City, O most blessed Peter, thou dost not fear to come and, while thy companion in glory, the Apostle Paul, is still occupied with the government of other Churches, thou dost enter this forest of savage beasts, this deep and turbulent ocean, with more boldness than when thou didst walk upon the water!

Thou hadst already taught those, of the circumcision who had been converted, thou hadst founded the Church of Antioch, the first that bore the noble name of Christian; thou hadst published the law of the Gospel throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia and, thou didst not fear for the difficulty of thy work, nor turn back because of thine old age but didst boldly set up the trophy of the Cross of Christ, upon those Roman walls, where the Providence of God had appointed the throne of thine honour and the glorious scene of thy passion.” – St Leo the Great (400-461) Pope, Father and Doctor of the Church (Sermon on the Feast of St Peter’s Chair at Rome).

PRAYER – O God, Who granted the rewards of everlasting happiness to the soul of Thy servant Gregory, mercifully grant that we, who are weighed down with the burden of our sins, may be raised up by his prayers to Thee. 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).

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HYMNS, LENT 2024, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 12 March – Lucis Creator Optime, O Blest Creator of the Light By St Gregory the Great

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Our Morning Offering – 12 March – Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Lent and the Memorial of St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) – Father & Doctor

Lucis Creator Optime
O Blest Creator of the Light
By St Gregory the Great (540-604)
Pope, Father & Doctor
“Father of the Fathers”

O blest Creator of the light,
Who mak’st the day with radiance bright,
And o’er the forming world did’st call
The Light from Chaos First of all.

Whose wisdom join’d in meet array
The morn and eve and nam’d them day;
Night comes with all its darkling fears;
Regard Thy people’s pray’rs and tears.

Lest, sunk in sin and whelm’d with strife,
They lose the gift of endless life;
While thinking but the thoughts of time,
They weave new chains of woe and crime.

But grant them grace that they may strain
The heav’nly gate and prize to gain;
Each harmful lure, aside to cast,
And purge away each error past.

O Father, that we ask be done,
Through Jesus Christ, Thine only Son;
Who, with the Holy Ghost and Thee,
Shall live and reign eternally.
Amen

This hymn is used for Vespers (II) on Sundays throughout the year in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Breviary.
Trans John M Neale (1818-1866), 1851.
Tune: “Lucis Creator Optime” Gregorian Chant, Mode VIII, traditional.

Posted in Against ICONOCLASM, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 12 March – Saint Theophanes (c758-817) Abbot, Confessor, Defender of Icons

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Saint of the Day – 12 March – Saint Theophanes (c758-817) Abbot, Confessor, Founder of Monasteries, Defender of Sacred images, Writer and Historian. Born in Samothrace, Thrace, Greece and died there on 12 March 817 of natural causes (aged 57–59). Also known as – Theophanus of Isaurius, Teofane…

The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Constantinople, St Theophanes, who gave up great wealth to embrace poverty in the monastic state. By Leo the Armenian, he was kept in prison for two years for the worship of holy images, then, being exiled in Samothracia, where, overwhelmed with afflictions, he breathed his last and wrought many miracles.”

Theophanes was born in Constantinople of wealthy and noble iconodule parents, being Isaac, the Governor of the Islands of the Aegean Sea and Theodora, of whose family nothing is known. His father died when Theophanes was three years old and the Byzantine Emperor, Constantine V (740–775) subsequently saw to the boy’s education and upbringing, at the Imperial Court. Theophanes would later hold several offices under Leo IV.

He was married at the age of eighteen but convinced his wife to lead a life of virginity. In 779, after the death of his father-in-law, they separated with mutual consent, to embrace the religious life. She chose a Convent on an Island near Constantinople, while he entered the Polychronius Monastery, located in the district of Sigiane on the Asian side of the Sea of Marmara. Later, he built a Monastery on his own lands, on the Island of Calonymus (now Calomio), where he acquired a high degree of skill in transcribing manuscripts.

After six years there, Theophanes returned to Sigriano, where he founded an Abbey known by the name ‘of the big settlement’ and governed it as the Abbot. In this position of leadership, he was present at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 and signed its decrees in defence of the veneration of Icons.

During the years 810-815, Theophanes undertook, at the urgent request of his friend, the Monk and Historian, George Syncellus, who died shortly after Theophanes acceptance, the continuation of Syncellus’ Christian History. The language used occupies a place midway between the stiff Ecclesiastical and the vernacular Greek. Theophanes’ part of the History covered events from the accession of Diocletian in 284 to 813. This part of the History is valuable for having preserved the accounts of Byzantine Ecclesiatical history, for the 7th and 8th Centuries which would otherwise have been lost.

When Emperor Leo V the Armenian (813–820) resumed his iconoclastic warfare, he ordered Theophanes brought to Constantinople. The Emperor tried in vain to induce him to condemn the veneration of icons which had been sanctioned by the second Council of Nicaea. Theophanes was cast into prison and for two years suffered cruel treatment. After his release in 817, he was banished to Samothrace, where overwhelmed with afflictions, he lived only seventeen days in his home country.

He is credited with many miracles which occurred after his death, on 12 March, the day he is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology.