Thought for the Day – 24 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Power of God’s Love in the Christian Life
“Everyday, in the lives of the Saints, was a continual act of love of God. This was how they became holy. They loved God intensely all the time. They loved Him above all things. Everything which they thought, desired or did, was directed to Him. Their entire lives were consecrated to Him. We should all desire to be holy, if we do, we must love God with our whole heart, strength and will. Not until then, will every action of ours become meritorious. Holiness is born of the love of God. Without the love of God, everything is futile and useless; our conversation is so much idle chatter; our desires are empty dreams which excite us for a while and then dissolve like bubbles of soap; our actions are unprofitable and our enterprises are not aimed at a true objective; our achievements can inflate us for a time but they will leave us disillusioned at the hour of death. The love of God is necessary for us. He alone is entirely worthy of our affection. Other loves are passing but, this love is eternal. Other loves confuse and trouble us but, the love of God gives us peace of soul. Other loves weaken and vanish with time but, the love of God is the source of all holiness in this life and of eternal happiness in the next. Why, then, do we not forget our worldly preoccupations? Let us give our hearts to God forever and we shall be in possession of the one true happiness which never fades.“
Quote/s of the Day – 24 March – The Memorial of Blessed Didacus Joseph of Cadiz OFM Cap (1743–1801) and Saint Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (1917–1980) Martyr
“By means of our penances we should atone for the sins of our fellowmen and thus preserve ourselves and them from eternal death. It would hardly be too much if we shed the last drop of our blood for their conversion.”
Blessed Didacus Joseph of Cadiz (1743–1801)
“If we are worth anything, it is not because we have more money or more talent, or more human qualities. Insofar, as we are worth anything, it is, because we are grafted onto Christ’s life, His cross and resurrection. That is a person’s measure.”
“There are many things that can only be seen, through eyes that have cried.”
Lenten Reflection – 24 March – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent, Readings: Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12, Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9, John 5:1-16 and the Memorial of Blessed Didacus Joseph of Cadiz OFM Cap (1743–1801)
“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Hebrew called Bethzatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, paralyzed. One man was there, who had been ill for thirty-eight years. … John 5:2-5 “It was because Jesus did things such as this on the Sabbath that they began to persecute him.” …John 5:16 For me!
Daily Meditation:
We begin to feel the power of the Fourth Gospel.
The “forces” that are opposed in the gospel
have everything to do with the forces at work in my heart.
“Go down, my brothers and put on the Holy Spirit in the waters of baptism;
be united with those spiritual beings who serve our God.
Blessed be He who instituted baptism for the forgiveness of Adam’s sons!
This water is the secret fire that marks His flock with a sign,
with the three spiritual names that confound the Evil one (cf. Rev 3:12). (…)
John bore witness concerning our Saviour:
“He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Mt 3:11).
Here, my brethren, in the true baptism, is that fire and that Spirit.
For baptism is more powerful than Jordan, that little stream,
its waves of water and oil wash away all human sin.
Elisha, by initiating it seven times, purified Naaman of his leprosy (2 Kgs 5:10);
whereas baptism purifies us of sins hidden in our souls.
Moses baptised the people in the sea (1 Cor 10:2)
yet could not cleanse their hearts from within,
Stained, as they were, by sin.
And now here is a Priest, like Moses, who cleanses the soul from its stains
and with oil He marks with a sign, lambs newborn for the Kingdom. (…)
With the water that flowed from the rock, the people’s thirst was quelled (Ex 17:1f.),
See how, through Christ and His spring, is quenched the thirst of nations. (…)
See how, from Christ’s side, there flows a life-giving stream (Jn 19:34),
peoples who thirst have drunk from it and there forgot their affliction.
Pour your dew on my weakness, Lord.
By your blood, forgive my sins.” … St Ephrem (306-373) Father & Doctor of the Church
Intercessions:
God the Father has given us His only Son, the Word made human,
to be our food and our life. Let us thank Him and pray:
May the word of Christ dwell among us in all its richness.
Help us this Lenten season to listen more frequently to Your word,
– that we may celebrate the solemnity of Easter
with greater love for Christ, our Paschal Sacrifice.
May Your Holy Spirit be our teacher,
– that we may encourage those in doubt and error to follow what is true and good.
Enable us to enter more deeply into the mystery of Your Anointed One,
– that our lives may reveal Him more effectively.
Purify and renew Your Church in this time of salvation,
– that it may give an ever greater witness to You.
Closing Prayer:
ACT OF CONTRITION
Forgive my sins, O my God, forgive my sins:
the sins of youth,
the sins of age,
the sins of my soul
and the sins of my body,
the sins which, through frailty, I have committed,
my deliberate and grievous sins,
the sins I know and the sins I do not know,
the sins I have laboured so long to hide from others,
that now they are hidden from my own memory,
let me be absolved from all these iniquities
and delivered from the bond of all these evils,
by the Life, Passion and Death
of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Amen
One Minute Reflection – 24 March – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent, Readings: Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12, Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9, John 5:1-16 and the Memorial of Blessed Didacus Joseph of Cadiz OFM Cap (1743–1801)
So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, it is not lawful for you to carry your pallet.” But he answered them, “The man who healed me said to me, ‘Take up your pallet, and walk.’ ”…John 5:10-11
REFLECTION – “Christian hypocrites, like these, only interested in their formalities. It was a Sabbath? No, you cannot do miracles on the Sabbath, the grace of God cannot work on Sabbath days. They close the door to the grace of God. We have so many in the Church, we have many! It is another sin. The first, those who have the sin of sloth, are not able to go forward with their apostolic zeal, because they have decided to stand firm in themselves, in their sorrows, their resentments, in all of that. Such as these are not capable of bringing salvation because they close the door to salvation.”… Pope Francis – Santa Marta 1 April 2014
PRAYER – God, our Father almighty, You gave us Christ Your Son to be our Bread of life and the message of truth, justice and love. May we live His lessons in every fibre of our being and thus pass from death to life. May the prayers of our Blessed Virgin Mother, your Holy angels, saints and martyrs, of Blessed Didacus Joseph, be an inspiration and a balm in our trials. Through Jesus our Lord with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 24 March – Blessed Didacus Joseph of Cadiz OFM Cap (1743–1801) Spanish Capuchin Priest Friar, renowned Preacher, Missionary – Known as the “Apostle of Our Lady, the Mother of the Good Shepherd” and the “Apostle of the Blessed Trinity,” Miracle-worker – born as José Francisco López-Caamaño y García Pérez on 30 March 1747 in Cádiz, Seville, Spain and died on 24 March 1801 in Ronda, Malaga, Spain of natural causes.
José Francisco López-Caamaño y García Pérez was born in Cádiz in 1743. His lineage dated from the Visigoth kings. His mother died when he was 9 years old. Later, his father moved the family to the city of Grazalema, where he entered the local school run by the Dominican Order. Though of noble ancestry, as a youth, Joseph could make no progress at school, receiving the nickname of the “dunce of Cadiz”. A classmate, a Dominican friar named Antonio Querero, testified how difficult study had been for him.
Initially rejected by the Observant Franciscan friars due to this perceived limitation of intellect, López-Caamaño was later accepted by the Capuchin friars and, at the age of 15, entered their novitiate in Seville, at which time he was given the name Didacus Joseph. He was professed as a member of the Order on 31 March 1759. He was Ordained to the Priesthood in Carmona in 1766, for which he prepared himself by an extremely ascetic life.
In 1771, after further training in homiletics, he was assigned to one of the teams of friars who would preach Parish Missions to residents of isolated, rural villages, which was a major focus of the Capuchins of that era. His biographers stated that the congregations marvelled at the tender love he displayed to the Crucifix he would hold while preaching and the singular power of his words, which swayed his audiences and left an impression on their lives. He wandered throughout the entire peninsula on foot, preaching in this way to the various communities he encountered on the road.
Spain was undergoing changes in its intellectual climate, as the influence of the Enlightenment began to spread in the upper classes of the country. Didacus became a major force in promoting the traditional devotions and beliefs of Catholicism as part of the identity of the nation and is seen, as an early integrist in the development of Spanish culture, opposing Liberal Catholicism. He also was a strong critic of the policy of consumerism, being promoted in the universities and some government circles. For this teaching, he was denounced to the Spanish Inquisition for attacking royal prerogatives . In turn, he accused the proponents of new economic policies and the secularisation of Spanish society of heresy. He preached at the Royal Court in 1783 but found that he had no effect on the nobility. Leaving Madrid in disappointment, he later wrote: “I do not want the royal couple to remember me”.
Didacus was appointed an official of the Inquisition, the synodal examiner for almost all Spanish dioceses and an honourary canon. The University of Granada conferred upon him the honourary degrees of Master of Arts and Doctorates in Theology and Canon Law. A collection of his sermons numbers 3,000.
Didacus died in 1801, apparently as a result of yellow fever, at the age of 58, in Ronda, Málaga. His remains are kept for veneration in an urn in the small, simple chapel of Our Lady of Peace in Ronda where he died, on the square now named in the friar’s honor.
He was Beatified by Pope Leo XIII on 22 April 1894.
This unlearned man became a celebrated preacher in Spain and an honourary Doctor of Theology and Canon law! During his sermon one day, a child shouted aloud in the church: “Mother, mother, see the dove resting on the shoulder of Father Didacus! I could preach like that too if a dove told me all that I should say!” Didacus prayed devotedly before his sermons, even scourging himself to the point of blood, in order to draw down God’s mercy upon the people.
Once when his superior chided him because of the austerity of his life, Didacus Joseph replied: “Ah, Father, my sins and the sins of the people compel me to do it. Those who have been charged with the conversion of sinners must remember that the Lord has imposed upon them the sins of all their clients. By means of our penances we should atone for the sins of our fellowmen and thus preserve ourselves and them from eternal death. It would hardly be too much if we shed the last drop of our blood for their conversion.”
Many miraculous events are recorded of his life, these three all took place in the main square of Cadiz. In one, he was able to save the life of a builder who had fallen off a roof, stopping his fall with one hand. On another occasion, a priest passed him while en route to administer the Last Sacraments to a dying person. When the acolyte accompanying the priest pointed out to the friar, that he had not removed his hood (the customary form of reverence to the Blessed Sacrament which the Priest would be carrying), Didacus told him, “Tell the priest that the ciborium is empty.” This turned out to be the case. On yet another occasion, a heavy rainstorm hit the city. The square, where Didacus happened to preaching at the time, was the only spot on which no rain fell.
The Chapel of Blessed Didacus, located on the site of his birthplace and family home in Cadiz
The 28th Day of Missionary Martyrs + 2020 “In Love and Alive”
A day of prayer and fasting in memory of the missionary Martyrs of the Faith.
The day in which Msgr Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador was assassinated in 1980, was chosen 28 years ago by the then Missionary Youth Movement of the Pontifical Mission Societies of Italy, to celebrate annually the “Day of Prayer and Fasting in memory of the Missionary Martyrs.”
The Archbishop, assassinated while celebrating Mass, was Beatified on 23 May 2015 and Canonised by Pope Francis on 14 October 2018, together with St Paul VI and 5 others.
The Bishops’ Conference of El Salvador, on the occasion of the 40 years since his Martyrdom, had announced a “Jubilee Year of the Martyrs,” to celebrate the National Martyrs – Fr Rutilio Grande, Msgr. Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Fr Cosme Spessotto.
However, this year, the coronavirus emergency has forced the Bishops to suspend all celebrations and gatherings, so this Day in 2020 will not see public initiatives.
The slogan of the 2020 Day is “In Love and Alive” informs Giovanni Rocca, national secretary of Missio Giovani. “A message that holds two meanings within itself. The first, in the qualifying meaning, fully describes those who ardent of love for God the Father and His creatures invested all their time to take care of them. The second is a real imperative, the legacy that the Martyrs received from our Lord by transmitting it to us today. Only those who fall in love are willing to abandon the superfluous, in order to grasp the essence of life. This promise is not only hope for the future but above all a guarantee for the present.” Then an invitation: “Convinced that each of us is a worker in the vineyard of the Lord, on 24 March we join in prayer and fasting in memory of the sisters and brothers who by giving their lives continue to be ‘In love and alive.'”
Various aids are available on the Missio Italia website that were prepared to deepen the theme of the day and proposals for concrete initiatives of prayer and solidarity. Following the directives of the Italian government, Missio Giovani has suspended the scheduled events and offers through its social channels – Facebook and Instagram – contents and moments of confrontation to live this time together. (SL) (The Vatican Missionary Agency – Agenzia Fides, 23/3/2020)
St Agapitus of Synnada
St Aldemar the Wise
St Bernulf of Mondovi
Bl Bertha de’Alberti of Cavriglia
Bl Bertrada of Laon
Bl Brian O’Carolan
St Caimin of Lough Derg
St Cairlon of Cashel St Catherine of Sweden (1331-1381) Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/24/saint-of-the-day-24-march-st-catherine-of-sweden-1331-1381/ Blessed Diego José of Cádiz/Blessed Didacus Joseph of Cadiz OFM Cap (1743–1801)
St Pigmenius of Rome
St Romulus of North Africa
St Secundus of North Africa
St Seleucus of Syria
St Severo of Catania
St Timothy of Rome
—
Martyrs of Africa – 9 saints: A group of Christians murdered for their faith in Africa, date unknown. The only details about their that survive are the names – Aprilis, Autus, Catula, Coliondola, Joseph, Rogatus, Salitor, Saturninus and Victorinus. .
Martyrs of Caesarea – 6 saints: A group of Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know little else but six of their names – Agapius, Alexander, Dionysius, Pausis, Romulus and Timolaus. They were martyred by beheading in 303 at Caesarea, Palestine.
Thought for the Day – 23 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Christian Formation of Character
“Our temperament is often a burden to ourselves and can, at times, be the source of annoyance to others.
If we do nothing about it, it can be the cause of failings or of extremes of behaviour on our part, which we bitterly regret afterwards.
It is necessary, therefore, to form character in accordance with Christian principles.
We are in no danger of losing our individuality, by training our character in this way.
God’s grace does not change nature but elevates and improves it.
It is like a shoot, which we plant in the uncultivated soil of our own being.
The first fruits may be sour but after a while, they grow sweeter, while still preserving the essential taste and aroma of the mother-plant.
St Jerome was a headstrong and austere character and he continued to be so, even after the grace of God had transformed him and made him holy.
But his rugged nature was, at the same time, softened and strengthened by divine grace.
St Augustine had a great intellect and a great heart.
When he abandoned philosophical sophistry and worldly vanity, in order to dedicate these gifts to the service of God, he achieved a profundity of thought, never before attained by Christian wisdom.
We should behave in the same manner.
If we are hot-tempered, we should convert this tendency to anger, into hatred for sin.
If we are enthusiastic by nature, we should turn our enthusiasm into love for God and for our neighbour.
If we are high-spirited and energetic, we should devote ourselves to good works, for our own salvation and to the apostolate of souls.
How far have we advanced in the Christian transformation of our character?
Let us examine our progress and resolve to do better.”
Lenten Reflection – 23 March – Monday of the Fourth week of Lent, Readings: Isaiah 65:17-21, Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13, John 4:43-54
“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”
Jesus said to him, “Go, your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went his way. … John 4:50
Daily Meditation:
You give us new life.
We now begin the second part of Lent.
“When the Lord passes into our life and performs a miracle in each of us and each of us knows what the Lord has done in our life, it does not end there. this is the invitation to go forward, to continue on the journey, ‘seeking the face of God,’ the Psalm says, seeking this joy.” … Pope Francis – Santa Marta, 12 March 2018
Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth.
Isaiah 65:17 The First Reading
Intercessions:
Blessed be God the Father for His gift of this sacrifice of praise.
In the spirit of this Lenten season, let us pray:
Instruct us, Lord, in the ways of Your kingdom.
God of power and mercy, give us the spirit of prayer and repentance,
– with burning love for You and for all mankind.
Help us to work with You in making all things new in Christ,
– and in spreading justice and peace throughout the world.
Grant us the gift of simple faith,
– so that we may always and forever, sing Your praise.
Forgive us for failing to see Christ in the poor,
the distressed and the troublesome.
– and for our failure to grant honour to Your Son in their persons.
Closing Prayer:
“[Lord God] I believe in You, increase my faith.
All my hopes are in You, secure my trust.
I love You, teach me to love You more each day…
I adore You as my first beginning, I long for You as my final end.
I praise You as my constant helper
and call on You as my loving protector.
Guide me by Your Wisdom, correct me with Your Justice,
comfort me with Your Mercy, protect me by Your Power…
Lord, enlighten my understanding, enflame my will,
purify my heart, sanctify my soul.
Help me to repent of my past sins
and to rise above my human weaknesses
and to grow stronger as a Christian…”
(from the Universal Prayer by Pope Clement XI (1649-1721))
“I am of the same family as Christ – what more could I want?”
One Minute Reflection – 23 March – Monday of the Fourth week of Lent, Readings: Isaiah 65:17-21, Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13, John 4:43-54 and the Memorial of St Rafqa (1832 – 1914)
“Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” … John 4:48
REFLECTION – “Whoever examines the majesty of God will be crushed by his glory” (Prv 25:27 Vg). God can do works that pass man’s understanding. (…) Faith is required of you and sincerity of life, not high intelligence, nor penetrating knowledge of the mysteries of God. If you do not understand nor grasp what is below you, how will you comprehend what is above you? Be subject to God, submit your feeling to the faith and the light of knowledge will be given to you as much as you need and can use.
Some have grave temptations concerning faith and sacrament, which are not to be imputed to them but rather, to the enemy. Take no notice, do not argue with your thoughts, nor answer the doubts with which the devil attacks you, believe God’s word, believe His saints and prophets and the wicked enemy will be routed. It is often most profitable to God’s servant to endure such things. For the devil does not tempt the infidel or sinner, of whom he has already secure possession but he uses various means to tempt and harass the devout faithful.
Go on then, with simple unquestioning faith and approach the Sacrament with reverent beseeching. Anything you cannot understand, commit it surely to God who is omnipotent. God does not deceive you. the over-confident person deceives himself. God walks in step with the simple ones, He shows Himself to the humble ones, He grants understanding to the little ones, “He reveals hidden meanings to little ones” and hides away His grace from the inquisitive and the proud. Human reason is feeble and fallible but true faith cannot be deceived. All use of reason, all human inquiry should walk in the footsteps of faith, it should not go on in front of it nor call it in question.” … Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)- The Imitation of Christ Bk IV #18
PRAYER – Teach us Holy Father to do Your will! Grant us Your guiding hand and Your grace, that we may trust You in all things. Strengthen us by Your grace and give us a heart willing to live by the love of Your Son, who so loved the world that He gave Himself up to death for our sake. For if we love as He loved, nothing will lead us from You. Grant that the prayers of our most loving and merciful Mother and the blessed loving faith of St Rafqa, may intercede in our necessities. We make our prayer through the Christ, our Lord, one God with You and the Holy Spirit, now and for all eternity, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 23 March – Monday of the Fourth week of Lent
Grant That I May Love You By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church
O God of love,
You are
and shall be forever,
the only delight of my heart
and the sole object of my affections.
Since Jesus said,
‘Ask and you shall receive,’
I do not hesitate to say,
‘Give me Your love
and Your grace.’
Grant that I may love You
and be loved by You.
I want nothing else.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 23 March – St Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès OLM (1832 – 1914) Nun of the Order of Daughters of Mary of the Immaculate Conception, the “Mariamettes” and then of the Lebanese Maronite Order, Teacher and Catechist, Apostle of Prayer and Eucharistic Adoration, Marian devotee, Apostle of suffering – also known as Boutrossieh Ar-Rayes, Lily of Himlaya, Little Flower of Lebanon, Purple Rose, Rafka Al Rayes, Rafqa Shabaq al-Rayes, Rebecca Pierrette Ar-Rayes – born as Boutrossieh (in Arabic as the feminine of Peter) Ar-Rayès on 29 June 1832 and died on 23 March 1914 at the Convent of Saint Joseph, Grabta, Lebanon of natural causes. Patronages – against bodily ills or sickness, against loss of parents, of the sick.
Rafqa in Himlaya (1832-1859):
Rafqa was born in Himlaya, one of the villages of Northern Metn (Lebanon), on 29 June 1832. She was the only child of Mourad Saber el-Choboq el Rayess and Rafqa Gemayel. On 7 July 1832 she was Baptised and named Boutroussieh. Her parents taught her the love of God and the practice of daily prayer. At age seven, she suffered her first great loss with the death of her mother.
In 1843, her father experienced financial difficulties and sent her into service for four years in the home of Assaad Badawi. Rafqa grew into a beautiful, pleasant, humourous young woman, pure and tender with a serene voice.
This is a real photograph
When she was 14 years old, she returned home to find that her father had remarried. His new wife wanted Rafqa to marry her step-brother. Conflict developed when her step-mother sought to arrange a marriage between her son and Rafqa.
Rafqa in the Congregation of the Mariamettes (1859-1971):
At this time, Rafqa felt drawn to the religious life. She asked God to help her achieve her desire and set off for the convent of Our Lady of Deliverance in Bikfaya, accompanied by two girls whom she met along the road. When she entered the convent church, she felt deep joy and happiness. One look at the icon of Our Lady of Deliverance and she heard God’s voice confirming her desire to enter religious life.
Following a year of postulancy, Rafqa received the habit of her congregation on the feast of St Joseph, 19 March 1861. A year later, she pronounced her first vows. The new nun, along with sister Mary Gemayel, was assigned to work in the Jesuit-run seminary in Ghazir. Among the seminarians were Elias Houwayek and Boutros el-Zoghbi, later to become Partriarch and Archbishop, respectively. Rafqa was in charge of kitchen service. In her free time she studied Arabic, calligraphy and mathematics and also helped to educate girls aspiring to join her congregation.
In 1860 Rafqa was sent to Deir el-Kamar to teach Catechism. There she witnessed the bloody clashes that occurred in Lebanon during this period. On one occasion, she risked her own life by hiding a child under her robe and saving him from death. After a year in Deir el-Kamar, Rafqa returned to Ghazir. In 1862, she was sent to teach in a school of her order in Byblos. One year later, she was transferred to Maad village. There, with another nun, she spent seven years establishing a new school for girls, made possible through the generosity of Antoun Issa.
Rafqa in the Lebanese Maronite Order (1871-1914): 1. In the Monastery of St Simon el-Qarn in Aito (1871-1897)
While living in Maad and following a crisis in her congregation, Rafqa sought divine guidance. Entering St George’s Church, she prayed for help. Once again, she heard the Lord’s voice confirming her call to religious life. Soon after, she dreamt that St George, S. Simon and St Anthony the Great, the Father of Monasticism, were telling her to enter the Lebanese Maronite Order.
Her move from Maad to the Maronite Monastery of St Simon el-Qarn in Aito was facilitated by the generosity of Mr Antoun ISSA. She was immediately admitted to the Order, receiving the habit on 12 July 1871 and pronouncing her vows on 25 August 1872. She received the name, sister Rafqa, after her mother.
St Rafqa is top left
She was to spend the next 26 years in the monastery of St Simon. In her observation of the rule, her devotion to prayer and silence, in her life of sacrifice and austerity, she was a role model to the other nuns.
In 1885 Rafqa decided not to join the nuns for a walk around the monastery. In her autobiographical account she wrote, “It was the first Sunday of the Rosary. I did not accompany them. Before leaving each of the nuns came and said to me, ‘Pray for me sister.’ There were some who asked me to say seven decades of the Rosary … I went to the Church and started to pray. Seeing that I was in good health and that I had never been sick in my life, I prayed to God in this way, ‘Why, O my God, have you distanced yourself from me and have abandoned me . You have never visited me with sickness! Have you perhaps abandoned me?’” Rafqa continued in her account to her superior, the next night after the prayer “At the moment of sleeping I felt a most violent pain spreading above my eyes to the point that I reached the state you see me in, blind and paralysed and as I myself had asked for sickness I could not allow myself to complain or murmur.”
Her superior insisted that she undergo medical treatment. After all local attempts to cure her had failed, she was sent to Beirut for treatment. Passing by St John-Mark’s Church in Byblos, her companions learned that an American doctor was travelling in the area. Contacted, he agreed to perform surgery on the afflicted eye. St Rafqa refused anesthesia. In the course of the surgery, her eye became completely detached. Within a short time, the disease struck the left eye.
For the next 12 years she continued to experience intense pain in her head. Throughout this period, as before, she remained patient and uncomplaining, praying in thanksgiving for the gift of sharing in Jesus’ suffering.
2. Rafqa in St Joseph Monastery al Dahr in Jrabta (1897-1914):
When the Lebanese Maronite Order decided to build the Monastery of St Joseph al Dahr in Jrabta, Batroun, in 1897, six nuns, led by Mother Ursula Doumit, were sent to the new monastery. Rafqa was among them.
In 1899, she lost the sight in her left eye. With this a new stage of her suffering began, intensified by the dislocation of her clavicle and her right hip and leg. Her vertebrae were visible through her skin. Her face was spared and remained shining to the end. Her hands stayed intact and she used them to knit socks and make clothing. She thanked God for the use of her hands while also thanking Him for permitting her a share in His Son’s suffering.
Based on direct evidence and on the autopsy of Rafqa’s remains in 1927, she had become paralysed due to complete disarticulation in her wrist and finger joints, while the pain continued in her head, her devastated eye sockets and her nosebleeds … completely immobile, her lower jaw touched her benumbed knee.
Even in this state, Rafqa was able to crawl to the chapel on the feast of Corpus Christi to the amazement of all the sisters. When asked about this, Rafqa replied, “I don’t know. I asked God to help me and suddenly I felt myself slipping from the bed with my legs hanging down, I fell on the floor and crawled to the chapel.”
On a separate occasion, when asked by her superior if she would like to see, Rafqa responded, “I would like to see for at least an hour, to be able to look at you.” In an instant the superior could see Rafqa smile and suddenly said, “Look, I can see now.” Not believing her, Sister Ursula put her to the test asking her to identify several objects.
Three days before her death, Rafqa said, “I am not afraid of death which I have waited for a long time. God will let me live through my death.” Then on 23 March 1914, four minutes after receiving final absolution and the plenary indulgence, after a life of prayer and service and years of unbearable pain, she rested in peace. She was buried in the Monastery cemetery.
On 10 July 1927, her body was transferred to a shrine in the corner of the Monastery chapel. The cause for her Beatification was introduced on 23 December 1925 and canonical investigation of her life began on 16 May 1926. St Pope John Paul II declared her Venerable on 11 February 1982; Beatified her on 17 November 1985 as a role model in the Adoration of the Eucharist during the Jubilee Year 2000. … Vatican.va
St Rafqa was Canonised by St Pope John Paul II on 10 June 2001. In his homily he said:
“By Canonising Blessed Rafqa Choboq Ar-Rayès, the Church sheds a very particular light on the mystery of love given and received for the glory of God and the salvation of the world. This nun of the Lebanese Maronite Order desired to love and to give her life for her people. In the sufferings which never left her for 29 years of her life, St Rafqa always showed a passionate and generous love for the salvation of her brothers, drawing from her union with Christ, who died on the cross, the force to accept voluntarily and to love suffering, the authentic way of holiness.
May St Rafqa watch over those who know suffering, particularly over the peoples of the Middle East who must face a destructive and sterile spiral of violence. Through her intercession, let us ask the Lord to open hearts to the patient quest for new ways to peace and so hasten the advent of reconciliation and harmony.”
The Saints of Lebanon 2nd left is Blessed Jacques Ghazir Haddad- read his life here:
Bl Álvaro del Portillo Díez de Sollano
Bl Annunciata Asteria Cocchetti
St Benedict of Campagna
St Crescentius of Carthage
Bl Edmund Sykes
St Ethelwald of Farne
St Felix the Martyr
St Felix of Monte Cassino
St Fergus of Duleek
St Fidelis the Martyr
St Frumentius of Hadrumetum
St Gwinear St Joseph Oriol (1650-1702) His life: https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/23/saint-of-the-day-23-march-st-joseph-oriol-1650-1702/
St Julian the Confessor
St Liberatus of Carthage
St Maidoc of Fiddown
Bl Metod Dominik Trcka
St Nicon of Sicily
St Ottone Frangipane
Bl Peter Higgins
Bl Pietro of Gubbio St Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès OLM (1832 – 1914)
St Theodolus of Antioch
St Victorian of Hadrumetum
—
Daughters of Feradhach: They are mentioned in early calendars and martyrologies, but no information about them has survived.
Martyrs of Caesarea – 5 saints: A group of five Christians who protested public games which were dedicated to pagan gods. Martyred in the persecutions Julian the Apostate. The only details we know about them are their names – Aquila, Domitius, Eparchius, Pelagia and Theodosia. They were martyred in 361 in Caesarea, Palestine.
Thought for the Day – 22 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Our Temperament
“Just as every man has his own individual physical characteristics, he also has his own peculiar disposition.
It is our character which distinguishes us and makes us what we are.
Our basic temperament is neither good nor bad in itself.
It is a physical and spiritual disposition which can equally well impel us towards virtue as towards sin.
No two people are exactly alike in character but, it is possible to divide them all into four categories.
It is a rather artificial classification, of course, since everyone shares to a greater or less extent in the attributes proper to each of the categories.
We can broadly distinguish
(1) the sanguine,
(2) the nervous,
(3) the choleric and
(4) the phlegmatic type.
People belong to the first category are jolly folk, lively and intelligent and often impetuous. They are easily incited to begin aiming at a good or a bad objective but usually, they lack constancy and tenacity of purpose. Very often they fling themselves enthusiastically into an enterprise but abandon it for want of perseverance.
In the second category, the nervous system is developed to an exceptionally fine degree, in comparison with the other parts of the human organism. These people are sensitive rather than active. In their stable moments, they can accomplish a great deal in a very short time. But, they are easily discouraged. They are subject to depression and suffer a lot, sometimes purely as the result of a disordered imagination. They need sympathy and understanding.
The choleric characters are impulsive and passionate. They have tremendous strength of will but this needs to be restrained and diverted into the right channels if it is not to overflow into all sorts of excesses.
The phlegmatic, on the other hand, are dull and apathetic by nature. They never hurry. They never get excited. They are cold, calculating and lacking in enthusiasm. But they are masters of themselves and if they are intelligent and capable, they can do a great deal of work with the minimum effort and emerge successfully from the most difficult situations.
It is very helpful for a man to study and become acquainted with his own character, so that he may be able to form it, as he ought.”
Quote of the Day – 22 March – Fourth “Laetare” Sunday of Lent
“To receive the grace of God, you must go to the desert and stay awhile.”
“You have only one model, Jesus. Follow, follow, follow Him, step by step, imitating Him, sharing His life in every way.”
Bl Charles of Jesus de Foucauld (1858-1916)
“Christ calls us right now! It were well, if we understood this but we are slow to master the great truth, that Christ is, as it were, walking among us and by His hand, or eye, or voice, bidding us to follow Him.”
Lenten Reflection – 22 March – Fourth “Laetare” Sunday of Lent, Readings: 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13, Psalm 23:1-6, Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41
“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”
So he went and washed and came back seeing. … John 9:7
Daily Meditation: Laetare Sunday: Be joyful!
“The man born blind and healed, represents us when we do not realise that Jesus is the light, He is “the Light of the World,” when we are looking elsewhere, when we prefer to entrust ourselves to little lights, when we are groping in the dark.
Acting as children of the light requires a radical change of mindset, a capacity to judge men and things according to another scale of values, which comes from God. What does it mean to have the true light, to walk in the light? First of all it means abandoning false lights – the cold, vain light of prejudice against others, because prejudice distorts reality and ladens us with aversion to those whom we judge without mercy and condemn without appeal.
May the Blessed Virgin, who was the first to welcome Jesus, the Light of the World, obtain for us this grace of welcoming anew the light of faith this Lent, rediscovering the inestimable gift of Baptism, which all of us have received. And may this new illumination transform us in attitude and action, so that we too, beginning with our poverty, our narrow-mindedness, may be bearers of a ray of the light of Christ.” … Pope Francis (Angelus, 26 March 2017)
Intercessions:
Let us give glory to God, whose kindness knows no limit.
Through Jesus Christ, who lives forever to intercede for
us, let us pray:
Kindle in our hearts the fire of Your love.
God of mercy, let today be a day rich in good works,
-a day of generosity to all we meet.
From the waters of the flood you saved Noah through the ark,
-from the waters of baptism raise up to new life those
under instruction.
May we live not by bread only,
-but by every word falling from Your lips.
Help us to do away with all dissension,
-so that we may rejoice in Your gifts of peace and love.
Closing Prayer:
“All-powerful God, Benefactor and Creator of the universe, hearken to my groaning in my peril. Deliver me from fear and anguish, free me by the strength of Your might, You who can do all… O Lord Christ, cut the threads of my net with the sword of Your triumphant Cross, with the weapon of life. This net encompasses me on every side, holding me captive so as to bring me to my death. Guide to their rest, my tottering and unsteady steps, heal the stifling fever of my heart. I stand guilty before You, take away from me my distress, the devil’s ploy; remove the darkness of my anguished soul…
Renew in my soul the light-filled image of the glory of Your name, so great and so powerful. Intensify the brilliance of Your grace upon the image of my face and on the eyes of my spirit, I who am born of the earth (Gn 2:7). Let my darkness vanish in a radiant purity, sinner that I am. Drown my soul in Your living, eternal, heavenly divine light so that the likeness of God the Trinity may increase within me. You alone, O Christ, are blessed, together with the Father for the praise of your Holy Spirit for endless ages. Amen
Saint Gregory of Narek (c 951-c 1010) Doctor of the Church Book of prayers, no 40
One Minute Reflection – 22 March – The Fourth “Laetare” Sunday of Lent, Readings: 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13, Psalm 23:1-6, Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41
“He spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man’s eyes with the clay” … John 9:6
REFLECTION – “Let us reflect briefly on the account of the man born blind (Jn 9: 1-41). According to the common mentality of the time, the disciples take it for granted that his blindness was the result of a sin committed by him or his parents. Jesus, however, rejects this prejudice and says – “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents but that the works of God might be made manifest in him” (Jn 9: 3).
… And He immediately takes action – mixing a little earth with saliva he made mud and spread it on the eyes of the blind man. This act alludes to the creation of man, which the Bible recounts using the symbol of dust from the ground, fashioned and enlivened by God’s breath (Gn 2: 7). In fact, “Adam” means “ground” and the human body was in effect formed of particles of soil. By healing the blind man, Jesus worked a new creation.
But this healing sparked heated debate because Jesus did it on the Sabbath, thereby, in the Pharisees’ opinion, violating the feast-day precept. Thus, at the end of the account, Jesus and the blind man are both cast out, the former because he broke the law and the latter because, despite being healed, he remained marked as a sinner from birth.
Jesus reveals to the blind man whom He had healed that He had come into the world for judgement, to separate the blind who can be healed, from those who do not allow themselves to be healed because they consider themselves healthy. Indeed, the temptation to build himself an ideological security system is strong in man – even religion can become an element of this system, as can atheism or secularism but in letting this happen, one is blinded by one’s own selfishness.” … Pope Benedict XVI – 2 March 2008
PRAYER – Holy Father, we are sinners who stand in Your presence and serve You. Grant us Your mercy and forgiveness, for we are all Your prodigal children. Your Word, our Christ, came to redeem us, to relieve our blindness and open our eyes, to open our ears, that we might hear. May Mary Most Holy, who, by conceiving Christ in the flesh, gave the world the true light, help us to conquer the ‘great transgression’ of our pride. May we honour, love and serve You through His example and by following in His steps. Through Jesus our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 22 March – Act of Spiritual Communion and A SPIRITUAL COMMUNION SERVICE Celebrated in the home
For those across the world who cannot attend Holy Mass today:
A SPIRITUAL COMMUNION SERVICE Celebrated in the home
“If you practice the holy exercise of Spiritual Communion, a good many times each day, within a month, you will see yourself completely changed.”
St Leonard of Port Maurice OFM (1676-1751)
Act of Spiritual Communion By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church
My Jesus, I believe that You art present in the Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least, spiritually, into my heart. As though You were already there, I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You, permit not, that I should ever, be separated from You. Amen
Guidelines / Reminders while participating in Spiritual Communion
– Prepare a table with appropriate cover, candles and crucifix or images of saints.
– Dress up appropriately as if you are physically participating in the Holy Eucharist.
– Turn off your cell phone and other devices.
– Refrain from doing household chores.
– Put yourself in the presence of God and focus on the celebration.
Introduction:
Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. All: Amen. Leader: We are gathered here to love, honour and worship our heavenly Father. Bearing in mind that the Word of the Lord is a lamp for our steps and a light for our
path, let us unite in listening to the message of eternal life. Then with hearts
gladdened and filled with hope by his holy word, we pray that the Lord in his
merciful love will spiritually nourish us.
But first, let us spend a few moments in silence to repent of our sins and also
think of those with whom we should make our peace, those, whom we should
forgive.
After a few moments of silence, all say the I confess
Liturgy of the Word:
– The readings of the given Sunday, are now proclaimed.
An appropriate Homily or Reflection can then be shared.
We then make a profession of faith by reciting the Apostles’ Creed.
– Next follows Prayers of Intercession where we pray for
– the needs of the Church
– needs of the world
– those burdened in one way or another
– our local community
– the dead.
Conclude by saying the Our Father.
Now recite the Act of Spiritual Communion
– After a brief pause, together say:
The Anima Christi
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O Good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Permit me not to be separated from You.
From the wicked foe, defend me.
At the hour of my death,
call me and bid me
come to You
that with Your saints
I may praise You forever and ever.
Amen
Concluding Prayer
All: As we contemplate Your presence
in our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
we pray, O God,
that You will protect us in these uncertain times
and keep us close to You
and be strengthened in the faith we share.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Leader: May Almighty God bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen
(all make the sign of the cross while saying together)
All: May we remain in the peace of Christ – In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
NOTE: If so desired, families may sing appropriate hymns /chants.
Prayer to St Michael
St Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our safeguard against the
wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray
and do Thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
cast into hell, Satan
and all the evil spirits who prowl throughout the world
seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
Pope Francis’s Prayer to Mary during Coronavirus Pandemic
Saint of the Day – 22 March – Blessed Bronislaw Komorowski (1889-1940) Priest and Martyr. Born on 25 May 1889 in Barlozno, Pomorskie, Poland and died by shooting, on Good Friday 22 March 1940 in a field, outside the Stutthof concentration camp near Sztutowo, Pomorskie, Poland. Bl Bronislaw, a Polish Patriot and Teacher, was murdered by the Nazi occupiers at Stutthof concentration camp, together with a number of Polish activists captured during the Polish September Campaign . On 13 June 1999, Fr Komorowski was among 108 Polish Martyrs of World War II, Beatified in Warsaw by St Pope John Paul II.
Bronisław Komorowski was born on 25 May 1889 in Barłożno near Starogard Gdański in a peasant family. After finishing the primary school and studies in Collegium Marianum in Pelplino, in years 1910-1914 he studied at the Seminary in Pelplino. He was Ordained to the Holy Orders on 2 April 1914.
From the beginning of his pastoral work, Fr Komorowski was an activist of Polonia of the Free City of Gdańsk. Beginning in 1920 he participated actively, in organising chaplaincy, churches and ministry in the Polish language. In 1923, together with other Polish activists, he created the Polish Churches Construction Association and in 1924 he created a church in a former riding arena in Gdańsk where he organised a chaplaincy for the Polish population. In 1925, thanks to his efforts, the Saint Stanislaus church was Consecrated. In the following years he continued his activity for the benefit of the Polish people in the Free City of Gdańsk. Many associations and organisations were created thanks to his initiative. Fr Komorowski was also a political activist. In 1933-1934, he was one of the councilors of the Free City of Gdańsk. In 1935, he run for Polish deputy in the Volkstag in Gdańsk.
Arrest
On 1 September 1936 Fr Bronisław Komorowski was arrested in his parish, from where he was taken to “Viktoria Schule”. Maksymilan Kempiński, a prisoner of the Nazis, describes this moment in his memoirs: ”Then I saw that Fr Komorowski was passing through the gate and did not avoid the blows of the soldiers. Upright, though stained with blood, he reached our small room.” Another prisoner, Wiesław Arlet, also remembers his meeting with Fr Komorowski in “Viktoria Schule” – “After the registration, my group was lead to a cellar so crowded that one could only stand. Among the maltreated people I saw Fr Komorowski, the parish priest of the Saint Stanislaus church in Wrzeszcz. His mouth was crushed into a bloody pulp”.
Stutthof
On 2 September, Fr Komorowski was placed in a 150-person group of prisoners sent in the first transport to Stutthof concentration camp. From the beginning of his imprisonment in the camp, he was persecuted and harassed by the SS men. Firstly, he worked on constructing the camp’s barracks, then he was given the hardest and most unpleasant work, mostly cleaning the toilets. In this way the Nazis wanted to humiliate the well-known Polish priest. They also named him the “captain” of the group which was cleaning the camp cesspit, at the same time forcing him to harass his subordinates. They didn’t achieve their goal because, as one of the prisoners, Roman Bellwon, recalls: “…he showed Christian love towards others, helping the most exhausted, sharing his food with them. Maltreated and cruelly tormented, until the end, he kept his heart open to everyone and a smile on his face. He always kept up our spirits and he always showed a truly Polish and sacerdotal attitude.”
Another witness of the humiliation of Fr Komorowski by the Nazis, Fr Wojciech Gajdus, asked him once what he felt when he was working in cesspit as a “captain.” Fr Bronislaw responded: “I felt as if I was in the pulpit watched by the prisoners and I cared that the sermon should be good. I think these were my finest sermons”.
In the last days of September 1939, Fr Bronisław Komorowski together with other priests, had been accused of stocking up on weapons in the church to protect themselves there. He was threatened that if he didn’t plead “guilty” he would be shot. Because he did not confirm the accusation he was punished with a three-day imprisonment in a bunker, where he was starved and tortured.
Execution
On 22 March 1940, on Good Friday, Fr Bronisław Komorowski together with a group of 66 activists of Polonia Gdańska, was taken away to the woods near the camp and shot. The grave was hidden but in 1946 it was found. After the exhumation, the bodies were buried on 4 April 1947 on the Gdańsk-Zaspa cemetery.
In 1999, Fr Bronislaw was Beatified by St Pope John Paul II. In the same year, the Social Committee of the Construction of the Blessed Bronisław Komorowski Monument was established. The monument was unveiled on the Bronisław Komorowski square in Wrzeszcz in 2000, in the 110th anniversary of the priest’s birth, the 85th anniversary of his Ordination and 75th anniversary of the Consecration of the Saint Stanislaus church.
The Apostolic Penitentiary has issued a decree granting special indulgences to the faithful at this time of pandemic.
Signed on 19 March, the Feast of St Joseph, by Major Penitentiary Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, the decree states that:
“The Plenary Indulgence is granted to the faithful suffering from the Coronavirus, subject to quarantine by order of the health authority in hospitals or in their own homes if, with a spirit detached from any sin, they unite themselves spiritually through the media to the celebration of Holy Mass, to the recitation of the Holy Rosary, to the pious practice of the Way of the Cross or other forms of devotion, or if at least they will recite the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and a pious invocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, offering this trial in a spirit of faith in God and charity towards their brothers and sisters, with the will to fulfil the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer according to the Holy Father’s intentions), as soon as possible.”
Cardinal Piacenza adds that the same gift of Plenary Indulgence will be given “under the same conditions” to:
“Health care workers, family members and all those who, following the example of the Good Samaritan, exposing themselves to the risk of contagion, care for the sick of Coronavirus according to the words of the divine Redeemer. “No man has greater love than this: to give his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13).”
He adds that the decree also “willingly grants” the Plenary Indulgence under the same conditions to:
“Those faithful who offer a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, or Eucharistic Adoration, or the reading of Sacred Scripture for at least half an hour, or the recitation of the Holy Rosary, or the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross, or the recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, to implore from Almighty God the end of the epidemic, relief for those who are afflicted and the eternal salvation of those whom the Lord has called to Himself.”
Thought for the Day – 21 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Charitable Works
“Christianity is the religion of love. This is not to say that charity is sufficient, without justice, for there can be no real charity without justice. But justice cannot always bring us very far. There are many complex and tragic problems, which justice alone is powerless to solve. Only Christian love can comfort the human heart and heal some of the deeper wounds of poor suffering humanity. There is a sense, in which it is true to say, that Christianity is charity. This is what Jesus meant when He said: “This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12). “God is love and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him” (1 Jn 4:16). Anyone who is without charity is not really a Christian. Egoism is the absolute negation of Christianity. The egoist is deaf to human sorrows and loves only himself. A Christian should love God above all things and his neighbour as himself.”
Quote of the Day – 21 March – Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
“You must be reconciled with your enemies, speak to them as if they had never done you anything but good all your life, keeping nothing in your heart but the charity, which the good Christian should have for everyone, so that we can all appear with confidence before the tribunal of God.”
One Minute Reflection – 21 March – Saturday of the Third Week of Lent, Readings: Hosea 6:1-6, Psalm 51:3-4, 18-21, Luke 18:9-14 and the Memorial of St Enda of Aran
“…For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled but he who humbles himself, will be exalted.”… Luke 18:14
REFLECTION – “It is of capital importance that you emphasise what is the basis for holiness and the foundation of goodness. I mean, to talk about the virtue of which Jesus presents himself explicitly as the model – humility (cf. Mt 11:29).
Inner humility, more inner than outward.
Recognise who you truly are – a nothing, something quite miserable, weak, full of defects, capable of turning good into bad, to let go the good, for the bad, to attribute to yourself the good and to justify yourself in doing bad and for love of evil, to despise the One who is the Supreme Good.
Never go to bed before having first examined your conscience to consider how you spent your day. Turn all your thoughts towards the Lord and consecrate to Him your own person, as well as all Christians. Then offer to His glory, the sleep you will get, without ever forgetting your guardian angel, who is always at your side.” … Saint Pio of Pietralcina “Padre Pio” (1887-1968) – Buona Giornata
PRAYER – We turn to You our God and Father and seek Your comfort and assurance. Jesus, our Lord, Your Son, taught us how to pray in humility and all we need to be and do, to reach You. Be patient good Father, as we grow by Your grace. May the prayers of St Enda, be heard together with the Mother of Christ and of Humility, as they pray on our behalf. Through Jesus our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, God now and forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 21 March – Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
Pope Francis Prayer recited by video on 11 March
asking Mary to protect Italy and the world during the coronavirus pandemic.
Prayer to Mary, Health of the Sick
Mary,
you always shine on our path
as a sign of salvation and of hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick,
who at the cross took part in Jesus’ pain,
keeping your faith firm.
You, Salvation of the Roman People,
know what we need,
and we are sure you will provide
so that, as in Cana of Galilee,
we may return to joy and to feasting
after this time of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love,
to conform to the will of the Father
and to do as we are told by Jesus,
who has taken upon Himself our sufferings
and carried our sorrows
to lead us, through the Cross,
to the joy of the Resurrection.
Amen
Under your protection, we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God.
Do not disdain the entreaties of we, who are in trial
but deliver us from every danger,
O glorious and blessed Virgin.
Saint of the Day – 21 March – St Enda of Aran (c 450 – c 530) Priest, Monk, Abbot of Aran “Fatheh of Irish Monasticism” and Aran is known as “Aran of the Saints” – also known as Éanna, Edna, Éinne, Endeus, Enna – born in Meath, Ireland and died in c 530 of natural causes. Enda was a warrior-king of Oriel in Ulster, converted by his sister, Saint Fanchea, an abbess. About 484 he established the first Irish Monastery at Killeaney on Aran Mor. Most of the great Irish saints had some connection with Aran.
According to the Martyrdom of Oengus, Enda was an Irish prince, son of Conall Derg of Oriel (Ergall) in Ulster. Legend has it that when his father died, he succeeded him as king and went off to fight his enemies. The soldier Enda, was converted by his sister, Saint Fanchea, an abbess. He visited St Fanchea of Rossory (died c 585), who tried to persuade him to lay down his arms. He agreed, if only she would give him a young girl in the convent for a wife. He renounced his dreams of conquest and decided to marry. The girl she promised turned out to have just died and Fanchea forced him to view the girl’s corpse, to teach him that he, too, would face death and judgment.
St Fanchea
Faced with the reality of death and by his sister’s persuasion, Enda decided to study for the priesthood and studied first at St Ailbe’s monastery at Emly. Fanchea sent him to Rosnat, a great centre of Monasticism. There he took Monastic vows and was Ordained.
In this way, St Fanchea succeeded in turning her brother not only from violence but even from marriage. He left Ireland for several years, during which time he became a Monk and was ordained as a Priest.
Upon his return to Ireland, he petitioned his King Aengus of Munster – who was married to another of Enda’s sisters – to grant him land for a Monastic settlement on the Aran Islands, a beautiful but austere location near Galway Bay off Ireland’s west coast.
During its early years, Enda’s island mission had around 150 monks. As the community grew, he divided up the territory between his disciples, who founded their own Monasteries to accommodate the large number of vocations. Enda did not found a religious order in the modern sense but he did hold a position of authority and leadership over the Monastic settlements of Aran – which became known as “Aran of the Saints,” renowned for the monks’ strict rule of life and passionate love for God.
Enda’s monks imitated the asceticism and simplicity of the earliest Egyptian desert hermits. He established the Monastery of Enda, which is regarded as the first Irish Monastery, at Killeany on Inismór. He also established a Monastery in the Boyne valley and several others across the island and along with St Finnian of Clonard is known as the Father of Irish monasticism. At Killeaney, the monks lived a hard life of manual labour, prayer, fasting and study of the Scriptures. The monks of Aran lived alone in their stone cells, slept on the ground, ate together in silence and survived by farming and fishing. St Enda’s monastic rule, like those of St Basil in the Greek East and St Benedict in the Latin West, set aside many hours for prayer and the study of scripture.
Enda divided the island into two parts, one half assigned to the Monastery of Killeany, and the western half to such of his disciples as chose “to erect permanent religious houses on the island.” Later he divided the island into 8 parts, in each of which he built a “place of refuge”. The life of Enda and his monks was frugal and austere. The day was divided into fixed periods for prayer, labour and sacred study. Each community had its own church and its village of stone cells, in which they slept either on the bare ground or on a bundle of straw covered with a rug but always in the clothes worn by day. They assembled for their daily devotions in the church or oratory of the saint under whose immediate care they were placed. The monks took their meals in silence in a common refectory, from a common kitchen, having no fires in their stone cells, however cold the weather or wild the seas.
They invariably carried out the monastic rule of procuring their own food and clothing by the labour of their hands. Some fished around the islands, others cultivated patches of oats or barley in sheltered spots between the rocks. Others ground grain or kneaded the meal into bread and baked it for the use of the brethren. They spun and wove their own garments from the undyed wool of their own sheep. They could grow no fruit in these storm-swept islands, they drank neither wine nor mead and they had no flesh meat, except perhaps a little for the sick.
During his own lifetime, Enda’s Monastic settlement on the Aran islands became an important pilgrimage destination, as well as a centre for the evangelisation of surrounding areas. At least two dozen Canonised Saints had some association with “Aran of the Saints.”
Enda’s Monastery flourished until Viking times but much of the stone was ransacked by Cromwell’s men in the 1650s for fortifications, so only scattered ruins remain. Most survive as coastal ruined towers. Cattle, goats, and horses now huddle and shiver in the storm under many of the ruins of old walls where once men lived and prayed. These structures were the chosen home of a group of poor and devoted men under Saint Enda. He taught them to love the hard rock, the dripping cave and the barren earth swept by the western gales. They were “Men of the Caves” and “also Men of the Cross.”
St Enda’s Grave
St Enda himself died in old age around the year 530. An early chronicler of his life declared that it would “never be known until the day of judgment, the number of saints whose bodies lie in the soil of Aran,”on account of the onetime-warrior’s response to God’s surprising call. His remains are buried at Tighlagheany, Inishmore, Ireland.
Saint Ciaran of Clonmacnoise (c 516 – c 549) came there first as a youth to grind corn and would have remained there for life but for Enda’s insistence that his true work lay elsewhere, reluctant though he was to part with him. When he departed, the Monks of Enda lined the shore as he knelt for the last time to receive Enda’s blessing and watched as the boat bore him from them. Saint Finnian left St Enda and founded the Monastery of Moville (where Columba spent part of his youth) and who afterwards became Bishop of Lucca in Tuscany, Italy.
Those who lived there loved the islands which “as a necklace of pearls, God has set upon the bosom of the sea” and all the more, because they had been the scene of heathen worship – according to a prophecy, “there will be left only three islands altogether, when Innish is sent from mortal planes, Inishmore, Inishmaan, and Inisheer.” On the largest will stand Saint Enda’s well and altar and the round tower of the church, where the bell was sounded, which gave the signal that Saint Enda had taken his place at the altar. At the tolling of the bell the service of the Mass began in all the churches of the island.
St Philemon of Rome
Bl Santuccia Terrebotti
Bl Thomas Pilcher
Bl William Pike
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Martyrs of Alexandria: A large but unknown number of Catholics massacred in several churches during Good Friday services in Alexandria, Egypt by Arian heretics during the persecutions of Constantius and Philagrio. They were martyred on Good Friday in 342 in Alexandria, Egypt.
Thought for the Day – 20 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Patronage of St Joseph
“St Joseph has been proclaimed Patron of the Universal Church, as he was Patron and Head of the Holy Family, from which the Church developed. Devotion to St Joseph has increased greatly in recent Centuries, so much so, that nowadays, his name is always linked with the names of Jesus and Mary.
St John Chrysostom had already spoken of St Joseph with the utmost veneration. He interpreted the expression ‘just,’ applied to Joseph in the Gospel (Mt 1:19), as indicating the synthesis of all the virtues. At a later date, St Bernardine of Siena wrote in praise of the power and holiness of St Joseph and roused the faithful to an increased devotion to the Holy Patriarch. St Therese of the Child Jesus had great devotion to him and claimed that she invariably received any favour for which she asked, through his intercession. Many other Saints had the same experience.
We also should have recourse to St Joseph in our spiritual and bodily necessities. St Joseph had to endure a great deal in order to provide for the wants of the Holy Family and to protect them from the many dangers which threatened them. For this reason, he is especially attentive to requests of any kind, as long as they are made with a lively faith and submission to the Will of God.”
One Minute Reflection – 20 March – Friday of the Third week of Lent, Readings: Hosea 14:1-9 (2-10), Psalm 81:6-11, 14, 17, Mark 12:28-34 and the Memorial of St Maria Josefa of the Heart of Jesus (1842-1912)
“…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” …Mark 12:30-32
REFLECTION – “The love-story between God and man consists in the very fact that this communion of will, increases in a communion of thought and sentiment and thus our will and God’s will increasingly coincide – God’s will is no longer for me an alien will, something imposed on me from without, by the commandments but it is now, my own will, based on the realisation that God is, in fact, more deeply present to me, than I am to myself. Then self- abandonment to God increases and God becomes our joy (cf. Ps 73 [72]:23-28).
Love of neighbour is thus shown to be possible, in the way proclaimed by the Bible, by Jesus. It consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or even know. This can only take place on the basis of an intimate encounter with God, an encounter which has become a communion of will, even affecting my feelings. Then, I learn, to look on this other person not simply with my eyes and my feelings but from the perspective of Jesus Christ. His friend is my friend… Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more, than their outward necessities, I can give them the look of love which they crave.”…Pope Benedict XVI – Encyclical “ Deus caritas est ”, # 17 – 18
PRAYER – Holy and eternal Father, we give praise to You for the radiant light You sent into the world, Your divine Son, Your Word made flesh. For He guides our steps in a path of light and teaches us how to live. May we love and glorify You and love our neighbour as ourselves. Grant, we pray, that by the help of Your angels and saints and Mary, our Immaculate Mother, we may proceed to live Your Word of Truth. St Maria Josefa of the Heart of Jesus please pray for us today. Through Christ, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
AnaStpaul 
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