In these most difficult times, when we are excluded from our Churches, from our Sacraments, I have found much consolation in doing all the readings at home, with these reflections from Cardinal-elect (nearly – sadly he died just before the ceremony) Hans Urs. Perhaps, these times are “nothing but occurrences of grace.”
Light of the Word
Genesis 22:1-18, Exodus 14:15–15:1, Matthew 28:1-10 By Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988) Cardinal-elect, Theologian
“He has Ripped Open a Hole in History that Can Never be Filled-in Again.”
1. With Jesus’ death, the word of God ends.
In the weariness of Mary, pierced by every possible sword of suffering, the Church mutely holds vigil at the grave.
All living faith, all living hope, is deposited with God.
No premature Alleluia sounds.
The watching and waiting Church takes the time to recall the long path through all stages of salvation history that God has followed with His people, since the creation of the world – seven events unfold before the Church’s spiritual eyes.
She sees salvation, even in the most difficult of all events – in Abraham’s sacrifice, in the narrow escape across the divided sea, in the homecoming from exile.
And she understands, that they were nothing but occurrences of grace.
The sacrifice of Isaac, ultimately confirmed, both Abraham’s obedience and God’s promises; apparent submersion in the sea, proved to be Israel’s salvation and the burial of it’s enemies; exile itself, was Israel’s lengthy purification and return to God.
2. Thus, in the second reading (Exodus 14:15-15:1) the Church recognises that her own death in Baptism, is a dying with Jesus, a dying into eternal salvation n Him, a dying into resurrection with Him toward God, into a new sinless and deathless life.
No mere ceremony can accomplish this miracle – only a genuine “co-crucifixion” with Christ, of the old, sinful man, a co-crucifixion that permits a co-dying and co-burial to take place, can accomplish this.
This is essentially, a gift given by God to the person baptised, a gift that is also a lifelong challenge to make the gift come true in the Christian’s existence.
The two belong inseparably together, if the gift given in Christ is to prevail in the Christian’s life – he must become what he is, he must unfold what he has! Thus the shift from Good Friday to Easter, must be two things at once – joy at the most sublime gift and determination to keep one’s baptismal promises. It is fitting to renew these promises while celebrating the Easter Vigil.
3. Only now, can the holy women hear the angel’s message.
He invites the women to come closer and view the empty place where Jesus lay. “He is not here.”
No longer visible, tangible, confirmable in time and place – all this must be renounced.
In all of world history, no-one has left so “emply a place” behind, as did this person who was buried here, only yesterday.
He who entered history, with such emphasis, is no longer comprehensible within history. “He is risen, as he said,” He has ripped open a hole in history that can never be filled-in again.
Thorough guarding of the grave could not prevent this opening and the more men try to fill it, to plug it up, the wider it gapes.
Instead of this emptiness, the women are given the joy of their message to the disciples, a joy that is further intensified, when the Lord Himself appears to them and renews the mission: “They should go to Galilee, where they will see me.”
There, where everything had begun, in the ordinariness of a secular calling, new life would begin.
In the unpretentious, begins the incomprehensibly unique!
Be blessed, be joyful for the Lord is HERE! ‘Become what you are, unfold what you have!’
Thought for the Day – 11 April – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Jesus is Condemned to Death
“Pilate was neither wicked nor cruel.
He was a weak opportunist who placed his position as Governor of Judea and his own personal interests above everything else in life.
He was prepared, moreover, to adopt the meanest of compromises.
He had acquitted Jesus, because, he believed Him to be innocent.
But he panicked as soon as he heard the crowd shouting and the Jewish priests accusing him of being no friend of the Emperor.
Then, he had recourse to an expedient.
When he saw Jesus covered with blood, crowned with thorns and clothed in purple rags, he showed Him to the crowd, in the hope, that their frenzied hearts would be touched with compassion.
He said only a few simple words. “Behold the man!”
He wished them to see the condition to which this man had been reduced, who had been accused and mocked by them.
Looking like a trampled worm, He would stir up pity in every heart. In the crowd, there were people who had been enchanted by the glory of His heavenly teaching.
Some of them had listened to Him in Jerusalem only a few days previously, when He was greeted by tumults of applause.
Others had received favours and miracles from Him.
But the good folk remained silent, for they could not summon up the courage to express any sentiments of gratitude or of humanity, in that gathering.
A roar drowned the words of Pilate. “Let Him be crucified!”
Sometimes, when we see what is good and just, a rebellious impulse suddenly rises up inside us.
Unfortunately, we may yield to it on occasion and stifle the higher inspirations, which we receive.
Let us resolve never to be guilty of weak or unworthy conduct towards Jesus and to obey at all costs, the dictates of a sound conscience.”
Quote/s of the Day – 11 April – Sabbatum Sanctum – Holy Saturday –
Easter Vigil in the Holy Night
“Darkness is not dark for you and night shines as the day” (Ps 138:12)
“…He slept so that we might be awakened, He died so that we might live.”
St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church
In Praise of Christ
Born as a son, led forth as a lamb, sacrificed as a sheep, buried as a man, He rose from the dead as a God, for He was by nature God and man.
He is all things: He judges and so He is Law, He teaches and so He is Wisdom, He saves and so He is Grace, He begets and so He is Father, He is begotten and so He is Son, He suffers and so He is Sacrifice, He is buried and so He is man, He rises again and so He is God. This is Jesus Christ, to whom belongs glory for all ages.
“The Lord, though He was God, became man. He suffered for the sake of whose who suffer, He was bound for those in bonds, condemned for the guilty, buried for those who lie in the grave but He rose from the dead and cried aloud: “Who will contend with me? Let him confront me.” I have freed the condemned, brought the dead back to life, raised men from their graves. Who has anything to say against me? I, He said, am the Christ, I have destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled hell underfoot, bound the strong one and taken men up to the heights of heaven. I am the Christ. Come, then, all you nations of men, receive forgiveness for the sins that defile you. I am your forgiveness. I am the Passover that brings salvation. I am the lamb who was immolated for you. I am your Ransom, your Life, your Resurrection, your Light, I am your Salvation and your King. I will bring you to the heights of heaven. With my own right hand I will raise you up and I will show you the eternal Father.”
– from a letter by Saint Melito of Sardis
Saint Melito, Bishop of Sardis (Died c 180) Early Church Father
One Minute Reflection – 11 April – Sabbatum Sanctum – Holy Saturday – Easter Vigil in the Holy Night, Readings: Romans 6:3-11, Psalm 118:1-2, 15-17, 22-23, Matthew 28:1-10
And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet and did him homage. … Matthew 28:9
REFLECTION – “When the third day dawned of the Lord’s sacred repose in the tomb (…) Christ, the “power and Wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:24), with the author of death lying prostrate, conquered even death itself and opened to us access to eternity, when He raised Himself from the dead by His divine power in order to make known to us the paths of life.
Then there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, with raiment like snow and his countenance like lightening. He appeared attractive to the devout and severe to the wicked – for he terrified the soldiers and comforted the timid women, to whom the Lord Himself first appeared after rising, because their intense devotion so merited. Then He was seen by Peter, then by the disciples going to Emmaus, then by all the apostles except Thomas. Later He presented Himself to be touched by Thomas, who proclaimed his faith: “My Lord and my God.” And thus, during forty days, He appeared in many ways to His disciples, both eating and drinking with them.
He enlightened our faith with proofs and lifted up our hope with promises, so as finally to enkindle our love with gifts from heaven.” … St Bonaventure (1217-1274) Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Almighty, ever-living God, whose only-begotten Son, descended to the realm of the dead and rose from there in glory, grant that Your faithful people, who were buried with Him in Baptism, may, by His Resurrection, obtain eternal life. With Mary His Mother, who in her sorrow remained with Him at the Cross and by whose prayers we receive succour, grant that we too will be with Him in glory. Through Christ our Lord and Redeemer, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 11 April – Sabbatum Sanctum – Holy Saturday – Easter Vigil in the Holy Night
Beautiful and Glorious By St John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
I look at You, my Lord Jesus
and think of Your most holy Body
and I keep it before me
as the pledge of my own resurrection.
Though I die, as die I certainly shall,
nevertheless, I shall not forever die,
for I shall rise again.
O You, who are the Truth,
I know and believe,
with my whole heart,
that this very flesh of mine will rise again.
I know, base and odious as it is at present,
that it will one day, if I be worthy,
be raised incorruptible
and altogether beautiful and glorious.
This I know, this by Your grace,
I will ever keep before me.
Amen
Sabbatum Sanctum – Holy Saturday, The “Second Sabbath” – 11 April
Holy Saturday (from Sabbatum Sanctum, its official liturgical name) is sacred as the day of the Lord’s rest. It has been called the “Second Sabbath” after creation.
The day is and should be, the most calm and quiet day of the entire Church year, a day broken by no liturgical function.
Christ lies in the grave, the Church sits near and mourns.
After the great battle He is resting in peace but upon Him we see the scars of intense suffering…
The mortal wounds on His Body remain visible…Jesus’ enemies are still furious, attempting to obliterate the very memory of the Lord by lies and slander.
Mary and the disciples are grief-stricken, while the Church must mournfully admit that too many of her children return home from Calvary cold and hard of heart.
When Mother Church reflects upon all of this, it seems as if the wounds of her dearly Beloved were again beginning to bleed.
We are tempted to rush from Good Friday to Easter. Mother Church with wisdom, separates the two with Holy Saturday – a day of peace and rest – a day to quietly ponder and pray – a day to sit in silence at the tomb of Jesus. “What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence and stillness, a great silence, because the King sleeps, the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages.” We do not need words to express our misery. We need silence to ponder the mystery. Silence is the best expression of what is deepest in us, for silence alone, can express what words cannot.
According to tradition, the entire body of the Church is represented in Mary – she is the “credentium collectio universa” (the gathering of the universal Church) (Congregation for Divine Worship, Lettera circolare sulla preparazione e celebrazione delle feste pasquali, 73).
Thus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, as she waits near the Lord’s tomb, as she is represented in Christian tradition, is an icon of the Virgin Church keeping vigil at the tomb of her Spouse while awaiting the celebration of His Resurrection.
The pious exercise of the Ora di Maria is inspired by this intuition of the relationship between the Virgin Mary and the Church – while the body of her Son lies in the tomb and His soul has descended to the dead to announce liberation, from the shadow of darkness to His ancestors, the Blessed Virgin Mary, foreshadowing and representing the Church, awaits, in faith, the victorious triumph of her Son over death. — Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy
Saint of the Day – 11 April – Saint Barsanuphius the Hermit (Died c 563) Hermit, Spiritual guide gifted with the charism of Prophecy, miracle-worker – also known as St Barsanuphius of Gaza, of Palestine and of Oria and Barsanofio (Italian). Patronage – Oria, City and Diocese.
Saint Barsanuphius was born in Egypt (the year of his birth is unknown). From his youth, he began to lead an ascetic life. Later he built a cell near the monastery of Saint Seridon of Gaza in Palestine. Locked in his cell, the ascetic led a life of silence. He lived in absolute seclusion for fifty years. ‘United to all and separated from all’. St Barsanuphius devoted himself entirely to prayer and he attained a high degree of spiritual perfection.
After spending a long time in seclusion, Saint Barsanuphius, thereafter and until the death of Saint John the Prophet, began to serve others by instructing them on the path to salvation, as St Dorotheus testifies. Saint Barsanuphius replied to those seeking his spiritual direction through Saint John, sometimes instructing him to give the answers.
It is these letters, of varying length, that constitute the “Correspondence” of Barsanuphius, published with that of St John the Prophet in a Collection . The more than 800 documents preserved, contain, in addition to their spiritual interest, a wealth of information on the situation of the Palestine Church in the sixth century and on the relations of Abbot Seridos’ monastery with the outside world.
The precepts of Saints Barsanuphius and John clearly show the degree of their moral perfection and their love for people but contain scant facts about their lives. Saint Barsanuphius survived his disciple and friend but after St John’s death, embraced complete silence and refused to give answers to anyone. We do not know exactly when Saint Barsanuphius died, some sources say around 563.
His relics arrived in Oria, in Italy, with a Palestinian monk in 850 and were placed in the present-day church of San Francesco da Paola by Bishop Theodosius. During a Moorish siege and taking of the city, the relics were lost but then later rediscovered and placed in the city’s Cathedral Basilica where his feast is celebrated with great devotion, on 20 February each year. The Statue above is in the Basilica and the one at the end is also somewhere in Oria – see the note from the local news there: “Oria: everything is ready for the Feast of the Patron Saint San Barsanofio – At the end of the Mass, after the ritual of the symbolic handover of the keys by the Mayor of Oria to the Statue of San Barsanofio, … a procession will proceed through the City with a stop at the Church of San Francesco di Paola and the crypt of San Barsanofio…”
At Oria he is considered to have saved the city from destruction wrought by foreign invaders. A legend states that he repelled a Spanish invasion by appearing before the Spanish commander armed with a sword. During World War II, he is said to have spread his blue cape across the sky, thus causing a rainstorm and preventing an air bombing by Allied Forces.
From the tenth century onwards, his cult is attested to in Constantinople, where his memory is celebrated in August.
On Holy Saturday the Church waits at the Lord’s tomb, meditating on His suffering and death.
The altar is left bare and the sacrifice of the Mass is not celebrated.
Only after the solemn vigil during the night, held in anticipation of the Resurrection, does the Easter celebration begin, with a spirit of joy that overflows into the following period of fifty days.
Bl George Gervase
St Godeberta of Noyon St Guthlac of Crowland (674–715) Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2019/04/11/saint-of-the-day-11-april-st-guthlac-674-715/
St Hildebrand of Saint-Gilles
St Isaac of Monteluco
Bl James of Africa
Bl John of Cupramontana
Bl Lanunio
St Machai
St Maedhog of Clonmore
Bl Mechthild of Lappion
Bl Paul of Africa
St Philip of Gortyna
St Raynerius Inclusus
St Sancha of Portugal
St Stephen of Saint-Gilles
Bl Symforian Ducki
The meditations on the Stations of the Cross this year were prepared by the chaplaincy of the “Due Palazzi” House of Detention in Padua. Fourteen people were invited by Pope Francis to meditate on the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, bringing it to bear on their own situations. Those invited included five prisoners, a family that was the victim of a murder, the daughter of a man given a life sentence, a prison teacher, a civil magistrate, the mother of a prisoner, a catechist, a volunteer religious brother, a prison guard and a Priest who was accused and then finally acquitted after eight years in the justice system.
These Stations are magnificent! Let us Pray:
O God, Almighty Father, in Jesus Christ Your Son You assumed the wounds and sufferings of humanity. Today I have the courage to beseech You, like the good thief: “Remember me!” I am here, alone before You, in the dark of this prison: poor, naked, hungry and despised and I ask You to pour out upon my wounds, the balm of forgiveness and consolation and the wine of a solidarity that strengthens the heart. Heal me with Your grace and teach me hope in the midst of despair. My Lord and my God, I believe, help my unbelief. Merciful Father, continue to trust in me, to give me fresh opportunities, to embrace me in Your infinite love. With Your help and by the gift of the Holy Spirit, I too will be able to recognise You and serve You, in my brothers and sisters. Amen.
Thought for the Day – 10 April – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Jesus in Gethsemane
“After the last supper, when Judas had disappeared in order to carry out his treacherous plan, Jesus walked, with His other eleven Apostles among the olive trees of Gethsemane. He took aside three of the most faithful and then went away a few paces from them and prostrated Himself on the ground in fervent prayer. Being God, Jesus had no need of prayer but He wished to give us an example of how we ought to behave in moments of trial and danger. Three times He rose and went over to the Apostles, who were tired and had fallen asleep. He reproached them gently and exhorted them to pray. “Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed, is willing but the flesh is weak” (Mk 14:38). We often have a similar experience. Temptation assails us from within and, from without and we remain unmoved and inactive. But how can we escape from danger without the help of God? The divine help comes to us from grace, which must be sought by prayer. The electric current ceases, if the switch cuts off it’s contact with the source, from which it is derived. In the same way, the divine grace of which we are in constant need, is cut off, if we do not remain united by prayer to God, the source of the spiritual life. Let us learn from our divine model, Jesus, how to watch and pray always, especially in times of temptation and of peril.”
Quote/s of the Day – 10 April – Friday of the Passion of the Lord
“Great thing is the knowledge of the crucified Christ. How many things are enclosed inside this treasure! Christ crucified! Such is the hidden treasure of wisdom and science. Do not be deceived, then, under the pretext of wisdom. Gather before the covering and pray, that it may be uncovered. Foolish philosopher of this world, what you are looking for is worthless… What is the advantage of being thirsty, if you despise the source? … And what is His precept but that we believe in Him and love each other? In whom? In Christ crucified. This is His commandment – that we believe in Christ crucified … But where humility is, there is also majesty, where weakness is, there shall one find power, where death is, there shall be life as well. If you wish to arrive at the second part, do not despise the first!“
St Augustine (354-430)
Father & Doctor of the Church
Sermon 160, 3-4
“Come, kneel before the Lord: He shed for us His Blood. He died the victim of pure love, To make us one with God.”
Edward Caswall (1814-1878)
(15 July 1814 – 2 January 1878) was an Anglican clergyman and hymn writer who converted to Roman Catholicism and became a Oratorian under St John Henry Newman.
The Sign of the Cross
WHENE’ER across this sinful flesh of mine I draw the Holy Sign, All good thoughts stir within me and renew Their slumbering strength divine, Till there springs up a courage high and true To suffer and to do.
And who shall say but hateful spirits around, For their brief hour unbound, Shudder to see and wail their overthrow? While on far heathen ground Some lonely Saint hails the fresh odour, though Its source he cannot know.
One Minute Reflection – Friday of the Passion of the Lord – 10 April, Readings: Isaiah 52:13–53:12, Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-17, 25, Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9, John 18:1-19:42
There they crucified him and with him two others, one on either side and Jesus between them … John 18:18
REFLECTION – “Truly, you are a hidden God!” (Is 45:15). Why hidden? Because He had neither form nor beauty, yet power was in His hands. It was there His fortitude was hidden.
Was He not hidden when he submitted His hands to brutes and His palms received the nails? The print of the nails gleamed on His hands and His innocent side received the wound. They shackled His feet in fetters, the iron pierced His soles and His feet were fastened to the tree. These wounds did God suffer on our behalf at the hands of His own people, in His own home. O how marvellous are His wounds by which the wounds of the world were healed! How victorious His wounds, by which He slew death and stung hell! (…) Therefore, O Church, O dove, you have coverts in the rock and a hollow in the wall in which to rest (cf. Sg 2:14). (…)
And what will you do (…) when He comes in the clouds with great power and majesty? (cf. Mt 24:30) He will come down with heaven and earth ablaze and by the terror of His coming He will dissolve the elements. When He has come, the Sign of the Cross will be seen in the sky and the beloved one will show the scars of His wounds and the prints of the nails by which He was transfixed in His own home.” … St Amadeus of Lausanne (1108-1159) – Cistercian Monk, Bishop
PRAYER – The Angel of the Agony Saint John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Jesu! by that shuddering dread which fell on Thee. Jesu! by that cold dismay which sicken’d Thee. Jesu! by that pang of heart which thrill’d in Thee. Jesu! by that mount of sins which crippled Thee. Jesu! by that sense of guilt which stifled Thee. Jesu! by that innocence that girded Thee. Jesu! by that sanctity that reign’d in Thee. Jesu! by that Godhead which was one with Thee. Jesu! spare those souls which are so dear to Thee. Who in prison, calm and patient, wait for Thee. Hasten, Lord, their hour and bid them come to Thee. To that glorious Home, where they shall ever gaze on Thee. Amen
Our Morning Offering – 10 April – Friday of the Passion of the Lord
Our Lord’s Passion St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Doctor of the Church
In Your hour of holy sadness
could I share with You, what gladness
should Your Cross to me be showing.
Gladness past all thought of knowing,
bowed beneath Your Cross to die!
Blessed Jesus, thanks I render
that in bitter death, so tender,
You now hear Your supplicant calling,
Save me Lord and keep from falling
from You,
when my hour is night.
Saint of the Day – 10 April – St Miguel de Sanctis O.SS.T (1591-1625) Priest of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives also known as the Trinitarian Order or the Trinitarians, Mystic, Penitent, Ecstatic, Apostle of prayer, mortification, of the poor and the sick, he had a special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and would fall into ecstatic prayer during the Consecration at Holy Mass, so much so, that he became known as “El Extático”, “The Ecstatic.”
Born as Miguel Argemir on 29 September 1591 at Vich, Catalonia, Spain and died on 10 April 1625 at Valladolid, Spain of natural causes, aged 33. He is also known as Michael of the Saints. Patronages – Cancer patients, Vich – his hometown. His brief life of thirty three years was one of great love for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. His generous service to the poor, the unfortunate and the sick made him a compassionate Priest and a faithful friend.
At the age of six, he announced to his parents that he would become a monk when he grew up. His mother told him about the great St Francis and Michael went about imitating the man from Assisi. He was so zealous in his imitation of Francis that his parents had to prevent him from doing too much for his young age . Still, his enthusiasm for a life of prayer and poverty and holiness endured.
His parents died while he was still young and he was apprenticed to a merchant. He did his work well and whenever he had free time, he gave it to prayerful devotions. Then, at the age of twelve, he went to Madrid and asked to be received into the Monastery of the Trinitarians there. After his Novitiate in 1607, he took his vows at the Order’s Monastery of St Lambert, at Zaragoza when he took the name of Miguel de Sanctis.
After meeting a Discalced Trinitarian Priest, when he was just 17, he felt an overwhelming desire to become a Priest with their Order . He felt drawn to that Congregations more austere lifestyle and after much deliberation and with the permission of his superior, he entered the Congregation of the Discalced Trinitarians at Madrid. After being ordained a Priest, he was elected as Superior of the Monastery at Valladolid, for two tenures. He led the Monastery as Superior by example, living in holiness, often displaying heroic virtues of humility and prayer.
St Miguel died on 10 April 1625 at the age of 33. Miracles were reported through his intercession both before and after his death. He was Beatified by Pope Pius VI on 24 May 1779.
After eleven days of prayer, Frances Sanz was cured through his intercession. The cancerous tumours on her lip and tongue disappeared. No scars were left. Hers was one of many such cures and was presented as one of many miracles when Pope Pius IX Canonised Miguel on 8 June 1862. The feast of St Miguel de Sanctis is celebrated on 8 June in the Trinatarian Order and today, 10 April, with great joy in his hometown of Vich.
The Municipality of Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Quebec, Canada, is named in his honour.
St Michael de Sanctis,18th century Statue in the Church of Vich
Bl Antonio Vallesio
St Apollonius of Alexandria
Bl Archangelus Piacentini
St Bademus
St Bede the Younger
St Beocca of Chertsey
Bl Boniface Zukowski
Bl Eberwin of Helfenstein
St Ethor of Chertsey
St Ezekiel the Prophet St Fulbert of Chartres (c 960-1029) Bishop About St Fulbert: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/04/10/saint-of-the-day-10-april-st-fulbert-of-chartres/
St Malchus of Waterford
Bl Marco Mattia
Bl Mark Fantucci St Miguel de Sanctis O.SS.T (1591-1625)
St Palladius of Auxerre
St Paternus the Scot
—
Martyrs of Carthage – 50 saints: A group of 50 Christians who were imprisoned in a pen of snakes and scorpions, and then martyred, all during the persecutions of Decius. Only six of their names have come down to us – Africanus, Alessandro, Massimo, Pompeius, Terence and Teodoro. Beheaded in 250 at Carthage.
Martyrs of Georgia: Approximately 6,000 Christian monks and lay people martyred in Georgia in 1616 for their faith by a Muslim army led by Shah Abbas I of Persia.
Martyrs of Ostia: A group of criminals who were brought to the faith by Pope Saint Alexander I while he was in prison with them. Drowned by being taken off shore from Ostia, Italy, in a boat which was then scuttled, c 115.
One Minute Reflection – 9 April – Maundy Thursday, Evening Vigil Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Readings: Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14, Psalms 116:12-13, 15-18, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-15
Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not know now but afterward, you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part in me.” … John 12:7-8
REFLECTION –“Jesus, fully aware that the Father had put everything into His power and that He had come from God and was returning to God, rose from supper.” That which had not been in Jesus’s hands before is put into His hands by the Father – not just some things and not others but everything.
David had said: “The Lord says to my lord: Sit at my right hand while I make your enemies your footstool” (Ps 109[110]:1). The enemies of Jesus shared out, as it were, that ‘all’ which He knew His Father was giving Him. (…) On account of those who were far away from God, He was separated from God who, by nature, did not wish to leave the Father. He left God, so that all who have been separated from God, should return to God with Him, in His hands, according to His eternal design. (…)
So what was Jesus doing in washing the feet of His disciples? By washing them and wiping them with the towel around His waist wasn’t Jesus making their feet beautiful at the moment when they were going to have to proclaim the good news? It was then, in my opinion, that the prophetic word was fulfilled: “How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim good news!” (Is 52:7; Rm 10:15). But if, by washing the feet of His disciples, Jesus makes them beautiful, how can we express the genuine beauty in those whom He immerses fully “in the Holy Spirit and in fire” (Mt 3:11)? The feet of the apostles were made beautiful so that (…) they might set out along the holy road and walk in Him who said: “I am the Way” (Jn 14:6). For whoever has had his feet washed by Jesus and he alone, follows that living way that leads to the Father. That way has no room for dirty feet! (…) In order to follow this living, spiritual way (Heb 10:20) (…) they had to have their feet washed by Jesus who set aside His garments (…) so as to take upon His own body, the dirtiness of their feet with the towel which was His only garment, for “he bears our infirmities” (Is 53:4). … Origen (c 185-253) Father of Church, Priest, Theologian – Commentary on St John’s Gospel
PRAYER – Love of You, with our whole heart, Lord God, is holiness. Increase then Your gifts of divine grace in us, so that, as in Your Son’s Death, You made us hope for what we believe, You may likewise, in His Resurrection, make us come to You, our final end. Listen we beg, to the prayers of Your holy ones and may the Blessed Mother walk along with us and keep our hand, ever in hers. Through Jesus Himself, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God with You, forever and ever, amen.
Thought for the Day – 9 April – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Betrayal of Judas
“Ingratitude is a very cruel thing. It imprints a deep wound on the human heart and the heart of Jesus, was infinitely more sensitive than ours. He had raised Judas to the high rank of the Apostolate; He had made him one of His closest friends and had entrusted him with the secrets of His infinite love. Now Judas betrays Him for the wretched sum of thirty pieces of silver. Worse is to follow, however. While Jesus is praying and perspiring blood at the thought of the ingratitude of men and of the nearness of His passion and death, the garden of Gethsemane becomes suddenly aglow with torches and reverberates with the shouting of the hired ruffians, whom Judas has brought with him to arrest Jesus. The treacherous Apostle comes forward. He embraces our divine Redeemer, hails Him as his Master and greets Him with a sacrilegious kiss upon the cheek. Jesus neither repulses nor rebukes him but, with a gesture of infinite mercy, He addresses him as a friend. “Friend,” He says, “for what purpose hast thou come?” (Mt 26:50). “Dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Lk 22:28). If only Judas could have heeded this last appeal and begged for forgiveness at Jesus’ feet with tears of repentance! Jesus would certainly have taken him to His heart and returned his kiss with a kiss of pardon and divine friendship. Perhaps, we have also stood at times on the brink of sin and have been aware of a higher appeal to go back! But, have we heeded it? If ever we are in danger again, let us listen to this quiet voice which speaks to our conscience. Let us fall on our knees before Jesus and earnestly implore Him: “Be not silent, Lord, be not far from me!” (Ps 34:22). Let us ask Him to have pity on our weakness and to come to our assistance.“
Quote/s of the Day – 9 April – Maundy Thursday, Evening Vigil Mass of the Lord’s Supper
Love, or the Name of God
“Once for all, then, a short precept is given you – Love and do what you will, whether you hold your peace, through love, hold your peace; whether you cry out, through love cry out; whether you correct, through love correct; whether you spare, through love do you spare. Let the root of love be within, of this root, can nothing spring but what is good.”
St Augustine (354-430)
Great Western Father ad Doctor of the Church
Homily 7 on John
“He came from His royal throne, the stern Conqueror of error and the gentle Apostle of love.”
Saint Thierry (c 1075-1148)
“The masterpiece of Jesus Christ’s love for humanity is the Eucharist. The Eucharist is within our reach. We can all get close to Christ the guest and talk with Him and perceive the warmth of His word. The word! How it inflames the spirits! How will the word of Christ inflame them! We can all get to the altar when He immolates Himself and shouts at us: Look how much I have loved and loved you! And we can all sit at His table and eat the bread and drink the intoxicating wine of charity. “
Blessed Marcelo Spínola y Maestre, Cardinal-Priest (1835-1906)
“I love Him, even if it costs much, I love Him, because, it is worth much, I love Him, at all cost.”
Blessed Maria Teresa Fasce (1881-1947)
“If men sincerely loved one another, not merely as brothers but as much as they love themselves, what problems would be solved! Who can say how many evils would be abated and how many sorrows would be assuaged? To transform the world, it would be enough to put into practice the first great commandment of the Gospel, which is the commandment of charity. Admittedly, the world would not become an earthly paradise, for any such Utopia is an impossibility. But, it would become a dignified dwelling place of brothers, loving and helping one another. “Love is the fulfilment of the law,” St Paul very truly says (Rom 13:10). “Have charity, which is the bond of perfection” (Col 3:14).
Our Morning Offering – 9 April – Holy Thursday Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper
To Jesus, the Life By Blessed James Alberione (1884-1971)
O Wellspring of eternal life,
all life is grafted in You, Lord,
You break the bonds of death
and give life to us anew.
Descending from Your splendid throne,
You have brought this gift to us below,
profusely from Your open side,
You bestow divine riches.
We have joined Your Mystical Body,
engrafted by baptismal grace,
life flowing from Your seven springs,
lifts up anew our fallen race.
Though wounded by our parents’ fault,
our nature is restored by grace,
virtue is practised for Your love
and reaps the heavenly reward.
Only You can give true peace,
lead nations to live in harmony,
cause innocence to bloom in homes,
grant prosperity to our works.
Jesus, our everlasting Life, Truth and Way,
by You, we are led,
by You we live,
to Father, You and the Spirit,
may all peoples praise and glory give.
Amen
Blessed Fr James Alberione (1884-1971) the Founder of the Pauline Family, composed various Prayers to Jesus Master, The Way, the Truth and the Life, specifically directed to honour Jesus, the Master – to sanctify the whole person, mind, will and heart. These prayers are prayed by his Orders everyday.
Maundy or Holy Thursday of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper and The Seven Churches Visitation
Maundy Thursday begins theSsacred Triduum—the holiest days of the Church year. The liturgy reflects the beauty of the Paschal mystery and the Passover Feast of Christ. The Triduum is a time that we walk in Jesus’ footsteps for His final hours on earth. Personal devotions always spring up to unite the faithful’s domestic church with the Liturgy of the Church but even more so during the holiest week of the year and in particular in this year of Covid19 when we are all locked down in our homes and are unable to accompany our Lord on His journey to the Cross.
At the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, the Gospel is John 13:1-15, Christ washing the feet of the Apostles. The word Maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum (commandment) which is the first word of the Gospel acclamation: Mandátum novum do vobis dicit Dóminus, ut diligátis ínvicem, sicut diléxi vos.“I give you a new commandment – Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13:34). At the Mass the priest washes feet of several people in imitation of Christ.
The Seven Churches Visitation
In metropolitan areas where there are more Catholic Churches, there is the popular tradition of visiting the Altar of Repose in seven local Churches. This custom began in Rome (often credited to St Philip Neri) with visiting the seven major Basilicas of the City on Holy Thursday: St Peter’s in the Vatican, St Paul’s outside the Walls, St John Lateran, St Mary Major, St Sebastian’s, St Lawrence Outside the Walls and Holy Cross in Jerusalem. See them all below.
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This Holy Thursday pilgrimage reflects the seven stops or “stations” during the night of Jesus’ arrest:
Jesus in the Garden in Gethsemane where He was arrested (Luke 22:39-46)
Jesus taken before Annas (John 18:19-22)
Jesus bound and taken before Caiaphas, the High Priest (Matthew 26:63-65)
Jesus taken before Pilate, the Roman governor (John 18:35-37)
Jesus goes before Herod (Luke 23:8-9, 11)
Jesus returns to Pilate (Matthew 27:22-26)
Jesus is scourged, crowned with thorns and led to His crucifixion (John 19:1-16)
The book of Indulgences, the Raccolta, included this practice. The suggested prayers were an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be, five times before the Altar of Repose of the Blessed Sacrament and then some private adoration and personal prayer (reflection on the scripture passages related to the “station”) before moving on to the next church.
The final Church stop can also include prayers for the Holy Father’s intentions and a longer time of adoration with Jesus in the altar of repose. In some regions the number of churches expanded to 14 to include the entire Stations of the Cross. Some other traditions of prayers, with the Seven Churches, is praying along with the Seven Last Words of Christ. This year there will be many online resources and we can pray the Liturgy together in our home,s as well as, make the Seven Churches pilgrimage by reading each Gospel reading aloud and praying the prayers suggested.
May we all accompany Our Lord tonight and not leave Him alone!
Saint of the Day – 9 April – Blessed Celestyna Faron IHM (1913 – 1942) Virgin Martyr, Religious Sister of the Congregation of the Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Conception, Teacher, Catechist – Born as Katarzyna Stanisława Faron on 24 April 1913 in Zabrzez, Malopolskie, Poland and died on Easter morning, 9 April 1944 in Auschwitz concentration camp, Oswiecim, Malopolskie, Nazi-occupied Poland. Patronage – Podhale, Poland.
Katarzyna Faron’s early life was filled with sadness and loss as she lost her mother, Maria (née Madoń) when she was five. Her father, Jozef, sent her to childless relatives living in the town of Kamienica to be educated. The new carers loved her like their own child and, like her parents, taught to love God and all his children … As a teenage girl she developed a vocation to the religious life.
It was in 1930 that she entered the Congregation of the Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate, taking the Name Sr Celestyna Faron and made her final profession eight years later. She was encouraged to train as a teacher and developed a particular love for the younger children. Because of her own difficult and traumatic experiences in early life, Katarzyna cared greatly for those who had lost her parents. During the occupation of Poland she was the local superior of a religious house and oversaw the running of an orphanage.
As with Blessed Bronislaw Koskowski (the Founder of her Order), the Gestapo arrived one day and searched the orphanage. Katarzyna was arrested and charged with conspiracy. After imprisonment in two camps she was transported to Auschwitz where she received camp number 27989, with which she was tattooed, using a metal stamp dipped in ink, into which interchangeable plates with needles were inserted, forming separate numbers. She also received a camp outfit – called a striped uniform – with a red triangle sewn in, with the letter ” P ” ( Ger. ” polnisch ‘) to designate a political prisoner, a Pole …
The Germans drove her to work immediately – she was digging in trenches, standing – almost always hungry, cold – ankle-deep in icy water …. Weakened by this physical labour, she developed tuberculosis and typhoid.
Already in April 1943, with typhus, dulled hearing and pressure sores, the opened wound of a previous appendectomy operation, Sr Celestyna was moved to block 24 – the so-called ” Camp hospita, ” a separate barrack, where the sick were detained, without providing them with medical assistance (although doctors-prisoners did what they could). Terrible hygiene conditions ( fleas , bed bugs , rat plague), hunger, fever, lack of water caused additional pain. Despite this, she modestly shared the contents of the parcels received from the superiors of the Congregation with her companions. Before Christmas 1943, on the patronal feast of the Congregation, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Sr Celestyna received her last Communion. – smuggled in by one of the priests who came with the transport of prisoners to Auschwitz …
Only prayer remained. She prayed intensely for various intentions on her inseparable rosary made of bread. The Germans could not take away the internal badges of belonging to the Church and the Congregation …
Despite suffering and pain, she did not complain about her fate. She was at peace with everything that happened to her. Co-sister and fellow prisoner, Sister Cyprian Michalina Babiak (born in 1907, Brandwica), camp number 50184, recalled: “Although she wanted the end of the war and freedom, she never showed regret that she got there.” She said: ” Jesus sent us here to compensate for the sins of the whole world .” “We prayed for our homeland, for our monastery, for priests, for the conversion of sinners, for persecutors – also for Hitler – for his repentance “…
Another fellow inmate, a teacher from Kielce, Janina Komenda (1889, Kazan – 1968) , camp number: 27233, author of memories from Auschwitz: ” Lager Brzezinka “ last published in 1986, testified: ” Sr Celestyna was the epitome of gentleness, patience and kindness, extremely … (unknown word) content with everything that happened to her. Despite great suffering, she even managed to humour and cheerfulness. Initially unknown to anyone, she soon became widely liked. […] Despite her state of health, she was constantly interested in her surroundings, coming to the aid of those in need of food or words of encouragement . “
She did not leave the Camp Hospital until her death on Easter Sunday in 1944. Her fellow inmates, dressed Sr Celestyna in a white silk shirt and covered her with a sheet. A rosary and a cross were placed next to it and two candles obtained from somewhere were lit. Because the Germans took a break – in connection with Easter – the body of Sr Celestyna stayed in the barrack. The prisoners prayed alongside her corpse all day. Even prisoners from other blocks gathered there, taking advantage of the absence of the Germans … Already then, her fellow inmates called her, this ordinary Polish handmaid, this little immaculate lamb: ” Saint Sister “ …
Blessed Celestyna provides a wonderful model for those who have experienced a traumatic childhood. Despite a difficult start in life she achieved a great deal and cared for the most vulnerable. Her invincible faith brought her through her early life and sustained her throughout her final suffering.
Sister Celestyna Faron was Beatified by St Pope John Paul II in Warsaw on 13 June 1999 in the group of 108 Polish martyrs who are celebrated on 12 June.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of courage and perseverance in love which You granted to Blessed Katherine Celestyna, who amidst tortures, hunger and debasement in the concentration camp, persevered under the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, remaining faithful to the Christian and religious vocation unto martyrdom.
Through her intercession, grant me the grace of ………..… which I humbly implore, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
St Acacius of Amida
St Aedesius of Alexandria Bl Antony of Pavoni OP (1326-1374) Priest and Martyr Biography: https://wordpress.com/post/anastpaul.wordpress.com/9688
St Brogan
St Casilda of Toledo
St Concessus the Martyr
St Demetrius the Martyr
St Dotto
St Eupsychius of Cappadocia
St Gaucherius
St Hedda the Abbot
St Heliodorus of Mesopotamia
St Hilary the Martyr
St Hugh of Rouen
Bl James of Padua
Bl John of Vespignano Blessed Celestyna (Katarzyna) Faron IHM (1913 – 1942) Virgin Martyr (Today’s Saint) St Liborius of Le Mans (early 4th century – 397) St Liborius’ story: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/09/saint-of-the-day-9-april-st-liborius-of-le-mans-early-4th-century-397/
St Madrun of Wales
St Marcellus of Die
Bl Marguerite Rutan
St Maximus of Alexandria
Bl Pierre Camino
St Prochorus Bl Thomas of Tolentino OFM (c 1255–1321) Martyr Blessed Thomas’ Life: https://anastpaul.com/2019/04/09/saint-of-the-day-9-april-blessed-thomas-of-tolentino-ofm-c-1255-1321-martyr/
Bl Ubaldo Adimari
St Waltrude of Mons
—
Martyrs of Croyland – 9 saints: A group of Benedictine monks martyred by pagan Danes – Agamund, Askega, Egdred, Elfgete, Grimkeld, Sabinus, Swethin, Theodore and Ulric. Croyland Abbey, England.
Martyrs of Masyla: Massylitan Martyrs Group of Christians martyred in Masyla in northwest Africa.
Martyrs of Pannonia: Seven virgin-martyrs in Sirmium, Pannonia (modern Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia).
Martyrs of Thorney Abbey – 3+ saints: A group of Hermits, hermitesses and monks who lived in or around Thorney Abbey who were martyred together during raids by pagan Danes. We know little more than the names of three – Tancred, Torthred and Tova. 869 by raiders at Thorney Abbey, Cambridgeshire, England.
For 4 days I have been without any internet connection and have missed you all greatly.
I hope you have missed me too!
My service provider denied that it was their fault but today, I was blessed to speak to someone who agreed that it was and he fixed it. So at last, I will be back with my posts just in time for the Easter Triduum.
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy and with my song I praise him.
Our Morning Offering – 4 April – Saturday of the Fifth week of Lent, Year C “Marian Saturdays”
Mother of Sorrows, of Love, of Mercy By Fr Lawrence Lovasik SVD (1913-1986)
Mary, most holy Virgin and Queen of Martyrs,
accept the sincere homage of my childlike love.
Into your heart, pierced by so many sorrows,
welcome my poor soul.
Receive it as the companion of your sorrows
at the foot of the Cross, on which Jesus
died for the redemption of the world.
Sorrowful Virgin, with you,
I will gladly suffer all the trials,
misunderstandings and pains
which it shall please our Lord to send me.
I offer them all to you in memory of your sorrows,
so that every thought of my mind
and every beat of my heart,
may be an act of compassion and of love for you.
Loving Mother, have pity on me,
reconcile me to your Divine Son Jesus,
keep me in His grace and assist me
in my last agony,
so that I may be able to meet you in heaven
and sing your glories.
Mary, most sorrowful Mother of Christians,
pray for us.
Mother of love, of sorrow
and of mercy, pray for us!
Amen. Amen!
Saint of the Day – 4 April – St Isidore of Seville (c 560-636) Father & Doctor of the Church, Creator of the first encyclopedia – often called “The Last Scholar of the Ancient World” and “The Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages.” His most well known Patronage is of Computers and the Internet (although not officially so_ – his full story with Patronages is here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/04/04/saint-of-the-day-4-april-st-isidore-of-seville-father-and-doctor-of-the-church/ but today we will follow his life with Pope Benedict XVI during his Catechetical audiences on the Doctors of the Church. This was given at St Peter’s on Wednesday, 18 June 2008.
He was a younger brother of St Leander (c 534-c 600) memorial 13 March, Archbishop of Seville and a great friend of St Pope Gregory the Great. Pointing this out is important, because it enables us, to bear in mind, a cultural and spiritual approach, that is indispensable for understanding Isidore’s personality. Indeed, he owed much to Leander, an exacting, studious and austere person who created around his younger brother a family context, marked by the ascetic requirements proper to a monk and from the work pace demanded, by a serious dedication to study. Furthermore, Leander was concerned to have the wherewithal to confront the political and social situation of that time – in those decades in fact, the Visigoths, barbarians and Arians, had invaded the Iberian Peninsula and taken possession of territories that belonged to the Roman Empire. It was essential to regain them for the Roman world and for Catholicism. Leander and Isidore’s home was furnished with a library richly endowed with classical, pagan and Christian works. Isidore, who felt simultaneously attracted to both, was, therefore, taught under the responsibility of his elder brother, to develop a very strong discipline, in devoting himself to study with discretion and discernment.
Thus, a calm and open atmosphere prevailed in the episcopal residence in Seville. We can deduce this from Isidore’s cultural and spiritual interests, as they emerge from his works themselves, which include an encyclopaedic knowledge of pagan classical culture and a thorough knowledge of Christian culture. This explains the eclecticism characteristic of Isidore’s literary opus, who glided with the greatest of ease from Martial to Augustine, or from Cicero to Gregory the Great. The inner strife that the young Isidore had to contend with, having succeeded his brother Leander on the episcopal throne of Seville in 599, was by no means unimportant. The impression of excessive voluntarism that strikes one, on reading the works of this great author, considered to be the last of the Christian Fathers of antiquity, may, perhaps, actually be due to this constant struggle with himself. A few years after his death in 636, the Council of Toledo in 653 described him as “an illustrious teacher of our time and the glory of the Catholic Church.”
Isidore was, without a doubt, a man of accentuated dialectic antitheses. Moreover, he experienced a permanent inner conflict in his personal life, similar to that which Gregory the Great and St Augustine had experienced earlier, between a desire for solitud, to dedicate himself solely to meditation on the word of God and, the demands of charity to his brethren, for whose salvation, as Bishop, he felt responsible. He wrote, for example, with regard to Church leaders: “The man responsible for a Church (vir ecclesiasticus) must on the one hand allow himself to be crucified to the world, with the mortification of his flesh and, on the other, accept the decision of the ecclesiastical order – when it comes from God’s will – to devote himself humbly to government, even if he does not wish to”(Sententiarum liber III, 33, 1: PL 83, col 705 B). Just a paragraph later he adds: “Men of God, (sancti viri), do not in fact desire to dedicate themselves to things of the world and groan when by some mysterious design of God they are charged with certain responsibilities…. They do their utmost to avoid them bu,t accept what they would like to shun and do what they would have preferred to avoid. Indeed, they enter into the secrecy of the heart and seek there to understand what God’s mysterious will is asking of them. And when they realise that they must submit to God’s plans, they bend their hearts to the yoke of the divine decision” (Sententiarum liber III, 33, 3: PL 83, coll. 705-706).
To understand Isidore better, it is first of all, necessary, to recall the complexity of the political situations in his time to which I have already referred – during the years of his boyhood he was obliged to experience the bitterness of exile. He was, nevertheless, pervaded with apostolic enthusiasm. He experienced the rapture of contributing to the formation of a people, that was at last, rediscovering its unity, both political and religious, with the providential conversion of Hermenegild, the heir to the Visigoth throne, from Arianism to the Catholic faith. Yet we must not underestimate the enormous difficulty of coming to grips with such very serious problems as were the relations with heretics and with the Jews. There was a whole series of problems which appear very concrete to us today too, especially if we consider what is happening in certain region, in which we seem almost to be witnessing the recurrence of situations, very similar to those, that existed on the Iberian Peninsular, in that sixth century. The wealth of cultural knowledge that Isidore had assimilated, enabled him to constantly compare the Christian newness with the Greco-Roman cultural heritage, however, rather than the precious gift of synthesis, it would seem that he possessed the gift of collatio, that is, of collecting, which he expressed in an extraordinary personal erudition, although it was not always ordered as might have been desired.
In any case, his nagging worry not to overlook anything, that human experience had produced, in the history of his homeland and of the whole world, is admirable. Isidore did not want to lose anything that man had acquired, in the epochs of antiquity, regardless of whether they had been pagan, Jewish or Christian. Hence, it should not come as a surprise if, in pursuing this goal, he did not always manage to filter the knowledge he possessed sufficiently, in the purifying waters of the Christian faith as he would have wished. The point is, however, that in Isidore’s intentions, the proposals he made, were always in tune with the Catholic faith, which he staunchly upheld. In the discussion of the various theological problems, he showed, that he perceived their complexity and often astutely suggested solutions, that summarise and express, the complete Christian truth. This has enabled believers through the ages and to our times, to profit, with gratitude, from his definitions. A significant example of this is offered by Isidore’s teaching on the relations between active and contemplative life. He wrote: “Those who seek to attain repose in contemplation must first train in the stadium of active life and then, free from the dross of sin, they will be able to display that pure heart which alone makes the vision of God possible”(Differentiarum Lib. II, 34, 133: PL 83, col 91A). Nonetheless, the realism of a true pastor, convinced him of the risk the faithful run, of reducing themselves to one dimension. He therefore added: “The middle way, consisting of both of these forms of life, normally turns out to be more useful in resolving those tensions, which are often aggravated, by the choice of a single way of life and are instead better tempered, by an alternation of the two forms” (op. cit. 134; ibid., col 91B).
Isidore sought in Christ’s example the definitive confirmation of a just orientation of life and said: “The Saviour Jesus offers us the example of active life, when during the day He devoted Himself to working signs and miracles in the town but, He showed the contemplative life, when He withdrew to the mountain and spent the night in prayer”(op. cit. 134: ibid.). In the light of this example of the divine Teacher, Isidore can conclude with this precise moral teaching: “Therefore let the servant of God, imitating Christ, dedicate himself to contemplation without denying himself active life. Behaving otherwise, would not be right. Indeed, just as we must love God in contemplation, so we must love our neighbour with action. It is therefore impossible to live without the presence of both the one and the other form of life, nor can we live without experiencing both the one and the other”(op. cit., 135; ibid. col 91C). I consider that this is the synthesis of a life that seeks contemplation of God, dialogue with God in prayer and in the reading of Sacred Scripture, as well as action at the service of the human community and of our neighbour. This synthesis, is the lesson that the great Bishop of Seville has bequeathed to us, Christians of today, called to witness to Christ at the beginning of a new millennium. Amen … Vatican.va
St Isidore at Seville Cathedral
St Isidore on the Facade of Seville Cathedral
Prayer for the Intercession of St Isidore before accessing the Internet
Almighty and eternal God,
who created us in Thy image
and bade us to seek after all that is good,
true and beautiful,
especially in the divine person
of Thy only-begotten Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
grant we beseech Thee that,
through the intercession of Saint Isidore,
Bishop and Doctor,
during our journeys through the internet,
we will direct our hands and eyes
only to that which is pleasing to Thee
and treat with charity and patience,
all those souls whom we encounter.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen
Orátio ante colligatiónem in interrete:
*Omnípotens aetérne Deus,
qui secúndum imáginem Tuam nos plasmásti
et omnia bona, vera, et pulchra,
praesértim in divína persóna Unigéniti Fílii Tui
Dómini nostri Iesu Chrísti, quaérere iussísti,
praesta, quaésumus,
ut, per intercessiónem Sancti Isidóri, Epíscopi et Doctóris,
in peregrinatiónibus per interrete,
et manus oculísque ad quae Tibi sunt plácita intendámus
et omnes quos convenímus cum caritáte ac patiéntia accipiámus.
Per Christum Dóminum nostrum.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 3 April – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Our Martyrdom
“St Ambrose describes virtue, as a slow martyrdom.
In this sense, we must all be martyrs.
There is only one difference.
The Martyrs of the Church shed their blood and gave up their lives for Jesus, within one hour or one day and gained their reward immediately.
Our martyrdom, on the other hand, will be prolonged.
It will last all our lives and will end only when we accept death with resignation from the hands of God.
Ours is the martyrdom of virtue.
Let us clearly understand, that solid Christian virtue is a slow and continual martyrdom, which will end with death.
It is not a flower, which springs up spontaneously in the garden of the soul.
It is like a seed which is thrown on the damp earth and must die there slowly, so that it can generate young shoots, which will produce the ears of corn. “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But, if it dies, it brings forth much fruit” (Jn 12:24-25).
It is necessary, then, to descend into the mire of humility and to remain there until we die.
Only after we have died to ourselves, shall we rise again in God (Cf ibid).
After the death of our lower instincts and vices, we shall find a new life.”
Quote of the Day – 3 April – The Memorial of St Richard of Chichester (1197-1253)
May I Love You More Dearly St Richard of Chichester (1197-1253)
Thanks be to You, my Lord Jesus Christ For all the benefits You have given me, For all the pains and insults You have borne for me. O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother, May I know You more clearly, Love You more dearly, Follow You more nearly. Amen
St Richard recited this prayer on his deathbed, surrounded by the clergy of the diocese. The words were transcribed, in Latin, by his confessor Ralph Bocking, a Dominican friar and were eventually published in the Acta Sanctorum, an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints. The British Library copy, contains what is believed to be Bockings transcription of the prayer:
Gratias tibi ago, Domine Jesu Christe,
de omnibus beneficiis quae mihi praestitisti,
pro poenis et opprobriis, quae pro me pertulisti,
propter quae planctus ille lamentabilis vere tibi competebat.
Non est dolor similis sicut dolor meus.
Lenten Reflection – 3 April – Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent, Readings: Jeremiah 20:10-13, Psalm 18:2-7, John 10:31-42
“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”
“If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” … John 10:37-38
Daily Meditation: Set us free.
“The Apostle teaches that Christ offered Himself for us to God as a fragrant offering and sacrifice. He is the true God and the true high priest who for our sake entered once for all into the holy of holies, taking with Him not the blood of bulls and goats but His own blood. This was foreshadowed by the high priest of old when each year he took blood and entered the holy of holies.
Christ is, therefore, the one who in Himself alone, embodied all that He knew to be necessary to achieve our redemption. He is at once Priest and Sacrifice, God and Temple. He is the Priest through whom we have been reconciled, the Sacrifice by which we have been reconciled, the Temple in which we have been reconciled, the God with whom we have been reconciled. He alone is Priest, Sacrifice and Temple because He is all these things as God, in the form of a Servant but He is not alone as God, for He is this with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the form of God.
Hold fast to this and never doubt it – the only-begotten Son, God the Word, becoming man offered Himself for us, to God, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice. In the time of the Old Testament, patriarchs, prophets and priests sacrificed animals in His honour and in honour of the Father and the Holy Spirit, as well. Now in the time of the New Testament the Holy Catholic Church, throughout the world, never ceases to offer the Sacrifice of bread and wine, in faith and love, to Him and to the Father and the Holy Spirit, with whom He shares one Godhead.” … St Fulgentius of Ruspe (c 462 – 533) – An excerpt from his Treatise on Faith addressed to Peter
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised and I am saved from my enemies.
Psalm 18:2-3
Intercessions:
Thanks be to Christ the Lord,
who brought us life by is death on the cross.
With our whole heart let us askHhim:
By Your death raise us to life.
Teacher and Saviour,
You have shown us Your fidelity and made us a new creation by Your passion,
– keep us from falling again into sin.
Help us to deny ourselves today,
– and not deny those in need.
May we receive this day of penance as Your gift,
– and give it back to You through works of mercy.
Master our rebellious hearts,
– and teach us generosity. Closing Prayer:
Most forgiving Lord,
again and again You welcome me back into Your loving arms.
Grant me freedom from the heavy burdens of sin
that weigh me down
and keep me so far from You.
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
“O Fountain of everlasting love, what shall I say of You? How can I forget You, Who have vouchsafed to remember me even after I was corrupted and lost?”
One Minute Reflection – 3 April – Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent, Readings: Jeremiah 20:10-13, Psalm 18:2-7, John 10:31-42
“Then they tried to seize him.” … John 10:39
REFLECTION – “If the Law calls them gods to whom the word of God came and scripture cannot be set aside,how can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” Yes indeed, if God has spoken to us so that we might be called ‘gods,’ how could the Word of God, the Word that is in God, not be God? If we have been made sharers in His nature and have become gods because God speaks to us, how could this Word, through which this gift comes to us, not be God? … As for you, you approach the Light and receive it and are counted among the children of God but if you draw back, you become dark and are counted among the children of darkness (cf. 1 Thes 5:5). …
“Believe the works, so that you may realise and understand, that the Father is in me and I in the Father.” The Son of God does not say “the Father is in me and I in the Father” in the same sense as we are able to do. In effect, if our thoughts are good, we are in God; if our lives are holy, God is in us. When we are sharers in His grace and enlightened by His light then we are in Him and He in us. But … recognise what is proper to the Lord and what is a gift made to His servant. What is proper to the Lord is His equality with the Father but the gift granted to His servant, is to participate in the Saviour.
“Then they tried to seize him.” If only they had seized Him! But by faith and intellect, not so as to mock and put him to death! At this very moment, as I speak to you …, all of us, both you and I, are wanting to seize Christ. To ‘seize’, what does that mean? You have ‘seized’ when you have understood. But Christ’s enemies were looking for something different. You have seized in order to possess but they wanted to seize Him in order to get rid of Him. And because this was how they wanted to seize Him, what does Jesus do? “He escaped from their power.” They were unable to seize Him because they did not have the hands of faith. … We truly seize Christ if our minds grasp the Word.” … St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church – Sermons on the Gospel of John, no 48, 9-11
PRAYER – Holy Father, our Father, help us to lay down the stones of hate and embrace Your Son who stands before us in need. Give us the hands of faith and minds to grasp the Word, teach us to see His Face in those who cry out to us. Teach us compassion and love. Mary, your Immaculate Heart is our school. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen.
AnaStpaul 
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