Christmas Novena to the Divine Infant Jesus By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
THE EIGHTH DAY 23 December Meditation 8: The sojourn of the Infant Jesus in Egypt and Nazareth.
Our blessed Redeemer spent His Infancy in Egypt, living there for seven years in poverty and contempt. Joseph and Mary were unknown there, with neither relatives nor friends. And they could scarcely earn enough to get by, through the labour of their hands. Their cottage was poor, their bed was poor and their food was poor. In this humble hu holy home, Mary weaned Jesus. At first she fed Him from her breast. Later on, she took a little bread soaked in water and placed it in His mouth. It was in that cottage that she made His first little garments, taking off His swaddling clothes and dressing Him in tiny children’s garb. In that cottage, the Child Jesus took His first steps, although He kept faltering and toppling many times, just as all children do. There, also, He uttered His first words.
Imagine what God has reduced Himself to for love of us! God, stumbling and falling as He walked! God, stammering while He learned to speak!
The life Jesus led at the house in Nazareth, after His return from Egypt was much the same – poor and humiliating. Until age thirty, He was a simple shop boy, obeying Joseph and Mary. And He was obedient to them (Luke 2:51). Jesus went to fetch water; Jesus opened and closed the shop; Jesus swept the house; He gathered wood for the fire and worked all day helping Joseph and following his requests, teachings in the trade and commands.
Imagine God living as a boy! God sweeping the floor! God sweating as He planed a piece of wood! And who was He? The all-powerful God, Who, with a simple nod, created the whole universe and Who could destroy it, just as easily, if He wished! Should not the mere thought of this move our hearts to love Him?
How inspiring it must have been to watch the devotion with which Jesus said His prayers, the patience with which He laboured, the haste in which He obeyed, the moderation He used in eating and the kindness and charity, with which He spoke and interacted with others! Every word, every action of Jesus, was so virtuous that it filled everyone around Him with love for God — but especially Mary and Joseph, who were constantly with Him!
Affections and PrayersL
O Jesus, my Savior! When I consider how, for love of me. Thou didst spend thirty years of Thy life hidden and unknown in a poor workshop, how can I desire the pleasures and honours and riches of the world? Gladly do I renounce all these things, since I wish to be Thy companion on this earth, poor as Thou wast, mortified and humble as Thou wast, so that I may hope to be able, one day to enjoy Thy companionship in Heaven. What are all the treasures and kingdoms of this world – Thou, O Jesus, art my only treasure, my only Good!
I keenly regret the many times in the past when I spurned Thy friendship in order to satisfy my foolish whims. I am sorry for them, with all my heart. For the future, I would rather lose my life a thousand times than lose Thy grace by sin. I wish never to offend Thee again but always to love Thee. Help me to remain faithful to Thee until death.
O Mary, thou art the refuge of sinners, thou art my hope. Amen.
Thought for the Day – 23 December – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
A Christmas Novena VIII What Jesus Wants From Us
“Unless you turn and become like little children,” the Infant Jess says to us, “you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 18:2). He wishes us to be humble, simple and innocent, like children. As we grow older, unfortunately, many of us become proud, complicated and vain. We lose the honest candour of childhood
Worldly pretentiousness cannot possibly appeal to Jesus, since He, Who is truly great, chose to become a tiny Infant. He wishes us to renounce the self-important airs and the intricate methods which we employ, in order to conceal the truth, to disguise our lack of virtue and to assume the appearances of learning and of authority, regardless of the fact that the highest achievement of which we are capable, is to be humble, the most necessary knowledge of all, is to know Jesus Crucified and the best kind of authority, is the ability to control our passions and to subject ourselves to the will of God.
It is, in this sense, that we must become little children before God and before man. Then Jesus Christ will love us and will grant us His favours.”
Quote/s of the Day – 23 December – Friday of the Fourth Week of Advent – “The Month of the Divine Infant and the Immaculate Conception”
“O Emmanuel, King and Lawgiver Desire of the nations, Saviour of all people, Come and set us free, Lord, our God!”
“In adoring our Saviour’s birth, it is our origin that we celebrate. Christ’s temporal generation is the source of the Christian people, the birth of His Mystical Body. All of us encounter in this Mystery, a new birth in Christ.”
St Pope Leo the Great (400-461) Father & Doctor of the Church
“He came from Him, from Whom He did not depart, going forth from Him, with Whom He stayed, so that without intermission, He was wholly in eternity, wholly in time, wholly was He found in the Father when wholly in the Virgin, wholly in His own Majesty and in His Father’s, at the time when He was wholly in our humanity. ”
One Minute Reflection – 23 December – “The Month of the Divine Infant and the Immaculate Conception” – Friday of the Fourth Week of Advent – 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, Luke 3:1-6 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Prepare the way of the Lord” – Luke 3:4
REFLECTION – “I speak out in order to lead Him into your hearts but He does not choose to come where I lead Him, unless you prepare the way for Him. To prepare the way means, to pray well – it means thinking humbly of oneself. We should take our lesson from John the Baptist. He is thought to be the Christ, he declares he is not what they think. He does not take advantage of their mistake to further his own glory.” … St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Almighty God, now that the birth of Your Son is drawing near, we pray that Your eternal Word, Who took flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary and came to dwell amongst men, will show Your unworthy people, the greatness of His love. And by the intercession of His Holy Mother, may we be granted Your grace. Through Emmanuel, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 23 December – Bl essed Hartmann OSA (c 1090-1164) Bishop of Brixen, in South Tyrol, Italy, from his appointment in 1140 until his death, Monk of the Hermits of St Augustine, Reformer of the Clergy, Advisor and Confessor to the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, Miracle-worker. Blessed Hartmann’s name means: “the strong man.” Born in c 1090 at Oberpolling, Bavaria, Germany and died in 1164 of natural causes. Patronages – the City and Diocese of Brixen, in Italy, the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone, Italy, of Pregnant women, for a good yield of the vineyards. Also known as – Armand, Artmanno, Althochdt, Harmannu. Hartmann was Beatified on 11 February 1784 by Pope Pius VI.
Hartmann came from the Bavarian nobility. He was educated by Augustinian Canons in the St Nikola Monastery in Passau. He entered the Order , was Ordained to the Priesthood. iN 1122, it was Salzburg’s Archbishop Conrad, who decided to reform his Priests and chose Hartmann to lead a group of Priests under the Rule of Saint Augustine. In 1128, Hartmann was appointed as the Prior of an Augustinian Monastery at Herren-Chiemsee, which position he held until 1133.
The Monasteries flourished under Hartmann’s direction and, in 1136, the collegiate Church in Klosterneuburg was completed and Consecrated. Hartmann was Advisor and Confessor to Emperor Frederick I, whom he tried to serve without betraying his loyalty to the Pope.
Church of the Klosterneuburg Nonastery
Blessed Hartmann (left) and Margrave Leopold III in front of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Christ Child, on the main gate of the Klosterneuburg collegiate Church
In 1140 he was appointed as the Bishop of Brixen, by Pope Innocent II and, as such, received his Episcopal Consecration a short while after. He was installed shortly thereafter and dedicated himself to the reform of Priests in the Diocese, as well as acting as a benefactor to Religious Orders, with a particular emphasis on the introduction of the Order of Saint Benedict into the Diocese.
For Hartmann, a flourishing monastic life was the basis for the restoration of Ecclesiastical discipline and thus, for a religious growth in sanctity. In the conflicts surrounding the Papal election of 1159, Hartmann sided with Pope Alexander III against Emperor Frederick I.
Blessed Hartmann explains the construction plan, to the two co-founders of the Neustift Monastery, Count Reginbert von Säben and his wife Christina. This is the ceiling fresco, n the Neustift collegiate Church, Painted by Matthäus Günther. in 1735-36.
Hartmann himself led an exemplary ascetic life, wearing sackcloth under a plain robe, instead of fullEepiscopal garments. He encouraging discipline in the Clergy and helped the poor and needy. With the assistance of the wealthy Canon Richer, he built the hospice for travellers and pilgrims, on the “Insula Sanctae Crucis” – “the Island of the Holy Cross” – on the site of today’s Seminary – and in 1157, he Consecrated the hospital Chapel.
Painting in the Church in Oberpolling near Passau
We have some information on Hartmann’s miracles but I have found nothing regarding his Patronage of pregnant women. A legend tells how Hartmann stopped on a journey in Longostagno – a district of Ritten near Bozen and refreshed his overheated face in a bowl of water. A woman whose face was badly swollen and bruised, also washed in this water and was instantly relieved of her ailment. Another legend tells that Hartmann hid from robbers in the tower of the Church in Antholz in Pustertal and lost the iron chain with which he flogged himself everyday. When the chain was later found, it unfolded miraculous powers and a fountain sprang up next to the tower,which still flows today and bears his name. The fountain on the Alm near Nova Levante on the Catinaccio Mountains which offered undrinkable water,, he made pure.
Hartmann was already venerated as a Saint during his lifetime. He died of a stroke after taking a too hot bath the day before Christmas Eve .
Statue in the Cathedral in Brixen
Hartmann’s grave was in the Chapel of the hospice he founded on the Island of the Holy Cross in Brixen. It was a popular place of pilgrimage, today the tomb is in the Chapel of the Seminary. Before 1200 a Canon from Neustift wrote his Vita There are also Relics in the collegiate Church in Novacella near Brixen.
St Besa of Egypt Bl Bincema St Dagobert II of Austrasia Bl Epifanio Gómez Alvaro St Frithbert of Hexham Blessed Hartmann OSA (c 1090-1164) Bishop of Brixen, Italy and Friar of the Hermits of St Augustine. Bl Herman of Scheda Bl James Aymerich
St Ivo of Chartres (c 1040-1115) Bishop of Chartres, France from 1090 until his death, Confessor, Reformer, Defender of the Faith, Lawyer, Canon Lawyer, Teacher and Theologian, Writer. The Roman Martyrology states: “In Chartres in France, Saint Ivo, Bishop, who re-established the Order of the Canons and did much work and wrote to promote harmony between the clergy and the civil powers and for the good of the Church.” Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/23/saint-of-the-day-23-december-saint-ivo-of-chartres-c-1040-1115/
St John Cirita St John Stone St Mardonius of Rome St Mazota of Abernethy St Migdonius of Rome
St Servulus (Died c 590) Layman, Beggar, paralysed by Palsy from birth. Saint Servulus was a perfect model of submission to the divine Will; it would be difficult to offer a more consoling example to persons afflicted by poverty, illnesses and the other miseries of life. It is Saint Gregory the Great who narrates for us his edifying story. St Servulus’ Life of devotion: https://anastpaul.com/2020/12/23/saint-of-the-day-23-december-saint-servulus-died-c-590/
Martyrs of Crete – 10 Saints: A group of ten Christians who died in the persecutions of Decius. They were – Agathopus • Basilides • Cleomenes • Eunician • Euporus • Evaristus • Gelasius • Saturninus • Theodulus • Zeticus They were martyred in 250 on the island of Crete.
Thought for the Day – 22 December – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
A Christmas Novena VII Prayer and Dedication
“Men are normally judged by their actions and by the degree of external success which they have achieved. God, however, judges them by their intentions and by their internal dispositions. It is futile and may even be dangerous, to accomplish great thins and to attract the attention and applause of men, unless we have first of all, learned the lesson which the Infant Jesus teaches us in the manger.
In other words, we must be humble and must seek God rather than ourselves, in all our thoughts, desires and actions. If our actions are to be genuinely pleasing to God, however, they must originate in an interior life of dedication to God and of complete harmony with His will. If this is lacking, everything is lacking! Without this interior life of grace and love, we are “as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal” (1 Cor 13:1) and our actions are valueless in the sight of God.”
Christmas Novena to the Divine Infant Jesus By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
THE SEVENTH DAY 22 December Meditation 7: The journey of the Infant Jesus to Egypt.
The Son of God came from Heaven to save humanity. But no sooner was He born, than they began to persecute Him, even unto death. Herod, afraid that this Infant would take away his kingdom, tried to put the Child to death. So in a dream, an Angel advised Saint Joseph to take Jesus and His Mother to Egypt. Informing Mary, Joseph promptly obeyed. He took along with him the tools of his trade that he had available, to use in providing a livelihood, while in Egypt, for himself and his poor family. For her part, Mary packed a small bag of clothes for the Holy Infant. Then, drawing near the crib with tears, she said to her sleeping Child, “O my Son and my God, Thou hast come down from Heaven to save humanity, yet hardly after Thou art born, they already seek to take away Thy life.”
That very night, still crying, she took the Infant Jesus and she and Joseph set off on their journey.
Think about how much these lonely pilgrims must have suffered, while making such a long journey, deprived of every comfort. The Infant was not yet able to walk, so Mary and Joseph had to take turns carrying him in their arms. During the journey through the desert of Egypt, their only bed at night was the bare earth in the open air. The Infant wept in the cold and Joseph and Mary also wept, out of compassion for Him. Who would not weep, seeing the Son of God, poor and persecuted, wandering about on the earth, so that He would not be killed by His enemies?
Affections and Prayers:
Dear Infant Jesus, crying so bitterly! Well hast Thou reason to weep in seeing Thyself persecuted by men, whom Thou lovest so much. I, too, O God, have once persecuted Thee, by my sins. But Thou knowest that now I love Thee, more than myself and that nothing pains me more, than the thought that I have so often spurned Thee, my Sovereign Good.
Forgive me, O Jesus and let me bear Thee with me, in my heart, on all the rest of the journey which I have still to travel through life, so that, together with Thee, I may enter into eternity. So often have I driven Thee from my soul by my sins. But now, I love Thee above all things and I regret, above other misfortunes, that I have offended Thee. I wish to leave Thee no more, my beloved Lord. But do Thou give me the strength to resist temptations. Never permit me to be separated from Thee again. Let me rather die, than ever again lose Thy good grace.
O Mary, my hope, make me always live in God’s love and then, die in loving Him. Amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 22 December – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent – “The Month of the Divine Infant and the Immaculate Conception”
“O KING OF ALL NATIONS and keystone of the Church come and save man, whom You formed from the dust!”
“The soul glorifies the Lord, when it consecrates all its inner powers on praising and serving God and when, by its submission to the Divine commands, it proves that it never loses sight of His Power and Majesty. The spirit rejoices in God, its Saviour, when it places all its joy in the remembrance of its Creator, from Whom it hopes for eternal salvation.”
St Bede the Venerable (673-735) Father and Doctor of the Church
“Come, O come, for without Thee there will be no happy day or hour because Thou art my happiness and without Thee, my table is empty. I am wretched, as it were, imprisoned and weighted down with fetters, until Thou fill me with the Light of Thy Presence, restore me to liberty and show me a friendly countenance.”
One Minute Reflection – 22 December – “The Month of the Divine Infant and the Immaculate Conception” – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent – 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, Luke 3:1-6 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low and the crooked ways shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth …” – Luke 3:5
REFLECTION –“Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill, shall be made low.” What is meant here by valleys, if not the humble, or by the mountains and hills, if not the proud? At the coming of the Redeemer …, according to His own words: “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled but the one who humbles himself, will be exalted,” (Lk 14:11) … By their faith in “the mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, Himself, human” (1 Tim 2:5), those who believe in Him, have received the fullness of grace, whereas those who refuse to believe, have been humbled in their pride. Every valley has been filled in, since humble hearts, by receiving the words of holy doctrine, will be filled by the grace of the virtues, as it is written: “He made springs gush forth in the watercourses that wind among the valleys,” (cf. Ps 104:10).” – St Gregory the Great (540-604) Pope, Father and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Homilies no 20).
PRAYER – O God, Who, by the message of an Angel, willed to take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant that we, Thy suppliants, who believe her to be truly the Mother of God, maybe helped by her intercession with Thee.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).
Saint of the Day – 22 December – St Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917) Virgin, Religious Sister, Missionary, Founder. Patronages – against malaria, emigrants, immigrants (given on 8 September 1950 by Pope Pius XII) hospital administrators, orphans.
St Frances Xavier Cabrini From the Roman Breviary
Frances Cabrini, who later took the name of Xavier because of her desire to imitate the Apostle of the Indies, was born in the Town of Sant’ Angelo in the Diocese of Lodi in 1850. Her parents were holy and respectable people. Aided by divine grace, she had attained, even as a child, to a very high degree of union with God and was already given to the practice of austerities. When she was seven years old, the custom of listening before evening prayers, to readings from a magazine concerning missionary work in China, filled her with an ardent desire to go there, in order to win souls for God. She was hardly thirteen years old, when she took a vow of perpetual Virginity. From that time, the all-absorbing thought of her soul was how to return love, for love ,to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and thus bring some consolation to Him, in His sufferings and distress.
After the successful completion of her studies she resolved to embrace the religious life. Twice she applied for admission and each time was refused, on the ground of poor health. She then taught for some years in the public school, with a considerable measure of success. Thereafter, she was appointed by the Bishop of Lodi, as the directress of an orphanage, in which position, she displayed such prudence and zeal, especially in the Christian education of girls that the same Bishop urged her to found a new religious congregation which would principally be devoted, to the missions.
She undertook this difficult assignment with great courage and in 1880, in the Chapel of our Lady of Grace at Codogno, laid the foundation of the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. She then sought from the Holy See, the approval of the Rules and Constitutions of the new Institute. This having been achieved, she laboured with all zeal, to imbue the new sisterhood with the same spirit of love of God and neighboir ,which she, herself had drawn, in copious draughts ,from the fountain of the Sacred Heart.
The expansion of this new religious family to include sixty-seven foundations in Europe and America, testifies to the extraordinary character and skill of its wise and saintly ruler. She had, moreover ,a mind to establish missions in more remote lands and being in doubt, concerning God’s will in the matter, she followed the advice of Pope Leo XIII and turned to the West.
It was to these western shores of both Americas, that large multitudes of Italians had emigrated, in order to find employment because they were unable to exist in their own land. The condition of the Italian immigrants was then very poor and Frances sought to alleviate it. It was the love of Christ that urged her to take up this work, so wholeheartedly and so courageously. No labour could overcome her, no danger could frighten her. Her intrepid and undaunted spirit braved the rough and dangerous voyages across the ocean, twenty-four times!
She travelled over the length and breadth of America, establishing everywhere, hospitals, schools, houses of rest, nurseries, orphanges and other institutions, in order to promote the material livelihood but above all the spiritual well-being of the working class. By such charitable endeavours, she won the hearts of her fellow-countrymen and so, came to be called the Mother of the Italians.
She exerted every effort to accomplish the work she had in mind and her zeal could brook no delay. Placing her complete confidence in Divine Providence, she took as her motto that saying of Paul: “I can do all things in Him Who strengtheneth me.”
Her heart was consecrated to God by a perpetual union with Him, so that even amid the most absorbing occupations, her mind never lost track of heavenly things. All she met with, on her various journeys, were like so many stepping-stones, by which her soul ascended to God.
She had the greatest veneration for the Roman Pontiff and the Apostolic See and saw in the laws of the Church, norms of conduct that give one the greatest sense of security. She cultivated a childlike love for the Blessed Virgin Mary and often used to say, that Mary was the Mother and Foundress of her Institute.
Finally her life, extraordinary by reason of its integrity and labours for God, came to an end at Chicago, on 22 December 1917. Later her body was translated to New York. She was solemnly Beatified by Pope Pius XI, whereas Pope Pius XII, after new miracles were performed, solemnly added her name to the list of holy Virgins.
“Inspired by the grace of God, we join the Saints in honouring the holy Virgin Frances Xavier Cabrini. She was a humble woman who became outstanding, not because she was famous or rich or powerful but because, she lived a virtuous life. From the tender years of her youth, she kept her innocence as white as a lily and preserved it carefully, with the thorns of penitence. As the years progressed, she was moved by a certain instinct and supernatural zeal, to dedicate her whole life to the service and greater glory of God. She welcomed delinquent youths into safe homes and taught them to live upright and holy lives. She consoled those who were in prison and recalled to them, the hope of eternal life. She encouraged prisoners to reform themselves and to live honest lives. She comforted the sick and the infirm in the hospitals and diligently cared for them. She extended a friendly and helping hand especially to immigrants and offered them necessary shelter and relief, for having left their homeland behind, they were wandering about in a foreign land with no place to turn for help. Because of their condition, she saw that they were in danger of deserting the practice of Christian virtues and their Catholic faith. Undoubtedly she accomplished all this through the faith which was always so vibrant and alive in her heart, through the divine love which burned within her and finally, through constant prayer, by which she was so closely united with God, from Whom she humbly asked and obtained, whatever her human weakness could not obtain. Although her constitution was very frail, her spirit was endowed with such singular strength that, knowing the will of God in her regard, she permitted nothing to impede her from accomplishing what seemed beyond her strength.”– From his sermon at the Canonisation of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini by Pope Pius XII.
St Abban of New Ross Bl Adam of Saxony St Amaswinthus of Málaga St Athernaise of Fife St Bertheid of Münster St Chaeremon of Nilopolis
St Flavian of Acquapendente (Died 363) Martyr Layman, Prefect of Imperial Rome, Husband of Saint Dafrosa, Father of Saint Bibiana and Saint Demetria. The Roman Martyrology states: “At Rome, ex-Prefect, who, under Julian the Apostate, was condemned to be branded for Christ and banished to Aquae Taurinae, where he gave up his soul to God in prayer.” His Life and Death: https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/22/saint-of-the-day-22-december-saint-flavian-of-acquapendente-died-363-martyr/
Blessed Thomas Holland SJ (1600-1642) Priest of the Society of Jesus and Martyr. of England and Wales. With eyes closed in prayer, Fr Holland looked at a Priest secretly in the crowd and received absolution. After he was hanged, his body was beheaded and quartered and exposed on London Bridge. Fr Holland was only forty-two years of age and a Jesuit for eighteen years. Pope Pius XI Beatified him on 15 December 1929. His Life and Death: https://anastpaul.com/2019/12/22/saint-of-the-day-22-december-blessed-thomas-holland-sj-1600-1642-priest-and-martyr-his-faith-was-his-crime/
St Zeno of Nicomedia
Martyrs of Ostia – 3 Saints: A group of Christians Martyred together. The only details about them to survive are three names – Demetrius, Florus and Honoratus. They were martyred at Ostia, Italy.
Martyrs of Rhaitu – 43 Saints: 43 Monks Martyred by Blemmyes, in Raíthu, Egypt, date unknown.
Martyrs of Via Lavicana – 30 Saints: A group of 30 Christians Martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. c 303 in Rome, Italy and were buried between two bay trees on the Via Lavicana outside Rome.
Christmas Novena to the Divine Infant Jesus By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
THE SIXTH DAY 21 December Meditation 6: The Mercy of God in coming from Heaven, to save us, by His Death.
Saint Paul says, the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared (Titus 3:4). It was then, when the Son of God made Man appeared on earth that we saw how great the goodness of God is toward us. Saint Bernard wrote that the power of God first appeared, through the creation of the world and sustaining the world, has shown God’s wisdom. But God’s mercy appeared, to an even greater degree, when God took human flesh to save lost humanity, by His sufferings and Death. And what greater mercy could the Son of God have shown us, than to take upon Himself, the pains we have deserved?
Imagine Him as a newborn Infant, wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger, unable to move or feed Himself. Just to survive, He relied on Mary to feed Him with a little milk. Imagine Him many years later, in the judgement hall before Pilate, bound to a column by ropes, from which He could not loosen Himself and scourged from head to foot. Imagine Him on the journey to Calvary, falling down as He went along the road, from weakness and from the weight of the Cross which He carried. Finally, imagine Him nailed to that infamous tree upon which He finished His life, in agony and suffering.
Jesus Christ wished to gain all the endearments of our hearts, by His love for us and,, therefore, He would not send an Angel to redeem us but came Himself, to save us by His Passion and Resurrection. If an Angel had been our redeemer, we would have a divided heart—loving God as our Creator and the Angel as our redeemer. But because God, Who is our Creator, wants our whole heart, He chose to also be our Redeemer.
Affections and Prayers:
O my dear Redeemer! Where should I be now, if Thou hadst not borne with me so patiently but hadst called me from life, while I was in the state of sin? Since Thou hast waited for me till now, forgive me quickly, O my Jesus, before death finds me still guilty of so many offences which I have committed against Thee. I am so sorry for having vilely despised Thee, my Sovereign Good that I could die of grief. But Thou canst not abandon a soul that seeks Thee.
If hitherto I have forsaken Thee, I now seek Thee and love Thee. Yes, my God, I love Thee above all else; I love Thee more than myself. Help me, Lord, to love Thee always during the rest of my life. Nothing else do I seek of Thee. But this I beg of Thee, this I hope to receive from Thee.
Mary, my hope, do thou pray for me. If thou prayest for me, I am sure of grace. Amen.
Thought for the Day – 21 December – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
A Christmas Novena VI The Silence of the Divine Infant
“Evil always attracts a great deal of attention, whereas goodness operates in silence. The reason why evil creates such a stir, is that it is the work of pride and of ambition. It wants to be seen and to be applauded. Goodness, good works, is done for God. It does not seek the world’s applause but, only the approval of God. When an enterprise sets out to look for publicity, there is reason to fear that it does not come from God but is prompted by human motives. As a result, it will prove sterile!
If we sincerely desire to please God, we shall work in silence.
We shall not aim at our own worldly interests but, shall seek our own spiritual good and that of our fellowmen. If it is God’s will. our good work may shine also before men but let us remember that this is for the glory of God and in order to give good example to our neighbour.”
Quote/s of the Day – 21 December – Feast of St Thomas, Apostle of Christ, Martyr – “The Month of the Divine Infant and the Immaculate Conception” – Ephesians 2:19-22, John 20:24-29 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“O Radiant Dawn, Splendour of Eternal Light, Sun of Justice! Come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.”
“My Lord and my God”
John 20:28
“Who could ever soften this heart of mine but YOU alone O Lord!”
St Francis Borgia (1510-1572)
“Christ first of all, Christ in the centre of the heart, in the centre of history and of the cosmos. Humanity needs Christ intensely because, He is our “measure.” There is no realm, that cannot be touched by His strength; there is no evil, that cannot find remedy in Him, there is no problem, that cannot be solved in Him. Either Christ or nothing!”
One Minute Reflection – 21 December – Feast of St Thomas, Apostle of Christ, Martyr – Ephesians 2:19-22, John 20:24-29 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“The other disciples, therefore, said to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them: Except I shall see in His Hands, the print of the nails and put my finger into the place of the nails and put my hand into His Side, I will not believe.” – John 20:25
REFLECTION – “What, dearest brethren do you notice in this passage? Do you think that it happened by chance that this chosen disciple was absent at that time and afterwards coming, heard the news and hearing, doubted that doubting, he touched and touching, he believed? This did not happen by chance but by Divine dispensation. For the Divine clemency brought it about, in a wonderful way that the doubting disciple, while touching the wounds in his Master’s flesh, should thereby heal the wounds of our unbelief. The unbelief of Thomas is more to our faith, than the faith of the believing disciples. While he is brought back to faith by touching, our minds are set free from doubt and established in the faith.
So the Lord indeed, after His Resurrection permitted His disciple to doubt but He did not leave him in unbelief; just as before His birth, He wished Mary to have a spouse, who, however, never attained to the married state. The disciple who doubted and touched his Risen Lord, thus became, a witness to the truth of the Resurrection, just as the spouse of His Mother was the guardian of her inviolate Virginity. Thomas touched and cried out: My Lord and my God. Jesus said to him – Because you have seen me, you have believed. But since the Apostle Paul says – Now faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things which appear not; it is certainly clear that faith is the evidence, of those things which cannot appear. The things which appear are the object, not of faith but of knowledge.
Why then is it said to Thomas, who saw and touched – Because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed? But he saw one thing and believed another. Indeed, mortal man cannot see the Divinity. So Thomas saw a Man and confessed Him to be God, saying: My Lord and my God. He, therefore, believed through seeing, for, looking upon One Who was truly Man, he cried out that this was God, Whom he could not see! The words which follow are cause of great joy to us: Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed. These words are meant especially for us, who cherish, in our minds, Him, Whom we do not see in the flesh. They are meant for us but only if we carry out our faith in works. For he truly believes, who puts his faith into practice!” – St Gregory the Great (540-604) Pope. Father and one of the original four Doctors of the Latin Church (Sermon on the Feast of St Thomas).
PRAYER – O Lord, grant us, we beseech Thee, to glory in the Feast-day of blessed Thomas, Thy Apostle, that we maybe helped continually by his patronage and imitate his faith with a devotion like his. .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 – 21 December – St Thomas Apostle
Exsultet Orbis! Let the World Rejoice! Unknown Author
Now let the earth with joy resound, And Heaven the chant re-echo round; Nor Heaven nor earth too high can raise The great Apostles’ glorious praise.
O ye who, throned in glory dread, Shall judge the living and the dead, Lights of the world forever more! To you the suppliant prayer we pour.
Ye close the Sacred Gates on high. At your command apart they fly. O loose for us the guilty chain We strive to break and strive in vain.
Sickness and health your voice obey, At your command they go or stay. From sin’s disease our souls restore; In good confirm us more and more.
So when the world is at its end. And Christ to Judgment shall descend, May we be called, those joys to see Prepared from all eternity.
Praise to the Father, with the Son, And Holy Spirit, Three in One; As ever was in ages past And so shall be while ages last. Amen
(Roman Breviary for the Common of Apostles) An Office Hymn that was traditionally prescribed for Vespers and Lauds on the Feasts of Apostles and Evangelists outside Easter time. The Hymn is found as early as the tenth century in a hymnal of Moissac Abbey.
Saint of the Day – 21 December – Feast of St Thomas, Apostle of Christ, Martyr. His Patronages are:• people in doubt; against doubt• architects• blind people and against blindness• builders• construction workers• geometricians• stone masons and stone cutters• surveyors• theologians• Ceylon• East Indies• India• Indonesia• Malaysia • Pakistan• Singapore• Sri Lanka• Diocese of Bathery, India• Castelfranco di Sopra, Italy• Certaldo, Italy• Ortona, Italy.
St Thomas, Apostle From the Liturgical Year, 1870
This is the last Feast the Church keeps before the great one of the Nativity of her Lord and Spouse. She interrupts the Greater Ferias, in order to pay her tribute of honour to Thomas, the Apostle of Christ, whose glorious Martyrdom has consecrated this twenty first day of December and has procured, for the Christian people, a powerful patron that will introduce them to the Divine Babe of Bethlehem.
To none of the Apostles could this day have been so fittingly assigned, as to St Thomas. It was St Thomas whom we needed; St. Thomas, whose festal patronage would aid us to believe and hope, in that God, Whom we see not and Who comes to us in silence and humility, in order to try our Faith.
St Thomas was once guilty of doubting, when he ought to have believed and only learned the necessity of Faith by the sad experience of incredulity. He comes then most appropriately to defend us, by the power of his example and prayers, against the temptations which proud human reason might excite within us.
Let us pray to him with confidence. In that Heaven of Light and Vision, where his repentance and love have placed him, he will intercede for us,and gain for us that docility of mind and heart, which will enable us to see and recognise Him, Who is the Expected of Nations and Who, though the King of the world, will give no other signs of His Majesty, than the swaddling-clothes and tears of a Babe.
St Festus of Tuscany St Glycerius of Nicomedia St James of Valencia St John of Tuscany St John Vincent St Micah the Prophet St Severin of Trèves (Died c 300) Bishop, Confessor Bl Sibrand of Marigård St Themistocles of Lycia
Christmas Novena to the Divine Infant Jesus By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
THE FIFTH DAY 20 December Meditation 5: The Life of sorrow which Jesus lived, even from His birth.
Jesus could have saved us without suffering and without dying. But He willingly chose a life full of tribulations, to show how much He loved us. The prophet Isaias called Him, the man of sorrows (Isaias 53:3) because the life of Christ was to be full of woe. His passion did not begin at the time of His death but, from the beginning of His life.
Imagine Jesus, as soon as He was born, lying in a stable, where everything caused distress for Him. His sight was troubled because he could see nothing in that cave but dark, rough walls. His sense of smell was haunted, by the stench of dung from the animals, lying nearby. His skin was irritated by the itchy straw that served as His bed. Soon after birth, He was forced to flee to Egypt, where He lived several years of His childhood, poor, and despised as a foreigner. The life He led afterward, in Nazareth, was not much better. Then, consider how His life ended in Jerusalem, dying in anguish on a Cross.
So the life of Jesus was one of continual anxiety, even worse than that because he had constantly, before His eyes, all the sadness that would be His on the day of His death. One day a Nun, complaining before the Crucifix, said to Him, “O Lord, Thou remained on the Cross for three hours but I have suffered my pain for several years.” Jesus answered her, “What you have said shows how unaware you are. I suffered even from my mother’s womb, all the pains of my life and death.” But because Jesus voluntarily chose those afflictions, they did not hurt Him as much as did the sight of our sins and our ingratitude for His great love. One particular saint could never stop lamenting over the offences she committed against God. Her Confessor said to her, “Cease crying. God has already forgiven you.” But she replied, “How can I cease crying, when I know that my sins kept Jesus in a state of agony all his life?!”
Affections and Prayers:
O Jesus, my sweet Love! I too have kept Thee suffering through all Thy life. Tell me, then, what I must do in order to win Thy forgiveness. I am ready to do all Thou askest of me. I am sorry, O sovereign Good, f or all the offences I have committed against Thee. I love Thee more than myself, or at least I feel a great desire to love Thee. Since it is Thou who hast given me this desire, do Thou also give me the strength to love Thee exceedingly.
It is only right that I, who have offended Thee so much, should love Thee very much. Always remind me of the love Thou hast borne me, in order that my soul may ever burn with love of Thee and long to please Thee alone. O God of love, I, who was once a slave of hell, now give myself all to Thee. Graciously accept me and bind me to Thee with the bonds of Thy love. My Jesus, from this day and forever, in loving Thee will I live and in loving Thee will I die.
O Mary, my Mother and my hope, help me to love Thy dear God and mine. This is the only favour I ask of thee and through thee, I hope to receive it. Amen.
Thought for the Day – 20 December – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Christmas Novena V The Swaddling Clothes of the Divine Infant
“The swaddling clothes of the Infant Jesus are, moreover, a symbol of the love which should bind us to Him. If we are not capable of loving Jesus, are we capable of love at all? Perhaps we love wealth, honour and pleasure? Some day, however, we shall have to leave all our wealth behind. Worldly honour and glory are also fleeting and can never satisfy us, while earthly pleasures leave behind a sense of emptiness and disgust.
Jesus Christ alone, can satisfy our hearts, for He alone, has words of everlasting life! “Lord,” let us say with St Peter, “to whom shall we go? Thou hast words of everlasting life” (Jn 6:69).”
Quote/s of the Day – 20 December – “The Month of the Divine Infant and the Immaculate Conception”
“He became small because you were small – understand how great He is and you will become great along with Him. This is how houses are built, how the solid walls of a building are raised. The stones brought to construct the building increase, you, too, increase, understanding how great Christ is and how He, who appeared to be small, is great, very great indeed…”
St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church
“If we would please this Divine Infant, we too must become children, simple and humble. We must carry to Him, flowers of virtue, of meekness, of mortification, of charity. We must clasp Him in the arms of our love.”
St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Most Zealous Doctor
One Minute Reflection – 20 December – “The Month of the Divine Infant and the Immaculate Conception” – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent – 1 Cor.inthians 4:1-5, Luke 3:1-6 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. ” – Luke 3:6
REFLECTION – “And all flesh did see the salvation of God, even of the Father, for He sent the Son to be our Saviour. And in these words by “flesh,” man generally is to be understood, that is, the whole human race. For thus all flesh shall see the salvation of God: no longer Israel only but all flesh. For the gentleness of the Saviour and Lord of all, is not limited, nor did He save one nation merely but rather embraced, within His net, the whole world and has illuminated all who were in darkness. And this is what was celebrated by the Psalmist’s lyre, “All the nations whom Thou hast made, shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord.” While, at the same time, the remnant of the Israelites is saved, as the great Moses also long ago declared, saying, “Rejoice ye nations with His people.” – St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Known as “The Pillar of Faith” Archbishop of Alexandria, Father and Doctor of the Church (Homiletic Commentary on Luke 3:1-6 – Fragment).
PRAYER – Put forth Thy power, O Lord, we beseech Thee and delay not and with Thy great might, come to our aid, so that what is hindered by our sins, maybe hastened by Thy merciful goodness. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen (Collect)
Our Morning Offering – 20 December – Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Advent – “The Month of the Divine Infant and the Immaculate Conception”
Creator Alme Siderum Creator of the Starry Frame 7th Century Advent Hymn
Creator of the starry frame; Eternal Light of all who live; Jesu, Redeemer of mankind, An ear to Thy poor suppliants give.
When man was sunk in sin and death, Lost in the depth of Satan’s snare, Love brought Thee down to cure our ills, By taking of those ills a share.
Thou for the sake of guilty men, Causing Thine own pure blood to flow, Didst issue from Thy Virgin-shrine, And to the Cross a Victim go.
So great the glory of Thy might, If we but chance Thy Name to sound, At once all Heaven and Hell unite In bending low with awe profound.
Great Judge of all, in that last day, When friends shall fail and foes combine, Be present then with us, we pray, To guard us with Thy arm divine.
To God the Father and the Son, All praise and power and glory be, With Thee, O holy Comforter, Henceforth through all eternity.
Also known as Advent Hymn, this translation of the Latin hymn Creator Alme Siderum (Pope Urban VIII’s 1632 revision of the 7th Century Hymn Conditor alme siderum) was first published in Fr Edward Caswall’s Lyra Catholica, 1849.
Saint of the Day – 20 December – Blessed Peter Massalenus (1375-1453) Monk, Mystic. Born in 1375 in Othoca, Sardinia and died in 1453 in Venice, Italy of natural causes. Also known as Pietro.
Before entering religious life, Peter Massalenus made several pilgrimages to the Holy Land, visiting the Holy sites and following the footsteps of the Lord.
In 1410 he became a Camaldolese Monk in the Monastery of San Michele on the island of the same name in Venice.
Cloister on San Michele
Here he became known for his gifts of mystical contemplation and prayer, assisting others in their desire to seek the heights of contemplation and unity with Christ.
Alessandro Magnasco – Three Camaldolese Monks in Ecstatic Prayer
Peter spent the rest of his life within the cloister of San Michele and was buried there.
The Camaldolese Monastery of San Michele was closed by Napoleon’s decree in 1810. Today, the island is the vast cemetery of Venice.
Church of San Michele on the island of San Michele – today’s Cemetery Island – near the island of Murano in Venice
St Attala of Strasbourg St Bajulus of Rome St Crescentius of Africa St Damian of Padua St Dominic of Brescia
St Dominic de Silos OSB (1000-1073) Monk, Abbot. He was a Spanish Monk, to whom the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, where he served as the Abbot, is dedicated. The mother of the better-known Saint Dominic de Guzmán, the Blessed Joan of Aza, is said to have prayed at his shrine before she was able to conceive the son she named for him. That son would grow up to found the Dominican Order. Dominic’s special patronage thus became connected with pregnancy and until the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, his abbatial crozier was used to bless the queens of Spain and was placed by their beds when they were in labour. Biography: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/12/20/saint-of-the-day-20-december-st-dominic-de-silos-o-s-b-c1000-1073/
St Eugene of Arabia St Gabriel Olivares Roda St Hoger of Hamburg-Bremen Bl John de Molina St Julius of Gelduba Bl Lorenzo Company St Liberatus of Rome St Macarius of Arabia St Malou of Hautvillers St Paul of Latra Blessed Peter de la Cadireta Blessed Peter Massalenus (1375-1453) Monk, Mystic
Christmas Novena to the Divine Infant Jesus By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
THE FOURTH DAY 19 December Meditation 4: The Life of humility which Jesus lived, even from His Infancy.
All the clues that the Angels gave the shepherds to help them find the Saviour, Who had just been born, were marks of humility – “This will be a sign for you: you will find a Child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12). This is how you will find the newborn Messiah, the Angel said. You will find Him as an Infant, wrapped in poor ragged clothes, in a stable, lying on straw in a manger for animals. That is how the King of Heaven, the Son of God, was born because ,He came to destroy the pride which had been the cause, of humanity’s spiritual ruin.
The prophets foretold that our Redeemer would be treated as the most wretched person on earth and that He would be overwhelmed with insults. How much ridicule Jesus had to tolerate because of us! He was treated as a drunkard, as a magician, as a blasphemer and a heretic. Think of how many insults He had to endure during His passion. He was abandoned by His own disciples. One of them even sold Him for thirty pieces of silver,and another, denied having ever known Him. He was led through the streets bound like a criminal, scourged like a slave, treated like a madman and mocked as a bogus king. He was struck, spat upon in the face and finally, He was put to death on a Cross, suspended between two thieves. One would think that he had been the greatest lawbreaker the world had ever seen.
Saint Bernard commented that the noblest of all men, Jesus Christ, was treated like the most depraved person of all. “But, my Jesus,” he adds, “the more degraded Thou art, the more dear Thou art to me.” The more humbled and despised He appears, the more esteemed and worthy of our love He becomes.
Affections and Prayers:
O Dearest Saviour, Thou hast embraced so many outrages for love of me, yet, I have not been able to bear one word of insult without at once, being filled with resentful thought – I who have so often deserved to be trodden under foot by the demons in hell! I am ashamed to appear before Thee, sinful and proud as I am. Yet, do not drive me from Thy presence, O Lord, even though that is what I deserve. Thou hast said that Thou wilt not spurn a contrite and humbled heart. I am sorry for the offences I have committed against Thee. Forgive me, O Jesus. I will not offend Thee again.
For love of me Thou hast borne so many injuries; for love of Thee, I will bear all the injuries that art done to me. I love Thee, Jesus, Who wast despised for love of me. I love Thee above every other good. Give me the grace to love Thee always and to bear every insult, for love of Thee.
O Mary, recommend me to Thy Son, pray to Jesus for me. Amen.
Thought for the Day – 19 December – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
A Christmas Novena IV The First Hours of the Childhood of Jesus Christ
“Through life’s long journey we have often had occasion to shed tears, We have wept for sheer physical pain or moral suffering. Sometimes perhaps, we have wept for joy, for such joy as the world can give. On other occasions, jealousy, hatred or caprice, may have moved us to tears. But have we ever wept like Mary Magdalen, or St Augustine, for the sins which we have committed?
If the Infant Jesus wept for our sins, why should not we weep tears of repentance for them? If the tears which we shed for weak, human reasons are not inspired, in any way, by sentiments of faith, love or reparation, they fail to relieve our anguish or to gain everlasting merit for us!”
AnaStpaul 
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