Our Morning Offering – 9 March – Tuesday of the Third week of Lent
Hear us, O Heavenly Father, For the Sake of Your Only Son By St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of the Church
Almighty Father, come into our hearts and so fill us with Your love that forsaking all evil desires, we may embrace You, our only good. Show us, O Lord our God, what You are to us. Say to our souls, I am your salvation, speak so, that we may hear. Our hearts are before You, open our ears, let us hasten after Your Voice. Hide not Your Face from us, we beseech You, O Lord. Open our hearts, so that You may enter in. Repair the ruined mansions, that You may dwell therein. Hear us, O Heavenly Father, for the sake of Your only Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen
Saint of the Day – 9 March – Saint Bosa of York OSB (Died c 705) Fourth Bishop of York, Benedictine Monk, ecclesiastical reformer St Bosa was highly regarded by the Venerable St Bede who praised his humility and sanctity.
A window in York Minster showing various Bishops, one of whom is St Bosa.
Nothing is known of the birth or early life of Bosa. Bosa was a Northumbrian, educated at Whitby Abbey under the Abbess St Hilda. He subsequently joined the Monastery as a Monk and became one of five men educated at Whitby who went on to become Bishops. The other four were Oftfor, Ætla, St John of Beverley, and St Wilfrid II.
In 678, after Wilfrid was removed from the Bishopric of York and banished from Northumbria, the Diocese of York was divided into three. Bosa was appointed to the now greatly reduced Diocese of York, which included the sub-kingdom of Deira, thanks to the support of King Ecgfrith of Northumbria and St Theodore of Tarsus, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Bosa was Consecrated in his Cathedral at York in 678 by Theodore but Wilfrid declared that he was unable to work with Bosa because he did not consider him to be a member of the Catholic Church. Bosa’s episcopate lasted nine years but with Wilfrid back in favour, in 687, Bosa was removed just as his predecessor had been. He returned to York in 691, after Wilfrid was once again expelled. While Bishop, Bosa introduced a communal life for the clergy of the Cathedral and set up a continuous liturgy in the Cathedral.
York Minster
The date of Bosa’s death is unknown; he was still alive in 704 but must have died before 706, when his successor was named. His successor at York was St John of Beverley, the Bishop of Hexham. A contemporary writer, the Venerable St Bede, praised Bosa as a man of “singular merit and sanctity.” St Bede also praised Bosa’s humility. Bosa was also responsible for the early education of St Acca, later Bishop of Hexham, who grew up in his household.
Bosa appears as a saint in an 8th-century liturgical calendar of York, the only sign that he was venerated as a saint before the Norman Conquest of England. The 16th-century English antiquary John Leland included Bosa in his list of saint’s resting places in England, giving it as York.
Notre-Dame de Savigny /Our Lady of Savigny, France (1112) – 9 March:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: “Foundation of Savigny, in the Diocese of Avranches, in Normandy, in honour of the Blessed Virgin, about the year 1112, by the blessed Vitalis, hermit, who was its first Abbot.” About the year 1112, in the Diocese of Avranches, the Blessed Vitalis (Vital de Mortain) established the foundation of the Abbey of Savigny (Abbaye de Savigny) in honour of the Blessed Mother. This day commemorates the event. The Abbey was founded near the village of Savigny-le-Vieux in the north of France and Blessed Vitalis became the first Abbot. It was initially Benedictine but soon was given over to Cistercian Monks. Within only thirty years it had over thirty daughter houses. Initially, Vitalis had gone into the forest of Savigny to become a hermit. His fame for sanctity, however, drew disciples to him. These disciples needed shelter from the elements and soon Vitalis found those crude structures had become a kind of Monastery requiring a rule of life. When the Lord of Fougeres granted the land to Vital, the Monastery was founded, and the hermit became the reluctant Abbot. In 1119 Pope Celestine II took the Abbey under his protection. Serlo, also known as Serlon, was the third Abbot of Savigny. During his period of office, one of the monks was known to have a deep and tender devotion to the Blessed Mother and while he was saying Mass in honour of Our Lady, he beheld the Virgin’s hand making the Sign of the Cross over the Chalice at the consecration of the wine. At the same time, a deliciously sweet odour surrounded the Monk. Thereafter, as often as he recalled this, he was refreshed by the sweetness of the scent which had encompassed him at the time. Mary’s presence was frequently experienced at this Shrine, particularly during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and numerous miracles were wrought, prayers answered and graces bestowed for the asking. During the 16th century the Abbey was pillaged and burned by Calvinists but it was not until the French Revolution that the Abbey was reduced to a pile of ruins.
Unlike the Abbey, the Church Our Lady of Savigny, still stands. According to an inscription on one of the capitals in the choir, the Church was dedicated to our Lady in 1128 and it is believed, that there is no Church in the district, that is older. It was restored in the year 1869 and serves the surrounding areas to this day..
St Joseph, we ask for your assistance in all our needs. The Novena begins on Wednesday 10 March. Please pray for us!
St Teresa of Avila’s Plea
“Would that I could persuade all men to be devoted to this glorious Saint, for I know, by long experience, what blessings he can obtain for us from God. I have never known anyone who was truly devoted to him and honoured him, by particular services, who did not advance greatly in virtue, for he helps in a special way, those souls who commend themselves to him. It is now very many years since I began asking him for something on his feast and I have always received it. If the petition was in any way amiss, he rectified it for my greater good . . .
I ask for the love of God, that he who does not believe me, will make the trial for himself—then he will find out by experience, the great good that results from commending oneself to this glorious Patriarch and in being devoted to him.”
St Alphonsus Liguori on St Joseph, Patron of a Happy Death
“Since we all must die, we should cherish a special devotion to St Joseph, that he may obtain for us a happy death. All Christians regard him as the advocate of the dying who had honoured him during their life and they do so for three reasons:
“First, because Jesus Christ loved him not only as a friend but as a father and on this account his mediation is far more efficacious than that of any other Saint.
“Second, because St Joseph has obtained special power against the evil spirits, who tempt us with redoubled vigour at the hour of death.
“Third, the assistance given St Joseph at his death by Jesus and Mary, obtained for him the right to secure a holy and peaceful death for his servants. Hence, if they invoke him at the hour of death, he will not only help them but he will also obtain for them the assistance of Jesus and Mary.”
Thought for the Day – 8 March – 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.”
Day Twenty of our Lenten Journey – 8 March – The Third Sunday of Lent, Readings: 2 Kings 5:1-15, Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4, Luke 4:24-30
Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)
In You is the source of life and in Your Light Lord, we see light Psalm 35(36)
And they rose up and tdrove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.– Luke 4:29
When Christ was in the world, He was despised by men. In the hour of need He was forsaken by acquaintances and left by friends to the depths of scorn. He was willing to suffer and to be despised. Do you dare to complain of anything?
He had enemies and defamers. Do you want everyone to be your friend, your benefactor? How can your patience be rewarded if no adversity test it? How can you be a friend of Christ if you are not willing to suffer any hardship? Suffer with Christ and for Christ if you wish to reign with Him.
Had you but once entered into perfect communion with Jesus or tasted a little of His ardent love, you would care nothing at all for your own comfort or discomfort but would rejoice in the reproach you suffer. For love of Him makes a man despise himself.
A man who is a lover of Jesus and of truth, a truly interior man who is free from uncontrolled affections, can turn to God at will and rise above himself to enjoy spiritual peace. He who tastes life as it really is, not as men say or think it is, is indeed wise with the wisdom of God rather than of men.
He who learns to live the interior life and to take little account of outward things, does not seek special places or times to perform devout exercises. A spiritual man quickly recollects himself because he has never wasted his attention upon externals. No outside work, no business that cannot wait stands in his way. He adjusts himself to things as they happen.
He whose disposition is well ordered cares nothing about the strange, perverse behaviour of others, for a man is upset and distracted only in proportion as he engrosses himself in externals. If all were well with you, therefore and, if you were purified from all sin, everything would tend to your good and be to your profit. But because you are as yet neither entirely dead to self nor free from all earthly affection, there is much that often displeases and disturbs you. Nothing so mars and defiles the heart of man as impure attachment to created things.
But if you refuse external consolation, you will be able to contemplate heavenly things and often to experience interior joy. (Book 2 Ch 1)
Quote/s of the Day – 8 March – Monday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: 2 Kings 5:1-15, Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4, Luke 4:24-30 and the Memorial of St John of God (1495-1550)
“Love the poor tenderly, regarding them as your masters and yourselves as their servants.”
“For just as water extinguishes a fire, just so does charity blot out our sins.”
One Minute Reflection – 8 March – Monday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: 2 Kings 5:1-15,Psalms 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4, Luke 4:24-30 and the Memorial fo St John of God (1495-1550) and Blessed Vincent Kadlubek O.Cist (c 1160-1223)
“There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months and a great famine came over all the land. Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.” – Luke 4:25-26
REFLECTION – “The poor widow had gone out to look for two blocks of wood to bake some brea,: it is at this time that Elijah meets her. This woman is the symbol of the Church because a cross is made of two pieces of wood, the woman, who was destined to die, searches for something by which to live eternally. There is a hidden mystery in this … Elijah tells her: “Go, feed me first with your poverty and you will not run out of your goods.” What a blessed poverty! If the widow received here on earth such retribution, what a reward may she hope to receive in the life to come!
I insist on this point – let us not expect to harvest the fruit of our sowing now, at the time we sow. Here on earth, we sow with difficulty what will be the harvest of our good works but only later on, will we gather the fruits of this with joy, according to what is said: “Those who go forth weeping, carrying sacks of seed, will return with cries of joy, carrying their bundled sheaves” (Ps 125:6). Actually Elijah’s act towards this woman was not her reward, but only a symbol of it. For if this widow would have been rewarded here on earth for having fed the man of God, what a miserable sowing, what a poor crop! She received just a temporal good – a jar of flour that did not empty and a jug of oil that did not run dry, until the day the Lord watered the earth with His rain. This sign that was given to her by God, for a few days was, therefore, the symbol of the future life where our reward could not be lessened. Our flour will be God himself! As the flour of this woman did not run out in these days, we will not be deprived of God for all the rest of eternity … Sow with faith and your harvest will surely come; it will come later on but when it will come, you will reap it endlessly.” – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop of Hippo, Father, Doctor of the Church – Sermon 11, 2-3
PRAYER – Lord our God, make us love You above all things and all our fellow-men, with a love that is worthy of You. May we look to Your Divine Son in love and imitation. Grant we pray, that by the prayers of the St John of God and Bl Vincent Kadlubek we too may be granted the grace to follow Your only Son, no matter our sufferings. We make our prayer, through Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever amen.
Our Morning Offering – 8 March – Monday of the Third week of Lent
Only What You Will or Will Not By Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)
Grant me Your grace, most merciful Jesus, so that it may be with me and work with me and persevere with me to the end. Grant that I may always want and desire that which is most acceptable and pleasing to You. Let Your will be mine and let my will always follow Yours and be in perfect accord with it. Let me always will or not will, the same with You and may I not be able to will or not will anything, except what You will or will not. Amen
Saint of the Day – 8 March – Blessed Vincent Kadlubek O.Cist (c 1160-1223) Bishop, Cistercian Monk, noted Historian, prolific Writer and renowned Precher. His Episcopal mission was to reform the Diocesan Priests and to re-invigorate the faithful. Born in 1160 as Wincenty at Karnow, Duchy of Sandomir, Poland and died on 8 March 1223 at Jedrzejow, Poland of natural causes. Patronages – Writers, Sandomierz, Diocese of Kielce, Jędrzejów. He is also known as – Vincent Kadlubo, Vincent Kadlubko, Vincent of Cracow, Wincenty Kadlubek.
Wincenty Kadlubek was born of noble family about the year 1160 at Karnow, in the Duchy of Sandomir in Poland. He studied at the Cathedral school in Kraków. It was while at the latter that he studied under Mateusz Cholewa. It was the latter’s patronage that allowed Vincent to be sent abroad for further studies. He was sent to France and Bolgona in Italy, where met the future Pope Innocent III when the two were students and he also encountered John of Salisbury, the historian and poet. He received Priestly Ordination in 1189 and became Canon and Dean of Cathedral School of Krakow. A document dated 1212 bears his signature as “Praepositus Sandomirensis of the quondam,” namely the Provost of the Cathedral of Sandomir.
On the death of Bishop Fulk of Krakow on 11 September 1207, the chapter voted in favour of the election of Vincent. Pope Innocent III confirmed the decision in a papal bull on 28 March 1208 and Vincent received his Episcopal Consecration from the Archbishop of Gniezno, two months later. Innocent III’s bull referred to Vincent’s wisdom as the motivation for his selection, while referring to him as a “master and preacher.”
Vincent set out to reform the Diocesan Priests to ensure their holiness, while also seeking to invigorate the faithful to active participationthe life of the Church. He also supported the construction of Monasteries in the Diocese. He Consecrated Saint Florian’s Basilica and was said to have once been the Chaplain to Casimir II the Just.
The Bishop was noted for his linguistic skills, for his charismatic preaching and for his expertise in Canon law as well as for his renowned rhetoric abilities. He knew of the natural sciences as well, since he had studied them while in Paris and Bologna. But it was while in Europe that he started reading the life and works of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and became enthralled with the charism of the Cistercians, to whom he granted attention as Bishop.
In 1214, thanks to the providential intervention of Bishop Vincent, a long-running dispute about the possession of Galicia was resolved. In 1215 he participated in the Fourth Council of the Lateran.
In 1218 he resigned from his Diocese, which Pope Honorius III accepted and entered the Cistercian Monastery in Jędrzejów. He became the first Pole to join the Cistercians.
Vincent died on 8 March 1223 and his remains were buried before the high altar of the Monastery Church. His remains were exhumed on 26 April 1633 with his pallium found intact though his remains had become skeletal. Measurements were taken and it was surmised that he was of “fair height.” His remains were moved to a new location before the high altar on the following 16 August. Kadłubek’s remains were again exhumed and reinterred in mid-1765 and some were moved to Sandomierz in 1845 for veneration. Other parts to his remains were moved in 1903 to Wawel and placed in a silver urn.
Relics at the Monastery Church in Jędrzejów
In 1682, the King Jan III Sobieski petitioned for his Beatification and a similar petition was made in 1699 by the General Chapter of the Order of Citeaux, though it was not until 18 February 1764, under pressure from Wojciech Ziemicki, Abbot of Jedrzejow, that Pope Clement XIII granted confirmation of cult as “Blessed” although he is popularly known as ‘Saint’ in Poland.
Finally worthy of note that the works of Blessed Wincenty Kadlubek composed as the first Polish journalist: “Chronica seu originale et principum Regum Poloniae” in four volumes. The first three are in the form of dialogue between the Archbishop of Gnesen John (1148-65) and Matthew Bishop of Krakow (1145-65). The first is legendary, the second is based on a chronicle of a Gallo, the third and fourth summarize the experience of the author. The period in which the work saw the light does not find the experts agree: it was commissioned by King Casimir, or when Leszek Vincent was already a bishop, while others, he devoted himself to it now imprisoned in the monastery.
Some of Blessed Vincent’s writings had a huge impact on the Polish political doctrine of the 14th and 15th centuries. Some suggest that his most well-known book “Chronicles of the Kings and Princes of Poland” was written at the request of Prince Casimir II others suggest that it at the request of Prince Leszek while Blessed Vincent was a Bishop; still others claim that it was not written until after his retirement.
Nossa Senhora das Virtudes / Our Lady of Virtues, Lisbon, Portugal (15th Century) – 8 March:
The Church of the Monastery of Our Lady of Virtues, or Nossa Senhora das Virtudes, until recently was nothing more than a ruin, located north of Lisbon. A small Church was constructed in 2009 and further work is planned. The site is now protected because of its historical importance but for no other reason, as pilgrimages and devotion to the Blessed Virgin declined from the 19th century until the 21st century, when there remained almost no memory of the glory that once was here. According to tradition, the origin of the Church of Our Lady of Virtues, relates to the appearance of Our Lady to a keeper of cows back in the early fifteenth century. The apparition gave rise to a pilgrimage to the site, as well as the later construction of a primitive Chapel, presumably made of wood and other perishable materials. A short time later, due to the growing importance of the site and the devotion of the faithful, King Duarte commanded that a Franciscan Monastery be built, that would be attached to the Chapel. Following upon the construction of the Monastery, a hospital was also soon built and subsequently inns and other businesses supporting the thriving community that grew up around the Chapel. Pilgrimages to the Shrine became widespread throughout the remainder of the fifteenth century. Of unquestionable importance throughout the Middle Ages, the more recent centuries have seen the abandonment of pilgrimages to the Shrine, as well as the decay of the buildings and the eventual abandonment of the site by the Franciscans. At the beginning of the 1990’s, when excavations were made at the Monastery, all that remained was ruins. Despite the fact that the Monastery was almost completely destroyed, there are still some structural remains located on the north side of the Church and most of these structures are assumed to still be buried beneath the earth. This is believed because the Church of Our Lady of Virtues itself, was partially buried before the archaeological work revealed it.
St Apollonius of Antinoë St Arianus of Alexandria St Beoadh of Ardcarne St Duthus of Ross St Felix of Burgundy St Humphrey of Prüm St Jon Helgi Ogmundarson St Litifredus of Pavia St Philemon of Antinoë St Pontius of Carthage St Provinus of Como St Quintilis of Nicomedia St Rhian St Senan of Scattery St Stephen of Obazine St Theophylact of Nicomedia St Theoticus of Alexandria St Veremundus of Irache Blessed Vincent Kadlubek O.Cist (c 1160-1223) Bishop — Martyrs of North Africa – 9 saints – A bishop and some of his flock who were martyred together in North Africa. The only details that have survived are nine of the names – Beata, Cyril, Felicitas, Felix, Herenia, Mamillus, Rogatus, Silvanus, Urban.
Thought for the Day – 7 March– Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
My Life is Christ
“Through the work of the Incarnation and Redemption, Jesus assumed, not only a human body and soul so that He might be loved more and so, that He might redeem us but, He also assumed a mystical body, which is composed of all men in the state of grace. The mystical body is the Church, of which Christ is the head. We should all desire to be members of this mystical body. To do so, we must live the life of Christ, which is His grace. If we are separated from the life of Christ, we are nolonger Christians. We are merely dead and rotten limbs, to use the metaphor of the vine tree and the branches. “I am the vine,” says Jesus, “you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him,” He continues, “he bears much fruit. If anyone does not abide in me,” He adds, “he shall be cast outside, as the branch and wither and they shall gather them up and cast them into fire and they shall burn” (Cf Jn 15:4-5).
“For the branch,” says St Augustine, “there can be no half-measures. Either it remains united with the vine, or it is thrown into the fire.” The same holds true for each one of us. We must choose, either close union with Jesus, or separation and spiritual death. We must decide between a life of fervour in Christ, or a life of tepidity and sin.”
Day Nineteen of our Lenten Journey – 7 March – The Third Sunday of Lent, Readings: Exodus 20:1-17, Psalms 19:8-11, 1 Corinthians 1:22-25, John 2:13-25
Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)
In You is the source of life and in Your Light Lord, we see light Psalm 35(36)
“Zeal for your house will consume me.” John 2:17
O LORD, I am in sore need still of greater grace, if I am to arrive at the point, where no man and no created thing can be an obstacle to me. For as long as anything holds me back, I cannot freely fly to You. He that said “Oh that I had wings like a dove, that I might fly away and be at rest!“(Ps 55:7) desired to fly freely to You. Who is more at rest, than he who aims at nothing but God? And who more free, than the man who desires nothing on earth?
It is well, then, to pass over all creation, perfectly to abandon self and to see in ecstasy of mind that You, the Creator of all, have no likeness among all Your creatures and that unless a man be freed from all creatures, he cannot attend freely to the Divine. The reason why so few contemplative persons are found, is that so few know how to separate themselves entirely from what is transitory and created.
For this, indeed, great grace is needed, grace that will raise the soul and lift it up above itself. Unless a man be elevated in spirit, free from all creatures and completely united to God, all his knowledge and possessions are of little moment. He who considers anything great except the one, immense, eternal good will long be little and lie groveling on the earth. Whatever is not God is nothing and must be accounted as nothing.
There is great difference between the wisdom of an enlightened and devout man and the learning of a well-read and brilliant scholar, for the knowledge which flows down from divine sources is much nobler than that laboriously acquired by human industry.
Many there are, who desire contemplation but, who do not care to do the things, which contemplation requires. It is also a great obstacle to be satisfied with externals and sensible things and to have so little of perfect mortification. I know not what it is, or by what spirit we are led, or to what we pretend — we who wish to be called spiritual — that we spend so much labour and even more anxiety on things that are transitory and mean, while we seldom or never advert with full consciousness to our interior concerns.
Alas, after very little meditation we falter, not weighing our deeds by strict examination. We pay no attention to where our affections lie, nor do we deplore the fact that our actions are impure.
Remember that because all flesh had corrupted its course, the great deluge followed. Since, then, our interior affection is corrupt, it must be that the action which follows from it, the index as it were of our lack of inward strength, is also corrupt. Out of a pure heart come the fruits of a good life.
People are wont to ask how much a man has done but they think little of the virtue with which he acts. They ask: Is he strong? rich? handsome? a good writer? a good singer? or a good worker? They say little, however, about how poor he is in spirit, how patient and meek, how devout and spiritual. Nature looks to his outward appearance; grace turns to his inward being. The one often errs, the other trusts in God and is not deceived. (Book 3 Ch 31)
Quote/s of the Day – 7 March – The Third Sunday of Lent, Readings: Exodus 20:1-17, Psalms 19:8-11, 1 Corinthians 1:22-25, John 2:13-25
“Zeal for your house will consume me.”
John 2:17
“Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others, knowing that you will receive from the Lord the due payment of the inheritance; be slaves of the Lord Christ.”
Colossians 3:23-24
“This is the glory of man – to persevere and remain in the service of God. For this reason, the Lord told His disciples: ‘You did not choose Me but I chose you.’ He meant that His disciples did not glorify Him by following Him but, in following the Son of God, they were glorified by Him. As He said: ‘I wish that where I am they also may be, that they may see My glory.’”
St Irenaeus (130-202) Father of the Church and Martyr
“… There is one Road and one only, well secured against all possibility of going astray and, this Road is provided by One Who is Himself both God and man. As God, He is the Goal, as man, He is the Way.”
St Augustine (354-430) Bishop of Hippo Father and Doctor of Grace
“… It was their vocation to call sinners to repentance, to heal those who were sick, whether in body or spirit, to seek in all their dealing, never to do their own will but the will of Him who sent them and, as far as possible, to save the world by their teaching.”
St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Bishop, Father & Doctor of the Church
Our life is: “To breathe God in and out. To find God in everything. To reveal God to all. To radiate the presence of God.”
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” – John 2:19
REFLECTION – “We are still God’s workmen who are building the temple of God. This temple’s dedication has already taken place in its Head, in that the Lord has risen from the dead after His victory over death and having destroyed in Himself what was mortal, He has ascended to heaven … But now we are building this temple through faith, so that its dedication may also be made at the final resurrection. That is why … one of the Psalms has the title: “When the Temple was rebuilt after the captivity” (95[96]:1 Vg.). Call to mind our own former captivity when the devil held the whole world in his power, like a flock of the unfaithful. It was due to this captivity that our Redeemer came. He shed His blood for our ransoming and, by the blood He poured out, He cancelled the debt that was holding us captive (Col 2:14) … Sold beforehand to sin, we have now been set free by grace. Following this captivity, the temple is now being built and, to raise it up, the Good News proclaimed. That is why this Psalm begins as follows: “Sing to the Lord a new song” And, lest you think this temple is being constructed in some insignificant corner, as the heretics who separate themselves from the Church build it, pay attention to what follows: “Sing to the Lord, all you lands” … “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all you lands.” Sing and clap your hands! Sing and “bless the name of the Lord” (v. 2). Proclaim the day, born of the day of salvation, the day, born of the day of Christ. For who is the salvation of God if not His Christ? This is the salvation we pray for in the Psalm: “Show us, Lord, your mercy and give us your saving help.” Just men of old longed for this salvation, those of whom the Lord said to His disciples: “Many desired to see what you see but did not see it” (Lk 10:24)… “Sing to the lord a new song; sing to the Lord” See the fervour of the builders! “Sing to the Lord and bless his name.” Proclaim the Good News! What good news is that? Day is born from Day… Light from Light; the Son from the Father, the saving power of God! This is how the temple is built after the captivity.” – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop of Hippo, Father and Doctor of Grace – Sermon 163,5
PRAYER – Lord our God, Your Son so loved the world that He gave Himself up to death for our sake. Strengthen us by You grace and give us a heart willing to livew by that same love. May His Mother and ours, be with us and give us hope and strength. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 7 March – The Third Sunday of Lent
Prayer Before The Crucifix By St Vincent Strambi (1745-1824)
Jesus, by this Saving Sign, bless this listless soul of mine. Jesus, by Your feet nailed fast, mend the missteps of my past. Jesus, with Your riven hands, bend my will to love’s demands. Jesus, in Your Heart laid bare, warm my inner coldness there. Jesus, by Your thorn-crowned head, still my pride till it is dead. Jesus, by Your muted tongue, stay my words that hurt someone. Jesus, by Your tired eyes, open mine to faith’s surprise. Jesus, by Your fading breath, keep me faithful until death. Yes, Lord, by this Saving Sign, save this wayward soul of mine. Amen
Saint of the Day – 7 March – Saint Siméon-François Berneux MEP (1814-1866) Bishop, Martyr, Missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, Professor and Spiritual Director at the Mans seminary. Born on 14 May 1814 in Château-du-Loir, Sarthe, France and died by being tortured, blinded by having quicklime thrown in his eyes and then beheaded on 7 March 1866 on a beach beside the Han River in Sae-nam-teo, Seoul, South Korea. St Siméon-François is also venerated along with the rest of the 103 Korean Martyrs on 20 September.
Siméon-François was born to a poor and pious family. He felt a call to the Priesthood at the age ten and in 1831 at the age of seventeen, he entered the Seminary in Mans, France. Due to health problems, he had to leave the Seminary for two years, during which time he worked as a tutor. Finally he was Ordained a Diocesan Priest on 20 May 1837. Initially, Father Berneux served as a Professor and Spiritual Director at the Mans seminary which specifically trained Priests for the Missions.
In 1839 Siméon joined the Paris Foreign Missions Society and left for the Asian missions on 13 January 1840. He arrived first in Manila, Philippines before being assigned to the Tonkin region of modern Vietnam on 17 January 1841.
He began his work near a small Convent outside the town of Moi-yen, learning the Annam language. But he was barely started, when he was arrested on Holy Saturday 1841 during one of the periodic anti–Christian persecutions, Siméon and a brother Priest were dragged from place to place, ordered to renounce Christianity, ordered to convince lay people to renounce the faith and when their persecutors finally realised that the 2 Priests would not co-operate, they were sentenced to death on 8 October 1842.
However, before the sentence could be officially approved, a French official learned of their imprisonment and on 7 March 1843, had them released. Father Berneux was sent to the Chinese province of Manchuria where he continued his missionary work for the next ten years, sometimes in Singapore or Macao.
On 5 August 1854 he was chosen the fourth Vicar Apostolic of Korea by Pope Pius IX and arrived there with some fellow Missionaries in early 1856. For administrative reasons, he was also appointed Titular Bishop of Capsa and was Consecrated on 27 December 1954.
He learned Korean and then, as Bishop, spent time on the road visiting rural Christians, started a Seminary in Pae-ron, founded several schools and started a printing house that published Catholic works in Korean.
Thousands were Baptised during his time as Bishop but a palace coup in 1864 and threats of Russian invasion, led to a resurgence in anti-Western, anti–Christian nationalism and official persecution of the Church.
Bishop Berneux was arrested on 23 February 1866. He was taken to the capital and from 3 to 7 March he was repeatedly beaten and interrogated under torture until the bones in his legs were shattered. As he was dragged to his death, Bishop Siméon preached to the people who had come out to witness the execution and to remind his fellow sufferers, that they died for the glory of the Kingdom of God, imitating their Redeemer.
The interrogation of Bishop Siméon
The deaths of Berneux and other Catholic Missionaries in Korea, was followed by a French punitive expedition which only served to reinforce the Korean policy of isolationism.
The Korean Martyrs were Canonised on 6 May 1984.
St Siméon-François relics were brought to Berlin in 2001 and are held in the Institute of St Philipp Neri in Berlin, Germany.
Nossa Senhora da Estrela / Our Lady of the Star, Villa Vicosa, Portugal (1050) – 7 March:
In the year 1050 there were two Benedictine Monks who lived in the convent of Monte Cassino. They decided to go on pilgrimage, teaching and catechising all those they met along the way. One night they found themselves wandering on the coast of Normandy, France, near a place called Grand Champ. Tired and sleepy, they decided to spend the night on the beach under the stars. Father Rogerio slept on the cool sand and the other Monk found himself a place to rest in a small boat nearby. As the night went on, the tide came up and the little boat was gently drawn out onto the sea. Without realising it, the Monk was going on an adventure in which he would not awaken until he was just off the coast of England. In Salisbury, England, everyone was amazed to see the Monk in the little boat, convinced that it was a miracle that he had crossed the French Sea in a small boast and lived to see the shores of England. Soon, the Monk was made Bishop and his period in office was marvellous to the people because he was a humble man of prayer, who sacrificed everything for God. The Monk who had stayed on the beach, Father Rogerio, knew nothing of what had happened to his friend. All he knew was that he and the boat had disappeared and, giving his concerns into the hands of God, he determined to continue on his journey alone. One night not long afterward, Father Rogerio went to sleep and had a dream that would change his life forever. In his dream he saw a great star fall from the sky, burning all the bushes and trees and heard a voice that said: “Our Lady wants a Church built in this place.” When he awoke, Father Rogerio looked about himself. He was not injured but this indeed was the place he had seen in his dream, for everything around him was burned. Father understood that Our Lady really did desire that he should build a Church there in her honour. He also felt in his heart, the desire to give Mary the title of “Our Lady of the Star” because of the star he had seen in his dream. Due to the poverty of those who inhabited that region, Father Rogerio was only able to build a small Altar and a tiny Chapel which would be the seed of the great Abbey of Our Lady of the Star of Monteburgo. One day an immense Chapel would be built, sheltering not only the Church but a very large convent as well. King William, who was the Duke of Normandy and he who had conquered England, learning of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Star, sent his private doctor to visit the little Chapel to find out for himself how it had all come about. Upon arriving there, the doctor discovered that he was the brother of the Monk Rogerio! He listened to his brother’s account of how he had been separated from his friend and then told about his dream. The doctor believed everything at once and to Father Rogerio’s surprise, the doctor knew the Monk who had crossed the channel in a small boat and informed his brother, that his lost friend had become the Bishop of Salisbury! The two brothers excitedly thanked Our Lady for providing this reunion. The Bishop of Salisbury, our former friend of the Monk Rogerio, asked King William to help his brother in the faith, for they were both blessed by Our Lady on their pilgrimage. William the Conqueror, with a glad heart, donated to Father Rogerio the entire region of Monteburg, along with the resources to build a great Church and an Abbey there that became a great seminary. The work was finished by the son of King William, King Henry. He, taking the throne, continued the work until its completion. The Abbey of Our Lady of the Star was, for many centuries, a centre of the Church for the whole region. Dark centuries ensued and the Church and Abbey suffered a decline until in 1842, the Vicar General of Coutances took possession of what was by that time little more than an enclosure of ruins. He turned it over to the Brothers of Mercy, a new order meant to promote Catholic education. The Abbey Church was rebuilt but as time went on, the Brothers of Mercy also left and all is now used as part of an agricultural school. As for Our Lady of the Star, it is a story almost completely forgotten, even to Catholics.
Prayer to Our Lady of the Star
“O, Our Lady of the Star, to you our gaze turns and our childlike hearts. You are the Morning Star, that announces the arrival of the day. You are the Evening Star, that shines in our night. You are the Star of the Sea, who sends us her son Jesus, the eternal Light of the world. Through the darkness and storms of life, in the hour of doubt or of temptation, in the revolt, be our clarity and our peace. Be our hope and our purity, be our sweetness and our strength, O Lady of the Star. May our gaze and our hearts forever rest on you. O Lady of the Star, Pray for us. Amen”
St Ardo of Aniane St Deifer of Bodfari St Drausinus of Soissons St Enodoch St Esterwine of Wearmouth St Eubulus of Caesarea St Gaudiosus of Brescia Bl Henry of Austria Blessed Leonid Feodorov (1879-1935) Martyr His Life and Death: https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/07/saint-of-the-day-7-march-blessed-leonid-feodorov-1879-1935-martyr/ St Paul of Prusa St Paul the Simple St Reinhard of Reinhausen Bl William of Assisi — Martyrs of Carthage – 4 saints: A catechist and three students martyred together for teaching and learning the faith. We know little more than their names – Revocatus, Saturninus, Saturus and Secundulus. Mauled by wild beasts and beheaded 7 March 203 at Carthage, North Africa
Martyrs of Korea St Siméon-François Berneux MEP (1814-1866) Bishop, Martyr St Bernard-Louis Beaulieu St Ioannes Baptista Nam Chong-Sam St Pierre-Henri Dorie St Simon-Marie-Just Ranfer de Bretenières
Martyrs of Laos Bl Luc Sy Bl Maisam Pho Inpèng Martyrs of Tyburn Bl German Gardiner Bl John Ireland Bl John Larke
Thought for the Day – 6 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Filial and Servile Fear
“We should not be afraid of God because He is our greatest benefactor and loves us infinitely. When we are lost, He searches for us as a loving father would search for a wandering son. Because they think only of the majesty and justice of God, some people keep themselves at a distance from Him, as Adam did, after he had sinned. They forget that the Lord told Adam, the sinner, of the coming of the pardoning Redeemer (Gen 3:9). Bossuet truly observes, that “after the curse which came upon men through sin, there has always remained in their hearts, a certain dread of the supernatural, which prevents them from approaching God with confidence.” Jansenism increased this fear, emphasising the justice and majesty of God, rather, than the infinite love of Jesus and the beauty of His teaching.
Some writers compare our souls with the divine majesty and justice, in order to stress our unworthiness but, they forget, that Jesus is “Meek and humble of heart,” that He forgave the penitent woman, the good thief and the adulteress and, had kind words for the lost sheep and the prodigal son. They never think of the wonderful words of the beloved disciple: “God is love” (1 Jn 4:16).
This false fear of God, dries up our piety and lessens our trust in His mercy. It can lead to moroseness, to scrupulosity and to discouragement.
We should avoid this excessive fear which separates us from God. Even though we are sinful and unworthy, we should remember, that God is our loving Father, Who is always ready to help us and to grant us forgiveness. We should recall, moreover, that out of love for us, He did not spare His own Son, (Cf Rom 8:32) but gave Him to us for our redemption. If Jesus shed His blood and died for us, how can we doubt His love?”
Day Eighteen of our Lenten Journey – 6 March – Saturday of the Second week of Lent, Readings: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20, Psalms 103: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12, Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)
In You is the source of life and in Your Light Lord, we see light Psalm 35(36)
I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you” – Luke 15:18
In that day every trial borne in patience will be pleasing and the voice of iniquity will be stilled; the devout will be glad; the irreligious will mourn and the mortified body will rejoice far more than if it had been pampered with every pleasure. Then the cheap garment will shine with splendour and the rich one become faded and worn; the poor cottage will be more praised than the gilded palace. In that day persevering patience will count more than all the power in this world; simple obedience will be exalted above all worldly cleverness; a good and clean conscience will gladden the heart of man far more than the philosophy of the learned and contempt for riches will be of more weight than every treasure on earth.
Then you will find more consolation in having prayed devoutly than in having fared daintily; you will be happy that you preferred silence to prolonged gossip.
Then holy works will be of greater value than many fair words; strictness of life and hard penances will be more pleasing than all earthly delights.
Learn, then, to suffer little things now that you may not have to suffer greater ones in eternity. Prove here what you can bear hereafter. If you can suffer only a little now, how will you be able to endure eternal torment? If a little suffering makes you impatient now, what will hell fire do? In truth, you cannot have two joys: you cannot taste the pleasures of this world and afterward reign with Christ.
If your life to this moment had been full of honours and pleasures, what good would it do if at this instant you should die? All is vanity, therefore, except to love God and to serve Him alone.
He who loves God with all his heart does not fear death or punishment or judgement or hell, because perfect love assures access to God.
It is no wonder that he who still delights in sin fears death and judgment.
It is good, however, that even if love does not as yet restrain you from evil, at least the fear of hell does. The man who casts aside the fear of God cannot continue long in goodness but will quickly fall into the snares of the devil. (Book 1 Ch 24:5-7)
Quote/s of the Day – 6 March – Saturday of the Second week of Lent, Readings: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20, Psalms 103: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12, Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
“Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him”
Luke 15:22
‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’
Luke 18:13
“You do not know when your last day may come. You are an ingrate! Why not use the day, today, that God has given you to repent?”
“He who calls us, came here below, to give us the means of getting there. He chose the wood that would enable us to cross the sea – indeed, no-one can cross the ocean of this world, who is not borne by the Cross of Christ. Even the blind can cling to this Cross. If you can’t see where you are going very well, don’t let go of it, it will guide you by itself. ”
St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of Grace
“A saint is not someone, who never sins, but one who sins less and less frequently and gets up more and more quickly.”
St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Mellifluous Doctor
“Aspire to God with short but frequent outpourings of the heart, admire His bounty, invoke His aid, cast yourself in spirit at the foot of His Cross, adore His goodness, treat with Him of your salvation, give Him your whole soul – a thousand times in the day.”
One Minute Reflection – 6 March – Saturday of the Second week of Lent, Readings: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20, Psalms 103: 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12, Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
“Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him” – Luke 15:22
REFLECTION – “How many there are who, through repentance, have been worthy to receive the love You hold for humankind. You justified the anguished publican and the weeping woman who was a sinner (Lk 18.14; 7,50) for, through a predetermined design, You foresee and grant pardon. Convert me also together with them, You, Who desire that all should be saved.
My soul was soiled as it put on the garment of its sins (Gn 3,21). O let me make fountains flow from my eyes that I may purify it by repentance. Clothe me with the shining robe worthy of Your wedding (Mt 22,12), You, Who desire that all should be saved…
O heavenly Father, have compassion for my cry as You did for the prodigal son, for I, too, am throwing myself at Your feet and crying aloud as he cried: “Father, I have sinned!” Do not reject me Your unworthy child, O my Saviour but cause Your angels to rejoice also on my behalf, O God of goodness You, Who desire that all should be saved.
For you have made me Your child and Your own heir through grace (Rm 8,17). Yet as for me, because I have offended You, am here a prisoner, an unhappy slave sold over to sin! Take pity on Your own image (Gn 1,26) and call it back from exile, O Saviour, You, Who desire that all should be saved…
Now is the time for repentance… The words of Paul urge me to persevere in prayer (Col 4,2) and await You. Therefore, with trust I pray, for I well know Your mercy, I know You come the first towards me and I am calling out for help. Should You delay, it is to give me the reward for perseverance, You, Who desire that all should be saved.
Grant me always to extol You and give You glory by leading a life that is pure. Grant that my deeds may be in accord with my words, that I may sing to You, Almighty… with pure prayer, Christ alone who desires that all should be saved.” – St Romanos Melodios (c 490-c 556) Monk, Composer of hymns, Poet – Hymn 55; SC 283
PRAYER – Almighty God, Whose sanctifying grace, even here on earth, brings us the gifts of heaven, guide us in this present life and lead us, in the footsteps of that Light the Christ, Whom You sent to lead us in His Light to the light of Your dwelling. May the prayers of all Your angels with the Blessed Virgin our Mother, St John the Baptist, St Joseph, Blessed Sylvester of Assisi and all the Saints strengthen and lighten our way. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 6 March – Saturday of the Second week of Lent and always a Marian day
O Jesus, Mary’s Son! By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor Angelicus, Doctor communis
Hail to Thee! True body sprung From the Virgin Mary’s womb! The same that on the cross was hung And bore for man the bitter doom. Thou Whose side was pierced and flowed Both with water and with blood. Suffer us to taste of Thee In our life’s last agony. O kind, O loving One! O Jesus, Mary’s Son! Amen
Saint of the Day – 6 March – Blessed Sylvester of Assisi OFM (Died 1240) Priest, Franciscan Frria. One of the first 4 followers of St Francis of Assisi and was the first Priest in the Franciscan Order.
Sylvester was a member of one of the noblest and wealthiest families of the City of Assisi, the Uncle of St Clare Of Assisi.
When St Francis embarked on his campaign to “rebuild My church” Sylvester sold Francis stones which were to be used to rebuild the little Church of St Damiano. When, a short while later, he saw Francis and Blessed Bernard of Quintavalle distributing Bernard’s wealth to the poor, Sylvester complained that he had been poorly paid for the stones and asked for more money.
Though Francis obliged, the handful of money he gave Sylvester later caused him to regret this spirit of greed he found in himself, his conscience rebuked him and he was filled with guilt. He sold all of his goods and gave the money to the poor and began a life of penance. Sylvester was Ordained a Priest and became a Canon of the Cathedral of San Rufino in Assisi.
Thereafter, he joined St Francis. Sylvester became a holy and prayerful man and a favourite of Francis. He was known in the Order for his strict observance of the life of poverty and contemplation. Together with his cousin, Clare, he later prayed for enlightenment to discern the will of God for Francis, when Francis sought advice on how he should best serve God. Should he go out to preach rather than by devoting himself solely to prayer?
The cave at the Eremo delle Carceri, near Assisi, where Blessed Sylvester spent long periods in solitary prayer
Sylvester often accompanied Francis during his preaching tours. Once, in the city of Arezzo, it was claimed by the residents, that Sylvester’s preaching and prayers brought peace to the City, which was falling prey to hatred and violence amongst its citizens. In another City where civil war was raging, Sylvester was commanded by Francis to drive the devils out. At the City gate Sylvester cried out: “In the name of almighty God and by virtue of the command of His servant Francis, depart from here, all you evil spirits.” The devils departed and peace returned to the City.
St Bonaventure, in a special way, mentions the visions which Sylvester had concerning Francis.
Sylvester died in Assisi in 1240, surviving Francis by 14 year. He is one of Francis’ four original companions who are buried near his tomb in the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi.
Nossa Senhora da Nazaré/Our Lady of Nazareth, Pierre Noire, Portugal, (1150) – 6 March:
The Abbot Orsini wrote: “This image was honoured at Nazareth in the time of the Apostles, if we may believe a writing which was found, by a hunter, attached to this image, in the year 1150.”
The Shrine of Our Lady of Nazareth, known in Portugal as Nossa Senhora da Nazare, is found in the village of Nazare on the Atlantic coast in Portugal. Indeed, the village is named after this miraculous statue of the Blessed Mother and the Christ Child, that was brought to the area many centuries ago. According to tradition, this miraculous image was carved by the hands of Saint Joseph, the foster-father of Christ, while in the very presence of the Infant Jesus and the Mother of God. Later, the faces and hands of the images were painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist. This remarkable image is still preserved in a Church where it can be viewed by anyone and the story surrounding it is a fascinating one. It is known that the statue of Our Lady of Nazareth came from the Holy Land where it was one of the oldest images ever venerated by Christians. It was saved from destruction at the hands of the iconoclasts sometime early in the 5th century by a Monk named Ciriaco, who gave the statue to Saint Jerome. Saint Jerome later gave it to Saint Augustine in Africa, to protect the statue by removing it from the Holy Land. Saint Augustine then gave it into the safekeeping of the Monastery of Cauliniana, near Merida, a Monastery on the Iberian Peninsula. When the Arabs invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the year 711, King Roderic met them with his Visigothic army at the battle of Guadalete, where he was soundly defeated. It is a fact of history, that the body of Roderic was never found upon the field of battle, although his horse was found and it is often assumed by historians, that Roderic died that day when he lost his kingdom. According to this legend, however, Roderic was not killed but survived the battle and disguised himself as a beggar as he travelled north. Alone and unknown, he made his way to the Monastery of Cauliniana where he sought shelter for the night. Going to Confession, he, of necessity, revealed his true identity to the friar, Frei Romano. As it turned out, the Monks were preparing to leave the Monastery in advance of the Arabs and so Frei Romano asked the King if he could accompany him in his travels. Roderic agreed and the friar took with him the statue of Our Lady of Nazareth and the relics of Saint Bras and Saint Bartholomew. They travelled together until they arrived at a place later named Monte de Saint Bartolomeu in November of the year 714. They made for themselves a hermitage with the friar living in a small cave at the edge of a cliff that overlooked the sea. He placed the image in a niche among the stones upon a pedestal of simple rocks. Roderic went a little ways off by himself to a hill where he also began to live the life of a hermit. After a year, though, King Roderic left the hermitage and nothing else is said of him in this legend. One wonders if he ever learned of his kinsman Pelayo, who had retreated into the mountains and continued to heroically defy the invaders. Before his death, Frei Romano hid the image in his small cave, where it remained undisturbed for some centuries until it was discovered by shepherds, who came there to venerate the statue. Inside that little, ancient sanctuary they had found the renowned and sacred image of Our Lady of Nazareth. Carved of wood, it was unlike any other statue of the Madonna they had ever seen, for it depicts the Blessed Virgin breastfeeding her Divine Child while seated upon a simple bench. When miracles began to frequently occur, it became a major pilgrimage site. Then, in the early morning of 14 September in the year 1182, the Mayor of Porto de Mos, Dom Fuas Roupinho, was hunting on his land when he observed a deer. Chasing it up a steep slope on horseback that misty morning, the fog became heavier all of a sudden. The deer, later suspected to be the devil in the guise of a deer, jumped off the edge of the hilltop into the empty void. Despite his efforts to stop his horse, the spirited mount was determined to follow after the deer. Helpless to save himself, the rider suddenly recognised that he was near the sacred grotto where he would often come to pray. Fuas Roupinho cried out to the Blessed Virgin, praying aloud: “Our Lady, Help Me!”
The horse stopped immediately, as if he were digging his hooves into the rocky cliff above the void. Suspended in an unnatural manner at the edge of the cliff, Fuas Rouphinho knew the drop to be over 100 meters and surely would mean his death if he had fallen. He was then able to back slowly away from the edge, looking down to see the evidence of the impossible and unimaginable – for there in the hard stone was the imprint of one of his horse’s hooves. One of those marks can still be seen in the native rock. Faus Rouphinho dismounted and went to the grotto to pray and give thanks, subsequently causing a chapel ‘Capela da Memoria,’ or ‘The Chapel of Remembrance,’ to be built very near the spot where his life had been miraculously saved. When the masons he had hired took apart the primitive altar in the cave, they found an ivory box of sorts that contained the relics of Saint Bras and Saint Bartholomew. There was also an ancient scroll that they carefully removed. Opening the scroll, they found that it explained the history of the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Divine Child, now known as Our Lady of Nazareth, as outlined above. The church Santuario de Nossa Senhora da Nazare was later built on the hilltop overlooking Nazare by King Ferdinand I of Portugal in the year 1377. Its construction was necessary due to the large number of pilgrims who continued to come to venerate the image.
Over the years it was often rebuilt, or had additions made, especially in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The profusely decorated and gilded apse displays the statue of Nossa Senhora da Nazare in a lighted niche above the main altar, flanked by twisted columns. The first King of Portugal, Don Afonso Henriques, as well as the chief nobles of his court, were among the early pilgrims to the shrine. Many notable figures came to visit Our Lady of Nazareth throughout history, including Vasco de Gama, who came as a pilgrim before setting out for India and Pedro Alvares Cabral, who later discovered Brazil. St Francis Xavier, the Apostle of the East, went on pilgrimage to Our Lady of Nazareth before later leaving for Goa.
A close-up of the little Statue in it’s niche above the Altar – at Christmas, see the little trees.
According to a plaque placed in the Chapel in 1623, the image was carved by Saint Joseph in Galilee when Jesus was a baby. Some decades later St Luke the Evangelist painted the faces and hands of the images. It remained in Nazareth until brought by the Greek Monk Ciriaco to the Iberian Peninsula. It is believed to be one of the oldest images venerated by Christians.
Nossa Senhora de Nazaré in its Sanctuary of the Portuguese village of Nazaré.
St Cyriacus of Trier St Cyril of Constantinople St Evagrius of Constantinople St Fridolin Vandreren of Säckingen Bl Guillermo Giraldi St Heliodorus the Martyr Bl Jordan of Pisa St Julian of Toledo St Kyneburga of Castor St Kyneswide of Castor St Marcian of Tortona Bl Ollegarius of Tarragona St Patrick of Malaga St Sananus Blessed Sylvester of Assisi OFM (Died 1240) Priest
St Tibba of Castor St Venustus of Milan — Martyrs of Amorium – 42 saints – Also known as Martyrs of Syria and Martyrs of Samarra A group of 42 Christian senior officials in the Byzantine empire who were captured by forces of the Abbasid Caliphate when the Muslim forces overran the city of Amorium, Phrygia in 838 and massacred or enslaved its population. The men were imprisoned in Samarra, the seat of the Caliphate, for seven years. Initially thought to be held for ransom due to their high position in the empire, all attempts to buy their freedom were declined. The Caliph repeatedly ordered them to convert to Islam and sent Islamic scholars to the prison to convince them; they refused until the Muslims finally gave up and killed them. Martyrs. We know the names and a little about seven of them: • Aetios • Bassoes • Constantine • Constantine Baboutzikos • Kallistos • Theodore Krateros • Theophilos but details about the rest have disappeared over time. However, a lack of information did not stop several legendary and increasingly over-blown “Acts” to be written for years afterward. One of the first biographers, a monk name Euodios, presented the entire affair as a judgement by God on the empire for its official policy of Iconoclasm. Deaths: • beheaded on 6 March 845 in Samarra (in modern Iraq) on the banks of the Euphrates river by Ethiopian slaves • the bodies were thrown into the river, but later recovered by local Christians and given proper burial.
Today was a bit of a disaster, in more ways than one, so please accept my apologies for the dearth of posts. I am a little worried, mostly about financial matters.
“They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him”… Matthew 21:39
REFLECTION – “The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel” says the prophet (Is 5:7). We ourselves are this house… and, since we are His Israel, we are the vineyard. So let us take good care that grapes of wrath (Rv 14:19) rather than sweetness do not grow from our branches, so that no-one may say to us: “I expected grapes but it yielded wild grapes” (Is 5:4). What fruitless soil! The soil that should have presented its master with fruits of sweetness, pierced Him with its sharp thorns. In the same way His enemies, who ought to have welcomed our Saviour with all the devotion of their faith, crowned Him with the thorns of His Passion. In their eyes this crown expressed insult and abuse but in the Lord’s eyes it was the crown of virtue…
My brethren, take good care that no one says with regard to you: “He expected it to yield grapes but it yielded wild grapes” (Is 5:2)… Let us be careful that our evil deeds do not rub against our Lord’s head like thorns. ” … St Maximus of Turin (c 380-c 420) – Sermon for the feast of Saint Cyprian – CC Sermon 11
PRAYER – Almighty God, help us dear Father to produce fruits acceptable to You. Help us to reach out of our enclosed spaces in love to all. Even when the road is rocky, grant that we may not falter but always turn back to Your merciful gaze.ay the prayers of our Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, who fearlessly withstood the fury of evil, be a help in our times of need and fear. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 5 March – Friday of the Second week of Lent
A Lenten Prayer By St Pope Pius V (1504-1572)
Look with favour, Lord, on Your household. Grant that, though our flesh be humbled by abstinence from food, our souls, hungering after You, may be resplendent in Your sight. Amen
St Pius V is the Pope of the Council of Trent, the Counter Reformation, the excommunication of Elizabeth I for Heresy and persecution of English Catholics and of the Battle of Lepanto, amongst many other illustrious and holy achievements.
Saint of the Day – 5 March – Saint Piran (Died 480) Abbot, Hermit, Missionary, miracle-worker. Died on 5 March 480 of natural causes. Patronages – Cornwall, England, miners, Piran, Slovenia, tin miners, tinners. He is also known as Pyran, Peranus, Peran.
Piran’s family origins are obscure; tradition says he was born in Ireland but spent his youth in south Wales where he founded a Church in Cardiff. He received religious schooling at the Monastery of Saint Cadog at Llancarfon, where he met Saint Finnian of Clonard. The two returned together to Ireland where Finnian founded six Monasteries, including his most famous one at Clonard. Piran lived there before visiting Saint Enda on Aran Island and then Saint Senan on Scattery Island. He founded his own community at Clonmacnoise, known as “Ireland’s University.”
Cornish legend says Piran was captured in his middle years by pagan Irish, jealous of his miraculous powers, especially his ability to cure many illnesses. They tied a millstone around his neck and threw him off a cliff into the sea during a storm. As Piran hit the water the storm abated and the millstone bobbed to the surface like a cork. On his stone raft, Piran sailed for Cornwall, landed at Perran Beach, built a small Chapel on Penhale Sands and made his first converts – a badger, a fox and a bear. He lived there for years as a Hermit, working miracles for the locals.
Piran founded Churches at Perran-Uthno and Perran-Arworthal, a Chapel at Tintagel and a holy-well called the “Venton-Barren” at Probus. He made trips to Brittany, France, where he worked with Saint Cai. Arthurian tradition from Geoffrey of Monmouth, says he was Chaplain to King Arthur as well as being appointed as the Archbishop of York after Saint Samson was exiled by Saxon invasions, though it is doubtful he ever took up his See.
Piran’s Patronage of Cornwall derives from his popularity with the Cornish tin-miners. Legend says that Piran discovered tin in Cornwall when he used a large black rock to build a fireplace and found that the heat made a trickle of pure white metal ooze from the stone. He shared this discovery with the locals, providing the Cornish with a lucrative living. The people were so delighted that they held a sumptuous feast where the wine flowed like water. Piran was fond of the odd tipple, resulting in the Cornish phrase “As drunk as a Perraner.” The trickle of white metal upon a black background remains as the White Cross of Saint Piran on the Cornish National flag.
Piran died at his little Hermitage near the beach. His relics were a great draw to pilgrims but, due to being inundation by the sands, they were moved inland to the Parish Church of Perran-Zabulo, built to house them.
St Piran’s tiny Hermitage
St Piran’s Day is popular in Cornwall and the term ‘Perrantide’ has been coined to describe the week prior to this day. The largest St Piran’s Day event is the pilgrimage across the dunes to St Piran’s Cross which hundreds of people attend, generally dressed in black, white and gold, and carrying the Cornish Flag and a Crucifix.
There are many Churches and even towns and villages decicated to St Piran in both Cornwall and Brittany.
Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours/Our Lady of Good Help, Montreal, Canada (1657) – 5 March:
This is the original Statue brought to the Chapel by St Marguerite Bourgeoys and which survived the fire intact, which though destroyed the entire Chapel, It is tiny, only 17cm tall.
Dedicated to Our Lady of Good Help, Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, has been for 350 years the Sanctuary for seamen leaving Montreal for the seven seas. A wooden Chapel was built in 1657, replaced in 1675 by a building whose foundations serve the present Church which was erected in 1771.
Over the entrance is an inscribed message: “If the love of Mary is graven in your heart, forget not a prayer in passing.”
Our Lady of Good Help is a beautiful little Church, with fine paintings. On the walls are mosaics of St Marguerite Bourgeoys, who inspired the first Chapel and of Maisonneuve, Founder of Montreal, said to have felled the first oak for the Chapel. A narrow stairway, lined with pilgrims’ acknowledgments, leads to an aerial Chapel set in the roof. Here is a facsimile of the Santa Casa, the house of the Virgin carried by angels from Nazareth to Loreto. Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys was the Founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame. When she returned from France in 1673 she brought back with her a wooden statue of Our Lady of Good Help. It can still be seen in the reliquary on the gospel side of the altar, for when the Church burned in 1754, the statue was saved from the fire. This is not to say that someone took the statue from the Church, for after the fire had ravaged the original Chapel, the statue was found uninjured among the smouldering embers that remained. The mortal remains of Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys were interred in the Sanctuary of the Church in the year 2005, the 350th anniversary of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours. She rests now at the feet of the statue she herself had brought from France. In 1849 the Bishop of Montreal placed a statue of the Blessed Virgin, Star of the Sea, atop the tower facing the harbour. For this reason, the Chapel is also known as the Sailor’s Church. There are votive offerings, carved ships, models of sailing ships suspended from the vault of the Chapel in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin for her assistance in their safe return from the sea.
St Adrian of Caesarea St Caron St Carthach the Elder Bl Christopher Macassoli of Vigevano St Clement of Santa Lucia St Colman of Armagh St Conon of Pamphylia Bl Conrad Scheuber St Eusebius of Cremona St Eusebius the Martyr St Gerasimus Bl Giovanna Irrizaldi Bl Ion Costist St John Joseph of the Cross OFM (1654-1734) – Priest Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/05/saint-of-the-day-5-march-st-john-joseph-of-the-cross-ofm-1654-1734/ St Kieran Bl Lazër Shantoja St Lucius I, Pope St Mark the Ascetic St Oliva of Brescia St Phocas of Antioch St Piran (Died 480) Abbot
Bl Roger Bl Romeo of Limoges St Theophilus of Caesarea St Virgilius of Arles
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