AnaStpaul

BREVIARY Prayers, HYMNS, LENT 2019, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the CHURCH

Our Morning Offering – 14 April – My Song is Love Unknown

Posted on April 14, 2019April 13, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 14 April – Palm Sunday, Year C

My Song is Love Unknown
Breviary Hymn for Passion Sunday
By Samuel Crossman (1623-1648)

My song is love unknown,
My Saviour’s love to me.
Love to the loveless shown,
That they might lovely be.
O who am I, that for my sake
My Lord should take frail flesh and die?

He came from His blest throne
Salvation to bestow;
But men made strange and none
The longed-for Christ would know.
But O! my Friend, my Friend indeed,
Who at my need His life did spend.

Sometimes they strew His way,
And His sweet praises sing,
Resounding all the day
Hosannas to their King:
Then “Crucify!” is all their breath,
And for His death they thirst and cry.

Why, what hath my Lord done?
What makes this rage and spite?
He made the lame to run,
He gave the blind their sight,
Sweet injuries! Yet they at these
Themselves displease and ’gainst Him rise.

They rise and needs will have
My dear Lord made away,
A murderer they save,
The Prince of life they slay,
Yet cheerful He to suffering goes,
That He, His foes from thence might free. my song is love unknown = palm sunday breviary hymn - 14 april 2019.jpg

LENT 2019, MYSTICS, Of the SICK, the INFIRM, All ILLNESS, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 14 April – Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380-1433)

Posted on April 14, 2019April 12, 2023 by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 14 April – Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380-1433) aged 53 – Mystic, Ascetic, apostle of the Holy Eucharist and of penance and prayer, also known as Liduina, Lidwid, Lidwina, Lijdwine, Ludivine, Lydwid, Lydwine – born on 18 April 1380 (Palm Sunday) at Schiedam, Netherlands and died on 14 April (Easter Sunday) 1433 at Schiedam, Netherlands of natural causes. Patronages – against all illness, ice skating, prolonged suffering. skaters, Schiedam, Netherlands.

The story of Lydwina, the patron saint of ice skating, is a sad and fascinating one indeed. She was a Dutch girl born on a Palm Sunday and raised alongside eight brothers to a father and mother, Peter and Petronella who were a “poor noble” and ‘poor commoner”.

By all accounts, she was “a lovely and charming girl”. At age fifteen, in a severe winter Lydwina was skating with girlfriends when she fell and broke a rib and was put in bed in her family home. After her injury, gangrene set in and Lydwina became partially paralysed.

She never fully recovered and became progressively more disabled and ill throughout her life. It is believed that she became paralysed with the exception of her left hand and that parts of her body… “fell off”. Blood is reported to have spontaneously poured from her mouth, ears and nose. Some historians have hypothesised that accounts of her affliction may have actually been describing one of the first known cases of Multiple Sclerosis, which of course would not have been known at that time.

Much of Lydwina’s time was spent in prayer, meditation and in offering her pain to God. Devoutly spiritual, she developed a devotion to The Eucharist, was visited by saints and had visions in which she was shown a “Heaven and Purgatory”. Miracles reportedly occurred at her beside. st Lidwina_painting

After Lydwina’s fall while skating, she fasted constantly and became reputed as a healer and holy woman, although many viewed her as being ‘under the influence of an evil spirit’ due to her deteriorating health.

Her hometown of Schiedam created a document that attests to her fasting. She ate only a little piece of apple, then part of a date, watered down wine and then river water that was contaminated with salt from the tides. This document created by Schiedam town officials (which still exists) also claims that she shed skin, bones and part of her intestines, which her parents kept in a vase until Lydwina had her mother bury them after they drew much attention.

She lost her sight seven years before her death but continued to fast and report visions, in one of which her Guardian Angel assisted her, until her death at age fifty three. st lydwina snip

Posthumously, Lydwina’s grave became a place of pilgrimage. Thomas à Kempis’s (1380-1471) publication, Vita Lidewigis, A Life of St Lydwina, caused an increase in veneration. In 1615 her relics were taken to Brussels but in 1871 they were returned to Schiedam. In 1434, a chapel was built over it. Her relics were taken to Brussels, Belgium in 1615 but returned to Schiedam in 1871.

In 1890, Pope Leo XIII Canonised her. She is known as the patron saint of ice skaters and the chronically ill and her “feast day” is observed on 18 March, 14 April (universal memorial) or 14 June depending on the region and area’s tradition. st lydwina snip 2 statue

The Church of Our Lady of the Visatation, which was opened in 1859 in Schiedam closed in 1969 and her statue and relics were removed and moved to the chapel dedicated to her Basilica of Lydwina in West-Frankeland. In Schiedam, her name is attached to numerous institutions and the Intorno Ensemble foundation presents a bi-annual musical theatrical production about Lydwina, the town saint, in one of Schiedam’s churches.

Of her suffering at the end of her life, Lidwina allegedly said, “If I live to be healthy by Ave Maria again I would not want to.” Her final vision was of Christ administering last rites to her.

This powerful and heartwarming history makes it so fitting that Lydwina was named the patron saint of ice skating.

Surely, one of the parables of the story of St Lydwina, is that if you fall down, you never give up and you too may become a Saint. Your search for holiness, may, after all, only begin after the fall! st-lidwina-1

CATECHESIS, LENT 2019, SAINT of the DAY, The PASSION

Memorials of the Saints and Palm Sunday 2019 – 14 April

Posted on April 14, 2019April 13, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Palm Sunday *2019

St Abundius the Sacristan
St Antony of Vilna
St Ardalion the Actor
St Benezet the Bridge Builder
St Bernhard of Tiron
St Domnina of Terni
St Eustace of Vilna
St Fronto of Nitria
Bl Hadewych
St John of Monte Marano
St John of Vilna
St Lambert of Lyon
Bl Lucien Botovasoa (1908-1947) Martyr
Blessed Lucien’s life: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/14/saint-of-the-day-14-april-blessed-lucien-botovasoa-o-f-s-1908-1947-martyr/

St Lydwina of Schiedam (1380-1433)

St Maximus of Rome
St Peter Gonzalez OP (1190 – 1246)
About St Peter: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/04/14/saint-of-the-day-14-april-blessed-peter-gonzalez-o-p/

St Tassach of Raholp
St Thomaides of Alexandria
St Tiburtius of Rome
St Valerian of Trastevere

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, DOCTORS of the Church, LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The STATIONS of the CROSS

The Stations of the Cross – 13 April – The Third Station

Posted on April 13, 2019April 13, 2019 by AnaStpaul

The Stations of the Cross – 13 April – Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent, Year C

Meditations on the Stations of the Cross
By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Begin with an Act of Contrition, this one by St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787).

My Lord Jesus Christ,
You have made this journey
to die for me, with love unutterable
and I have so many times unworthily abandoned You
but now I love You with my whole heart
and because I love You,
I repent sincerely for having ever offended You.
Pardon me, my God
and permit me to accompany You on this journey.
You go to die for love of me,
I wish also, my beloved Redeemer,
to die for love of Thee.
My Jesus, I will live
and die always united to You.
Amen act of contrition - st alphonsus 13 april 2019.jpg

The Third Station
Jesus falls the first time beneath the Cross

V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam Crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
V. We adore You, O Christ and we bless You.
R. Because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world.

JESUS, bowed down under the weight and the length of the unwieldy Cross, which trailed after Him, slowly sets forth on His way, amid the mockeries and insults of the crowd. His agony in the Garden itself was sufficient to exhaust Him but it was only the first of a multitude of sufferings. He sets off with His whole heart but His limbs fail Him and He falls.

Yes, it is as I feared. Jesus, the strong and mighty Lord, has found for the moment our sins stronger than Himself. He falls—yet He bore the load for a while, He tottered but He bore up and walked onwards. What, then, made Him give way? I say, I repeat, it is an intimation and a memory to thee, O my soul, of thy falling back into mortal sin. I repented of the sins of my youth and went on well for a time but at length, a new temptation came, when I was off my guard and I suddenly fell away. Then all my good habits seemed to go at once, they were like a garment which is stripped off, so quickly and utterly did grace depart from me. And at that moment I looked at my Lord and lo! He had fallen down and I covered my face with my hands and remained in a state of great confusion. the third station jesus falls the first time - bl john henry newman 13 april 20195.jpg

V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.

I love You,
Lord Jesus,
my love
above all things,
I repent
with my
whole heart
for having
offended You.
Never permit me
to separate myself
from You again
grant that I
may love always
and then do with me
what You will.
(St Alphonsus Liguori)

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

LENT 2019, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The LAMB of GOD, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, The PASSION

Quote/s of the Day – 13 April – Thy Book

Posted on April 13, 2019April 13, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 13 April – Saturday of the Fifth week of Lent, Year C

“Study then, mortal, to know Christ, to learn your Saviour.
His body hanging on the cross, is a book, opened before your eyes.
The words of this book are Christ’s actions.
as well as His suffering and passion,
for everything that He did serves for our instruction.
His wounds are the letters or characters,
the five chief wounds being the five vowels
and the others the consonants of your book . . .
However much else you may know,
if you do not know this, I count all your learning for naught,
because without knowledge of this book,
both general and particular, it is impossible for you to be saved.

So eat this book which in your mouth and understanding
shall be sweet but which will make your belly bitter,
that is to say your memory,
because He that increases knowledge increases sorrow too.

May this book never depart from my hands, O Lord
but let the law of the Lord be ever in my mouth,
that I may know what is acceptable in Your sight.”

Dom John Whiterig OSB (c 1320–1371)
Hermit of Farne

Meditacio ad Crucifixum, Chapter 53, fols. 29v-30

“Thy body, sweet Jesus,
is like a book all written with red ink,
so is Thy body all written with red wounds . . .
grant me to read upon Thy book
and somewhat to understand,
the sweetness of that writing
and to have liking
in studious abiding of that reading.”

Richard Rolle (1290-1349)

Hermit, Mystic, Writer
Meditations on the Passion

FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The WORD

Lenten Reflection – 13 April – “What are we going to do? “

Posted on April 13, 2019April 13, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Reflection – 13 April – Saturday of the Fifth week of Lent, Year C

The Readings:
Ezekiel 37:21-28; Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12ABCD, 13; John 11:45-46

Daily Meditation:
Now we rejoice in Your great love.
Our journey has brought us here.
It is as though we, too, are gathering in Jerusalem
to celebrate our Passover week.
We are ready to enter into the Passion drama,
and to celebrate the Paschal Mystery,
with mind and heart renewed.

We are ready to rejoice that the death of Jesus is “for me”
and that it is the ultimate victory over sin and death –
my sin and my death.

Christ was sacrificed so that he could gather together
the scattered children of God.
John 11:52

“So the chief priests and the Pharisees
convened the Sanhedrin and said,
“What are we going to do?
This man is performing many signs.”…John 11:47 John 11 47 so the chief priests and the sanhedrin - 13 april 2019.jpg

Origen of Alexandria (c 185-253) (part 2 of Pope Benedict’s reflections on Origen) comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed at Mass today:

“I think the phrase “this man” was used to diminish Jesus’ glory because they did not believe what was said about Him being God. Notice both the audacity and the blindness of their evil. It was audacious because they had already witnessed the fact that He had performed many signs and yet, they thought they could plot against Him — as if He could do nothing when they plotted against Him!
On the other hand, they were no less blind either, because it makes more sense to be on the side of someone who performs such miracles than to be a part of the plot, of those who do not want to allow Him to live.
Or perhaps they thought that He performed signs that were not the result of divine power and that this was why He could not do all things, or deliver Himself from their plot.
They resolved, therefore, not to let Him live, thinking that they would place an impediment in the way of those who believed in Him and also prevent the Romans from taking away, their place and nation.” (Commentary on the Gospel of John)

Closing Prayer:
Loving God,
Your eternal watchfulness keeps me safe from harm.
I am filled with a great happiness
when I feel your endless love for me.
Thank you for your care for me, one of your children.
I ask you to protect from harm
those who will soon be your children,
joined in the joy of your church.
Please continue to pour out your blessings
on all of us who have been given
the lifegiving waters of baptism.

May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.

FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on the CHURCH, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 13 April – .Jesus should die … to gather into one the children of God..

Posted on April 13, 2019April 12, 2019 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 13 April – Saturday of the Fifth week of Lent, Year C – John 11:45–56

“…Jesus should die for the nation and not for the nation only
but to gather into one the children of God…”…John 11:51-52

REFLECTION – “Saint Paul states that “in these, the last days, God has spoken to us in his Son, whom He has established heir of all things.” (Heb 1:2) Now, doesn’t this sentence mean that the Father considered every person to form a part of Christ’s inheritance? It matches the prophecy of David: “Ask and I shall give you the nations as your heritage, that you may have dominion to the ends of the earth.” (Ps 2:8)
Our Lord Himself declares: “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to myself.” (Jn 12:32) Does it not appear that the salvation of every person is promised? Elsewhere we find a prophecy about the Church – “Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be laid low, the rugged places shall become a plain and the highland a broad valley.” (Is 40,4). Does it seem as though anyone has been forgotten or has not been chosen here as one of Christ’s subjects? And what should we think when we read: “All flesh shall come and bow low before me; they will worship me in Jerusalem, says the Lord” (cf. Is 66:23)…
And so the term “people of God” is to be understood in all its fullness. No matter if the majority of people refuse or neglect the Saviour’s grace, it is the whole that is indicated by the words “elect” and “predestined”… The apostle Paul also says: “We proclaim a crucified Jesus Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and folly for pagans… but the power and wisdom of God.” (1Cor 1:23-24) Would Christ be “the power and wisdom of God” in the eyes of the same people for whom he is “a stumbling block” and “folly”? In fact, since certain people are saved because of their faith while others are hardened in their unbelief, the apostle included both faithful and unfaithful under the general term of “chosen”. Thus he showed that those whom he counted as pagans had become strangers to God’s call even though they had heard the Gospel.”…St Prosper of Aquitaine (c 390-c 455)

PRAYER – Lord our God, at all times, You are working out the salvation of man but now, more especially, You enrich Your people with grace. Look kindly on this people, Lord our God and lead us to Yourself. Listen to the prayers of your angels and saints, who intercede on our behalf and may our Immaculate Mother, accompany us on our journey home. We make our prayer through our Saviour, Lord Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, God for all eternity, amen. immaculate mother pray for us 13 april 2019.jpg

LENT 2019, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN Saturdays, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS for SEASONS, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Our Morning Offering – 13 April – Mother of Sorrows, of Love, of Mercy

Posted on April 13, 2019April 12, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 13 April – Saturday of the Fifth week of Lent, Year C “Marian Saturdays”

Mother of Sorrows, of Love, of Mercy
By Fr Lawrence Lovasik SVD (1913-1986)

Mary, most holy Virgin and Queen of Martyrs,
accept the sincere homage of my childlike love.
Into your heart, pierced by so many sorrows,
welcome my poor soul.
Receive it as the companion of your sorrows
at the foot of the Cross, on which Jesus
died for the redemption of the world.
Sorrowful Virgin, with you,
I will gladly suffer all the trials,
misunderstandings and pains
which it shall please our Lord to send me.
I offer them all to you
in memory of your sorrows,
so that every thought of my mind
and every beat of my heart,
may be an act of compassion
and of love for you.
Loving Mother, have pity on me,
reconcile me to your Divine Son Jesus,
keep me in His grace and assist me
in my last agony,
so that I may be able to meet you in heaven
and sing your glories.
Mary, most sorrowful Mother of Christians,
pray for us.
Mother of love,
of sorrow
and of mercy, pray for us!
Amen. Amen. mother of sorrows of love of mercy by fr lawrence lovasik 13 april 2019 marian sats.jpg

SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 13 April – Blessed Scubilion Rousseau FSC (1797-1867) the “Catechist of Slaves”

Posted on April 13, 2019April 12, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 13 April – Blessed Scubilion Rousseau FSC (1797-1867) the “Catechist of Slaves” – a professed Religious Brother of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools or the De La Salle Brothers, Teacher, Catechist, social reformer, anti-slave activist, apostle of the poor. He assumed the religious name of “Scubilion” upon his profession and was dubbed the “Catechist of Slaves” due to his extensive decades-spanning work on Réunion Island. Patronage – Catechists, Teachers. 11.-Bx.-Scubilion-Rousseau

Jean-Bernard Rousseau was born in Yonne on 22 March 1797 as the eldest of four children to Bernard Rousseau and Regina Pelletier. His parents aided and hid priests during the French Revolution in which anti-religious sentiment was at an all-time high. He was baptised hours after his birth at the home of his grandparents and would receive both his First Communion and Confirmation around the age of ten in 1807.

Two parish priests oversaw his education. Blessed Scubilion decided to devote his life to serving others and so desired to become part of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools – or De La Salle Brothers – in an attempt to follow the example of Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle. He arrived in Paris on 9 November 1822 and commenced his novitiate with the De La Salle Brothers on 24 December 1822. He assumed the religious name of “Scubilion”.

de la salle paris - maxresdefault — De La Salle, Paris

On 4 November 1823 he was sent to Alençon and was put in charge of the De La Salle house’s kitchen and garden. His triennial vows were made on 15 September 1825. He made his perpetual vows on 27 September 1827 after a period of teaching and of studies. He obtained his teaching degree in 1826.

In April 1833 he accepted an invitation to go to Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean to teach and evangelise. He and two other companions, left on 20 April 1833 and arrived in Saint-Denis on 15 July 1833. In the period of 1833 to 1843 he began to teach the poor children and at this time became a vocal advocate of slaves. He also fought against the mistreatment and abuse that female slaves suffered. On 17 November 1843 he was sent to Saint-Leu and began teaching there while also preparing slaves for baptism and their First Communion. He arrived in Sainte-Marie on 14 December 1856 to continue his work. Rousseau made a brief visit to Madagascar in 1866 to open a school. He modified all his lessons to suit the natives and also started night classes. He collaborated in his initiatives with the local priests. img-Blessed-Scubilion-Rousseau

After the emancipation of the slaves in 1848, he continued to care for them and to help them adapt to their new life of freedom and responsibility. In the last years of his life, despite failing health, he assisted the local pastor in visiting the sick, winning over sinners, encouraging vocations and even effecting what seemed to be miraculous cures.

He died on 13 April 1867 after a long illness in Sainte-Marie and his funeral was celebrated on 14 April in which hundreds of people attended to mourn him. At his death he was venerated everywhere on the island as a saint. He was buried in Sainte-Marie but his remains were transferred in 1939 to the house of the De La Salle Brothers in Saint-Denis.

St Pope John Paul II approved a miracle due to the intercession of Blessed Scubilion in 1987 and beatified Rousseau on the occasion of his visit to the island of Réunion on 2 May 1989.

DOMINICAN OP, SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 13 April

Posted on April 13, 2019April 12, 2019 by AnaStpaul

St Pope Martin I (598-655) Martyr (Optional Memorial)
Biography: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/04/13/saint-of-the-day-13-april-st-pope-martin-i/

St Agathonica of Pergamus
St Agathodorus of Pergamus
St Caradoc of Wales
St Carpus of Pergamus
Bl Edward Catherick
Bl Francis Dickenson
St Guinoc
St Hermengild
St Ida of Boulogne
Bl Ida of Louvain
Bl Isabel Calduch Rovira
Bl James of Certaldo
Bl John Lockwood
Bl Margaret of Castello OP (1287-1320)
About Blessed Margaret: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/13/saint-of-the-day-13-april-blessed-margaret-of-castello-o-p-1287-1320/

St Martius of Auvergne
Bl Miles Gerard
St Papylus of Pergamus
St Proculus of Terni
St Sabas Reyes Salazar
Bl Scubilion Rousseau FSC (1797-1867)

St Ursus of Ravenna
—
Martyrs of Dorostorum – 3 saints: A lector and two students martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian – Dadas, Maximus and Quinctillianus. Beheaded c303 in Dorostorum, Lower Mysia (modern Sillistria, Bulgaria.

CARMELITES, GOD the FATHER, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

Thought for the Day – 12 April – The “Flower of the Andes”

Posted on April 12, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 12 April – Friday of the Fifth Week, Year C and the Memorial of Saint Teresa de Jesús “de los Andes” OCD (1900-1920)

One needn’t live a long life to leave a deep imprint. Teresa of Los Andes is proof of that.

As a young girl growing up in the early 1900’s in Santiago, Chile, Juana Fernandez read an autobiography of a French-born saint—Thérèse, popularly known as the Little Flower. The experience deepened her desire to serve God and clarified the path she would follow. She became a Carmelite nun, taking the name of Teresa.

The convent offered the simple lifestyle Teresa desired and the joy of living in a community of women completely devoted to God . She focused her days on prayer and sacrifice. “I am God’s,” she wrote in her diary. “He created me and is my beginning and my end.”

Toward the end of her short life, Teresa began an apostolate of letter-writing, sharing her thoughts on the spiritual life with many people. At age 20, she contracted typhus and quickly took her final vows. She died a short time later, during Holy Week.

Known as the “Flower of the Andes,” Teresa remains popular with the estimated 100,000 pilgrims who visit her shrine in Los Andes each year. Canonised in 1993 by St Pope John Paul II, she is Chile’s first saint.

The special graces given Saint Teresa reflect the mysterious wisdom of God at work in individuals whether young or old. It appears, God has His own logic when it comes to who gets what in the realm of grace. All we can say is, “Praised be the Lord.”

St Teresa de Jesús “de los Andes” Pray for Us!

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The STATIONS of the CROSS

The Stations of the Cross – 12 April – The Second Station

Posted on April 12, 2019April 12, 2019 by AnaStpaul

The Stations of the Cross – 12 April – Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent, Year C

Meditations on the Stations of the Cross
By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Begin with an Act of Contrition, this one by St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787).

V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam Crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
V. We adore You, O Christ and we bless You.
R. Because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world.

The Second Station
Jesus receives His Cross

A STRONG, and therefore heavy Cross, for it is strong enough to bear Him on it, when He arrives at Calvary, is placed upon His torn shoulders. He receives it gently and meekly, nay, with gladness of heart, for it is to be the salvation of mankind.

True – but recollect, that heavy Cross is the weight of our sins. As it fell upon His neck and shoulders, it came down with a shock. Alas! what a sudden, heavy weight have I laid upon Thee, O Jesus. And, though in the calm and clear foresight of Your mind—for You see all things—You were fully prepared for it, yet Your feeble frame tottered under it when it dropped down upon You. Ah! how great a misery is it that I have lifted up my hand against my God. How could I ever fancy He would forgive me! unless He had Himself told us, that He underwent His bitter passion, in order that He might forgive us. I acknowledge, O Jesus, in the anguish and agony of my heart, that my sins it was that struck You on the face, that bruised Your sacred arms, that tore Your flesh with iron rods, that nailed You to the Cross and let You slowly die upon it. the second station jesus receives his cros - 12 april 2019 bl john henry newman.jpg

V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be i love you lod jesus - st alphonsus 11 april 2019

EUCHARISTIC Adoration, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Quote of the Day – 12 April – He leaves His angels

Posted on April 12, 2019April 12, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 12 April – Friday of the Fifth Week, Year C and the Memorial of Saint Teresa de Jesús “de los Andes” OCD (1900-1920)

“How I would have loved, mother dear, to be by your side to console and weep with you. But our souls met by the tabernacle. He leaves His angels and millions of people, to come into your soul, to consummate in you the most intimate union, to transform you into God, to nourish in you the life of grace with which you will attain heaven.” … from the letters of Saint Terese de los Andes

St Teresa de Jesús “de los Andes” (1900-1920)

FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, POETRY, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, The PASSION, The WORD

Lenten Reflection – 12 April

Posted on April 12, 2019April 12, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Reflection – 12 April – Friday of the Fifth Week, Year C

The Readings:
Jeremiah 20:10-13; Psalms 18:2-3A, 3BC-4, 5-6, 7; John 10:31-42

Again they tried to arrest him
but he escaped from their hands...John 10:39 fridayofthefifthweeklent john 10 39 again they tried to arrest him 12 april 2019.jpg

Odes of Solomon
(Hebrew Christian text from
the beginning of the 2nd century)
No. 28

As the wings of doves over their nestlings…
So also are the wings of the Spirit over my heart.
My heart continually refreshes itself and leaps for joy
Like the babe who leaps for joy in his mother’s womb.

I trusted, consequently I was at rest;
because trustful is he in whom I trusted.
He has greatly blessed me, and my head is with him.
And the dagger shall not divide me from him,
nor the sword .

Because I am ready before destruction comes,
and have been placed in his incorruptible arms.
And immortal life embraced me and kissed me.
And from that (life) is the Spirit which is within me.
And it cannot die because it is life.

[Christ speaks:]
Those who saw me were amazed,
because I was persecuted.
And they thought that I had been swallowed up,
because I appeared to them as one of the lost.
But my defamation became my salvation.

And I became their abomination,
because there was no jealousy in me.
Because I continually did good to every man
I was hated.
And they surrounded me like mad dogs (Ps 22[21]:17)
those who in stupidity attack their masters.
Because their mind is depraved and their sense is perverted.

But I was carrying water in my right hand,
and their bitterness I endured by my sweetness.
And I did not perish, because I was not their brother,
nor was my birth like theirs.
And they sought my death but were unsuccessful
because I was older than their memory.

And in vain did they cast their lots against me.
And those who were after me
Sought in vain to destroy the memorial of him
Who was before them.
Because the mind of the Most High cannot be surpassed
And his heart is superior to all wisdom.
Hallelujah! and I became their abomination - odes of solomon - fridayfifthweeklent 12 april 2019.jpg

Daily Meditation:
Set us free.
On this Friday before Good Friday,
it might be most appropriate to make the Stations.
Our desire is becoming more focused and more intense.
After our weeks of reflection, we know that our selfishness has placed us in ruts,
has made us slaves to some very unhappy and sometimes death-dealing patterns.
The celebration of our freedom and healing is close at hand.

Jesus carried our sins in his own body on the cross
so that we could die to sin and live in holiness;
by his wounds we have been healed.
The Communion Antiphon – 1 Peter 2:24

Closing Prayer:
Most forgiving Lord,
again and again You welcome me back into Your loving arms.
Grant me freedom from the heavy burdens of sin
that weigh me down
and keep me so far from You.

May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.

LENT 2019, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on LOVE, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 12 April – Kill the messenger

Posted on April 12, 2019April 12, 2019 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 12 April – Friday of the Fifth Week, Year C, Gospel: John 10:31–42

Again they tried to arrest him but he escaped from their hands…John 10:39

REFLECTION – “As we approach Holy Week, we are confronted with one of the most paradoxical mysteries of our faith – Why do we reject the love of Jesus Christ in our lives? The daily Gospels have been slowly building to a crescendo through growing hatred of Jesus. In the face of that hatred, Jesus continues to present them with the truth that He is the Son of God. As He asks people to look to His teachings and works as proof that He is God’s Son, the teachings and works are completely overlooked and one message is clearly emerging – Kill the messenger. Jesus’s offer of recognising Him in the world, is an offer, that is relevant and available today. The “good works” He inaugurated are on view, whenever one goes beyond oneself and reaches out in love and compassion. They are continued, when one speaks an enhancing word or performs a loving action. These are visible in selfless service and forgiveness,. They are visible when love is made real.”…Fr Errol Fernandes SJ

PRAYER – Holy Father, our Father, help us to lay down the stones of hate and embrace Your Son who stands before us in need. Teach us to see His Face in those who cry out to us. Teach us compassion and love. Listen to the prayers of St Teresa de los Andes, she who in her short life proved the immense power of divine love extended to all. Mary, your Immaculate Heart is our school. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen.

immaculate heart of mary - pray for us st teresa de jesus de los andes 12 april 2019 pray for us

LENT 2019, Our MORNING Offering, POETRY, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE

Our Morning Offering – 12 April – Love

Posted on April 12, 2019April 12, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 12 April – Friday of the Fifth Week, Year C

Love
By George Herbert (1593 – 1633)

Love bade me welcome
yet my soul drew back,
guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lacked anything.
“A guest,” I answered, “worthy to be here”
Love said, “You shall be he.”
“I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on thee.”
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
“Who made the eyes but I?”
“Truth, Lord but I have marred them, let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.”
“And know you not,” says Love, “who bore the blame?”
“My dear, then I will serve.”
“You must sit down,” says Love “and taste my meat.”
So I did sit and eat.

Amen amen LOVE BY george herbert 12 april 2019 -poem prayer.jpg

CARMELITES, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 12 April – Saint Teresa de Jesús “de los Andes” OCD (1900-1920)

Posted on April 12, 2019April 11, 2022 by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 12 April – Saint Teresa de Jesús “de los Andes” OCD (1900-1920) aged 19 – Virgin, Carmelite Nun, Mystic, apostle of prayer. Born on 13 July 1900 at Santiago, Chile and died on 12 April 1920 at the Carmelite convent at Los Andes, Chile of typhus. Patronages – Against disease, against illness, Ill people, Young people, Santiago, Los Andes.

The young woman who is today glorified by the Church with the title of Saint, is a prophet of God for the men and women of today . By the example of her life, TERESA OF JESUS OF LOS ANDES shows us Christ’s Gospel lived down to the last detail. st teresa de los andes 4.jpg

She is irrefutable proof that Christ’s call to be Saints is indeed real, it happens in our time and can be answered. She is presented to us to demonstrate that the total dedication that following Christ involves, is the one and only thing that is worth this effort and that gives us true happiness. Teresa of Los Andes with the language of her ardent life, confirms for us, that God exists, that God is love and happiness and that He is our fulfilment.

She was born in Santiago de Chile on 13 July 1900. At the font she was christened Juana Enriqueta Josefina of the Sacred Hearts Fernandez Solar. Those who knew her closely called her Juanita, the name by which she is widely known today.

She had a normal upbringing surrounded by her family, her parents Miguel Fernandez and Lucia Solar, three brothers and two sisters, her maternal grandfather, uncles, aunts and cousins. Her family were well-off and were faithful to their Christian faith, living it with faith and constancy.

Juana was educated in the college of the French nuns of the Sacred Heart. Her brief but intense life unfolded within her family and at college. When she was fourteen, under God’s inspiration, she decided to consecrate herself to him as a religious in the Discalced Carmelite Nuns. This desire of hers was realised on 7 May 1919, when she entered the tiny monastery of the Holy Spirit in the township of Los Andes, some 90 kilometers from Santiago. She was clothed with the Carmelite habit on 14 October the same year and began her novitiate with the name of Teresa of Jesus. She knew a long time before, that she would die young. Moreover the Lord revealed this to her. A month before she was to depart this life, she related this to her confessor. She accepted all this with happiness, serenity and confidence. She was certain that her mission to make God known and loved would continue in eternity.

After many interior trials and indescribable physical suffering caused by a violent attack of typhus that cut short her life, she passed from this world to her heavenly Father on the evening of 12 April 1920. She received the last sacraments with the utmost fervour and on 7 April, because of danger of death, she made her religious profession. She was three months short of her 20th birthday and had yet 6 months to complete her canonical novitiate and to be legally able to make her religious profession. She died as a Discalced Carmelite novice.

Externally this is all there is to this young girl from Santiago de Chile. It is all rather disconcerting and a great question arises in us, “What was accomplished?” The answer to such a question is equally disconcerting: living, believing, loving.

When the disciples asked Jesus what they must do to carry out God’s work, he replied, “This is carrying out God’s work – you must believe in the one he has sent.” (Jn 6, 28-29). For this reason, in order to recognise the value of Juanita’s life, it is necessary to examine the substance within, where the Kingdom of God is to be found.

She wakened to the life of grace while still quite young. She affirms that God drew her at the age of six to begin to spare no effort in directing her capacity to love totally towards Him. “It was shortly after the 1906 earthquake that Jesus began to claim my heart for himself.” (Diary n. 3, p. 26).

Juanita possessed an enormous capacity to love and to be loved joined with an extraordinary intelligence. God allowed her to experience His presence. With this knowledge He purified her and made her His own, through what it entails to take up the cross. Knowing Him, she loved Him and loving Him, she bound herself totally to Him.

Once this child understood, that love demonstrates itself in deeds rather than words, the result was that she expressed her love through every action of her life. She examined herself sincerely and wisely and understood that in order to belong to God it was necessary to die to herself, in al,l that did not belong to Him. Her natural inclinations were completely contrary to the demands of the Gospel. She was proud, self-centred, stubborn, with all the defects that these things suppose, as is the common lot. But where she differed from the general run, was to carry out continual warfare on every impulse that did not arise from love.

At the age of ten she became a new person. What lay immediately behind this was the fact that she was going to make her first Communion. st teresa --first-holy-communion-santa-teresa.jpg Understanding that nobody less that God was going to dwell within her, she set about acquiring all the virtues that would make her less unworthy of this grace. In the shortest possible time she managed to transform her character completely. In making her first Communion she received from God the mystical grace of interior locutions, which from then on supported her throughout her fife. God took over her natural inclinations, transforming them from that day into friendship and a life of prayer.

Four years later she received an interior revelation that shaped the direction of her life. Jesus told her that she would be a Carmelite and that holiness must be her goal.

With God’s abundant grace and the generosity of a young girl in love, she gave herself over to prayer, to the acquiring of virtue and the practice of a life in accord with the Gospel. Such were her efforts that in a few short years she reached a high degree of union with God.

Christ was the one and only ideal she had. She was in love with Him and ready each moment to crucify herself for Him. A bridal love pervaded her with the result that she desired to unite herself fully to Him who had captivated her. As a result, at the age of fifteen she made a vow of virginity for 9 days, continually renewing it from then on. St.-TeresaAndes.gif

The holiness of her life shone out in the everyday occurrences, wherever she found herself – at home, in college, with friends, the people she stayed with on holidays. To all, with apostolic zeal, she spoke of God and gave assistance. She was young like her friends but they knew she was different. They took her as a model, seeking her support and advice. All the pains that are part of living, Juanita felt keenly and the happiness she enjoyed deeply, all in God. She was cheerful, happy, sympathetic, attractive, communicative and involved in sport. During her adolescence she reached perfect psychic and spiritual equilibrium. These were the fruit of her asceticism and prayer. The serenity of her face was a reflection of the divine guest within. Her life as a nun, from 7 May 1919, was the last rung on the ladder to holiness. Only eleven months were necessary to bring to an end the process of making her life totally Christ-like. st 19930321_teresa_de_jesus de los andes.jpg

Her community was quick to discover the hand of God in her past life. The young novice found in the Carmelite way of life the full and efficient channel for spreading the torrent of life that she wanted to give to the Church of Christ. It was a way of life that, in her own way, she had lived amongst her own and for which she was born. The Order of the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel fulfilled the desires of Juanita. It was proof to her, that God’s mother, whom she had loved from infancy, had drawn her to be part of it.

She was beatified by St Pope John Paul II in Santiago de Chile on 3 April 1987. Her remains are venerated in the Sanctuary of Auco-Rinconada of Los Andes by the thousands of pilgrims who seek in her and find guidance, light and a direct way to God.

SAINT TERESA OF JESUS OF LOS ANDES is the first Chilean to be declared a Saint. She is the first Discalced Carmelite Nun to become a Saint outside the boundaries of Europe and the fourth Saint Teresa in Carmel together with Saints Teresa of Avila, of Florence and of Lisieux….Vatican.va She was Canonised on 21 March 1993, Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City by St Pope John Paul II. st teresa de los andes 5.jpg

SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 12 April

Posted on April 12, 2019April 11, 2019 by AnaStpaul

St Acutina
St Alferius of La Cava
Bl Andrew of Montereale
Bl Angelo Carletti di Chivasso OFM (1411-1495)

Blessed Angelo’s Biography: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/04/12/saint-of-the-day-12-apil-blessed-angelo-carletti-di-chivasso/

St Artemón of Caesarea

St Basil of Parion
St Constantine of Gap
St Damian of Pavia
St David Uribe Velasco
St Erkemboden of Thérouanne
St Florentin of Arles
St Pope Julius I
St Lorenzo of Belem
St Peter of Montepiano
St Sabas the Lector
St Teresa de Jesús “de los Andes” OCD (1900-1920)
St Tetricus of Auxerre
St Victor of Braga
St Vissia of Fermo
St Wigbert
St Zeno of Verona (c 300 – 371)
About St Zeno: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/12/saint-of-the-day-12-april-st-zeno-of-verona-c-300-371/

LENT 2019, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The STATIONS of the CROSS

The Stations of the Cross – 11 April – The First Station – By Blessed John Henry Newman

Posted on April 11, 2019 by AnaStpaul

The Stations of the Cross – 11 April – Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent, Year C

Each year I post the Stations from a different source, today we begin one of two Station Meditations, composed by Blessed John Henry.

Meditations on the Stations of the Cross
By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Begin with an Act of Contrition, this one by St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)

V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.
R. Quia per sanctam Crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
V. We adore You, O Christ and we bless You.
R. Because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world.

The First Station
Jesus Is Condemned to Death

LEAVING the House of Caiphas and dragged before Pilate and Herod, mocked, beaten, and spit upon, His back torn with scourges, His head crowned with thorns, Jesus, who on the last day will judge the world, is Himself condemned by unjust judges to a death of ignominy and torture.

Jesus is condemned to death. His death-warrant is signed and who signed it but I, when I committed my first mortal sins? My first mortal sins, when I fell away from the state of grace into which You did place me by baptism; these it was that were Your death-warrant, O Lord. The Innocent suffered for the guilty. Those sins of mine were the voices which cried out, “Let Him be crucified.” That willingness and delight of heart with which I committed them was the consent which Pilate gave to this clamorous multitude. And the hardness of heart which followed upon them, my disgust, my despair, my proud impatience, my obstinate resolve to sin on, the love of sin which took possession of me—what were these contrary and impetuous feelings but the blows and the blasphemies with which the fierce soldiers and the populace received You, thus carrying out the sentence which Pilate had pronounced?

V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us. the first station - jesus is condemned to death - bl john henry newman - the death warrant is signed 11 april 2019

I love You,
Lord Jesus,
my love above all things,
I repent with my whole heart
for having offended You.
Never permit me to separate myself
from You again.
Grant that I may love always
and then do with me
what You will.
(St Alphonsus Liguori)

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be i love you lod jesus - st alphonsus 11 april 2019.jpg

LENT 2019, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The WORD

Lenten Reflection – 11 April – Where is your sin?

Posted on April 11, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Reflection – 11 April – Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent, Year C

The Readings:
Genesis 17: 3-9; Psalms 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9; John 8:51-59

“Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, he will never see death.”...John 8:51 john 8 51 - thursday of the fifth week lent 11 april 2019.jpg

Pope Francis

8 April 2014

“…The heart of God’s salvation is His Son who took upon Himself our sins, our pride, our self reliance, our vanity, our desire to be like God. A Christian who is not able to glory in Christ Crucified has not understood what it means to be Christian. Our wounds, those which sin leaves in us, are healed only through the Lord’s wounds, through the wounds of God made man who humbled Himself, who emptied Himself. This is the mystery of the Cross. It is not only an ornament that we always put in churches, on the altar, it is not only a symbol, that should distinguish us from others. The Cross is a mystery, the mystery of the love of God who humbles Himself, who empties Himself to save us from our sins.

Where is your sin? Your sin is there on the Cross. Go and look for it there, in the wounds of the Lord and your sins shall be healed, your wounds shall be healed, your sins shall be forgiven. God’s forgiveness is not a matter of cancelling a debt we have with Him. God forgives us in the wounds of His Son lifted up on the Cross. May the Lord might draw us to Himself and that we might allow ourselves to be healed”. where is your sin - pope francis - 11 april 2019.jpg

Daily Meditation:
Come to us, free us, help us and guide us.
We pray more intensely now, just a week before Holy Thursday.
We desire more and more that we might be free.
Sorrow leads to profound gratitude,
when we experience the depth of unconditional love offered us.
The gratitude of a loved sinner leads to great generosity.

Christ is the mediator of a new covenant so that since he has died,
those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance promised to them.
The Entrance Antiphon – Hebrews 9:15

Closing Prayer:
Lord,
all I want is to be faithful to You in my life,
but so often I fail.
Free me from my many sins
and guide me to the life I will share with You.
I wait for Your promise to be fulfilled
with great hope in my heart
and Your praise on my lips.

May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.

LENT 2019, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on SUFFERING, SAINT of the DAY, The PASSION

Quote of the Day – 11 April – “Make me feel Your passion…”

Posted on April 11, 2019April 11, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 11 April – Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent, Year C and the Memorial of St Gemma Galgani (1878–1903) “Daughter of the Passion”

Do grant, oh my God,
that when my lips
approach Yours to kiss You,
I may taste the gall that was given to You;
when my shoulders lean against Yours,
make me feel Your scourging;
when my flesh is united with Yours,
in the Holy Eucharist,
make me feel Your passion;
when my head comes near Yours,
make me feel Your thorns;
when my heart is close to Yours,
make me feel Your spear.

St Gemma Galgani

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 11 April – So they took up stones

Posted on April 11, 2019April 10, 2019 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 11 April – Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent, Year C, Gospel: John 8:51–59

“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am. ” So they took up stones to throw at him but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple…John 8:58-59

REFLECTION – “The angry Jews replied, “Thou art not yet fifty years old and hast thou seen Abraham?” And the Lord: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was made, I am.” Weigh the words and get a knowledge of the mystery. “Before Abraham was made.” Understand, that “was made” refers to human formation but “am” to the Divine essence. “He was made,” because Abraham was a Creature. He did not say, Before Abraham was, I was but, “Before Abraham was made,” who was not made save by me, “I am.” Nor did He say this, Before Abraham was made I was made, for “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth;” and “in the beginning was the Word.” “Before Abraham was made, I am.” Recognise the Creator-distinguish the creature. He who spoke was made the seed of Abraham and that Abraham might be made, He Himself was before Abraham.
Hence, as if by the most open of all insults thrown at Abraham, they were now excited to greater bitterness. Of a certainty it seemed to them, that Christ the Lord had uttered blasphemy in saying, “Before Abraham was made, I am.” “Therefore took they up stones to cast at Him.” To what could so great hardness have recourse, save to its like? “But Jesus” [acts] as man, as one in the form of a servant, as lowly, as about to suffer, about to die, about to redeem us with His blood, not as He who is-not as the Word in the beginning and the Word with God. For when they took up stones to cast at Him, what great thing were it had they been instantly swallowed up in the gaping earth and found the inhabitants of hell in place of stones? It were not a great thing to God but better was it that patience should be commended than power exerted. Therefore “He hid Himself” from them, that He might not be stoned. As man, He fled from the stones but woe to those from whose stony hearts God has fled?”…St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor

PRAYER – Lord God, break the bonds of our sin which our weakness have forged to enchain us and in Your loving mercy, forgive Your people’s guilt. Never flee from us in our weakness O Lord and grant us Your salvation. Help us Holy Mother to be the imitators of your Son. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God for all time and eternity, amen. help us holy mother ora pro nobis pray for us 11 april 2019.jpg

Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 11 April – Rabboni!

Posted on April 11, 2019April 10, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 11 April – Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent, Year C

RABBONI!
By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Let me ever hold communion with You,
my hidden but living God.
You are my innermost heart.
You are the life of my life.
Every breath I breathe,
every thought of my mind,
every good desire of my heart,
is from the presence
within me of the unseen God.
…I see You, not in the material world
except dimly
but I recognise Your voice
in my intimate consciousness.
I turn around
and say
Rabboni!
O be ever thus with me
and if I am tempted to leave You,
do not You,
O my God,
leave me.
Amen RABBONI - by bl john henry newman - 11 april 2019.jpg

INCORRUPTIBLES, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 11 April – St Guthlac (674–715)

Posted on April 11, 2019April 9, 2023 by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 11 April – St Guthlac (674–715) Monk, Hermit, Ascetic. St Guthlac was from Lincolnshire in England. He is particularly venerated in the Fens of eastern England where many Churches are dedicated to him. His sister is venerated as Saint Pega, an anchoress. His body was incorrupt until its destruction in the 16th century by the dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII.

St Guthlac was a saint from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia. He was a warrior in the Mercian border lands who, after nine years of fighting, had a religious conversion and became a hermit in Crowland, in Lincolnshire, where he lived in solitude on an island in the middle of a marsh.

Felix, his biographer, tells us that Guthlac was born roughly one year later than Bede, around 674 and died in 715. He came from a tribe named the Guthlacingas. Having given up his life as a soldier, he became a monk at the abbey of Repton at the age of 24, under the Abbess. (Repton was a double monastery.) Feeling that he needed isolation in order to better contemplate God, Guthlac retreated to the Fens and took up residence in an ancient burial mound which had been partially excavated by treasure hunters. 434px-Vita-Guthlaci-Parker-Library-Corpus-Christi-Cambridge.png

Guthlac built a small oratory and cells in the side of a plundered barrow on the island, and he lived there until his death on 11 April in 715. Felix, writing within living memory of Guthlac, described his hermit’s life:

“Now there was in the said island a mound built of clods of earth which greedy comers to the waste had dug open, in the hope of finding treasure there, in the side of this there seemed to be a sort of cistern and in this Guthlac, the man of blessed memory, began to dwell, after building a hut over it. From the time when he first inhabited this hermitage this was his unalterable rule of life, namely, to wear neither wool nor linen garments nor any other sort of soft material but he spent the whole of his solitary life wearing garments made of skins. So great indeed was the abstinence of his daily life, that from the time when he began to inhabit the desert, he ate no food of any kind except that after sunset he took a scrap of barley bread and a small cup of muddy water. For when the sun reached its western limits, then he thankfully tasted some little provision, for the needs of this mortal life.”

His pious and holy ascetic life became the talk of the land and many people visited Guthlac, to seek spiritual guidance from him. He gave sanctuary to Æthelbald, future king of Mercia, who was fleeing from his cousin Ceolred. Guthlac predicted that Æthelbald would become king and Æthelbald promised to build him an abbey if his prophecy became true. Æthelbald did become king and, even though Guthlac had died two years previously, kept his word and started construction of Crowland Abbey on St Bartholomew’s Day 716.

Croyland_Abbey,_St_Mary,_St_Bartholomew_and_St_Guthlac,_Crowland_-_geograph.org.uk_-_430308 — Crowland Abbey

crowland abbey — Quatrefoil in the Crowland Abbey depicting scenes of St. Guthlac’s life

Felix’s text was written in around 740 and vividly describes the horrible attacks St Guthlac suffered by demons, who violently tormented him. is full of exciting battles with demons which are vividly described.

St_Guthlac_Parish_Church_of_Crowland — This statue of St Guthlac is in a Church in Paris dedicated to him.

He also records Guthlac’s foreknowledge of his own death, conversing with angels in his last days. At the moment of death a sweet nectar-like odour emanated from his mouth, as his soul departed from his body in a beam of light while the angels sang. Guthlac had requested a lead coffin and linen winding sheet from Ecgburh, Abbess of Repton Abbey, so that his funeral rites could be performed by his sister St Pega. Arriving the day after his death, she found the island of Crowland filled with the scent of ambrosia. She buried the body on the mound after three days of prayer. A year later Pega had a divine calling to move the tomb and relics to a nearby chapel – Guthlac’s body was discovered incorrupt, his shroud shining with light. Subsequently Guthlac appeared in a miraculous vision to Æthelbald.

The cult of Guthlac continued amongst a monastic community at Crowland, with the eventual foundation of Crowland Abbey as a Benedictine Order in 971. Because of a series of fires at the abbey, few records survive. It is known that in 1136 the remains of Guthlac were moved once more and that finally in 1196 his shrine was placed above the main altar. Guthlac

SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 11 April

Posted on April 11, 2019April 10, 2019 by AnaStpaul

St Stanislaus (1030-1079) Bishop and Martyr (Memorial)
St Stanislaus life: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/04/11/saint-of-the-day-11-april-st-stanislaus/

St Agericus of Tours
St Aid of Achard-Finglas
Bl Angelo Carletti di Chivasso
St Antipas of Pergamon
St Barsanuphius of Gaza
St Domnio of Salona
Bl Elena Guerra
St Eustorgius of Nicomedia
St Gemma Galgani (1878-1903)
St Gemma: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/11/saint-of-the-day-11-april-st-gemma-galgani-1878-1903/

Bl George Gervase
St Godeberta of Noyon
St Guthlac of Crowland (674–715)
St Hildebrand of Saint-Gilles
St Isaac of Monteluco
Bl James of Africa
Bl John of Cupramontana
Bl Lanunio
St Machai
St Maedhog of Clonmore
Bl Mechthild of Lappion
Bl Paul of Africa
St Philip of Gortyna
St Raynerius Inclusus
St Sancha of Portugal
St Stephen of Saint-Gilles
Bl Symforian Ducki

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on PRAYER

Jesus Christ Prays For Us and In Us and IS the Object of Our Prayers – St Augustine

Posted on April 10, 2019April 10, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Thoughts – 10 April – Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent, Year C

Jesus Christ Prays For Us and In Us and IS the Object of Our Prayers

Saint Augustine (354-430)
Bishop and Great Western Father of the Church

An excerpt from his Commentary on the Psalms (Psalm 85)

God could give no greater gift to men than to make His Word, through whom He created all things, their head and to join them to Him as His members, so that the Word might be both Son of God and son of man, one God with the Father and one man with all men. The result is that when we speak with God in prayer we do not separate the Son from Him and when the body of the Son prays, it does not separate its head from itself, it is the one Saviour of His body, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who prays for us and in us and is Himself the object of our prayers.

He prays for us as our priest, He prays in us as our head, He is the object of our prayers as our God.

Let us then recognise both our voice in His and His voice in ours. When something is said, especially in prophecy, about the Lord Jesus Christ that seems to belong to a condition of lowliness unworthy of God, we must not hesitate to ascribe this condition to one who did not hesitate to unite Himself with us. Every creature is His servant, for it was through Him that every creature came to be.

We contemplate His glory and divinity when we listen to these words: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made. Here we gaze on the divinity of the Son of God, something supremely great and surpassing all the greatness of His creatures. Yet in other parts of Scripture we hear Him as one sighing, praying, giving praise and thanks.

We hesitate to attribute these words to Him because our minds are slow to come down to His humble level when we have just been contemplating Him in His divinity. It is as though we were doing Him an injustice, in acknowledging in a man the words of one, with whom we spoke, when we prayed to God; we are usually at a loss and try to change the meaning. Yet our minds find nothing in Scripture that does not go back to Him, nothing that will allow us to stray from Him.

Our thoughts must then be awakened to keep their vigil of faith. We must realise that the one whom we were contemplating, a short time before, in his nature as God took to Himself the nature of a servant, He was made in the likeness of men and found to be a man like others, He humbled Himself by being obedient even to accepting death, as He hung on the cross He made the psalmist’s words His own: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

We pray to Him as God, He prays for us as a servant. In the first case, He is the Creator, in the second a creature. Himself unchanged, He took to Himself our created nature in order to change it and made us one man, with Himself, head and body. We pray then to Him, through Him, in Him and we speak along with Him and He along with us. we pray then to him and in him and with him 10 april 2019 st augustine lenten thoughts.jpg

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on REPARATION/EXPIATION, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING

Quote of the Day – 10 April – “…though we may be punished”

Posted on April 10, 2019April 10, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 10 April – Wednesday of the Fifth week of Lent, Year C

“It is the greatest punishment to commit sin,
though we may remain unpunished –
it is the greatest honour and repose to live virtuously,
though we may be punished.”

St John Chrysostom (345-407)
Father & Doctor of the Church

(Homilies Concerning the Statues, 6)

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The LAST THINGS, The RESURRECTION

Lenten Reflection – 10 April – Do as Abraham did

Posted on April 10, 2019April 10, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Reflection – 10 April – Wednesday of the Fifth week of Lent, Year C

The Readings:
Deuteronomy 3:14-20, 91-92, 95; Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56; John 8:31-42

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do as Abraham did but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God, this is not what Abraham did....John 8:39-40 john 8 39-40 if you were abrahams children - wedfifthweeklent 10 april 2019.jpg

Do as Abraham did

St John Chrysostom (345-407)
Doctor of the Church

Looking wholly to God’s promise and setting aside all human ways of looking at things, knowing God to be capable of accomplishments beyond nature to achieve, Abraham put his trust in the words addressed to him, he let no shadow of doubt cross his mind and did not waver as to the meaning he should give God’s words. For, it is in the nature of faith to put its trust in the power of the one who promises… God had promised Abraham that a posterity without number would be born of him. This promise exceeded the possibilities of nature and all purely human forms of perception and that is why his faith towards God “was credited him as righteousness” (Gn 15:6; Gal 3:6).

Well then, if we are on the watch, yet more wonderful promises have been made to us and we will be satisfied to an even greater extent, than human thought can dream. And for this we have only to put our trust in the power of Him who has made these promises to us, so as to merit the righteousness, that comes from faith and obtain the promised reward. For all those good things we are hoping for, far exceed all human conception and thought, so exceedingly wonderful is what we have been promised!

Indeed, these promises do not concern only the present, the flourishing of our lives and the enjoyment of visible goods but they are even more, about the time, when we have left this earth, when our bodies have become subject to corruption, when our remains have been reduced to dust. God promises us, that He will then raise them up and establish them in glorious splendour, “for that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility,” Saint Paul assures us (1Cor 15:53). More than this, after the resurrection of our bodies, we have received the promise, of enjoying the Kingdom and of obtaining, throughout endless ages, in the company of the saints, those ineffable goods that “eye has not seen and ear has not heard nor has it not entered the human heart” (1Cor 2:9). Do you grasp the superabundance of the promises? Do you grasp the greatness of these gifts?

Daily Meditation:
Enlighten our minds and sanctify our hearts.
In our reflection, Jesus is about to face a fiery furnace,
which represents the full rejection of all our sins,
and the crushing defeat of death itself.
Praying the Stations again,
might help us grow in a sense that this is all “for me,” for my freedom.

We grow in a sense of repentance and deep sorrow.
We grow in a desire to celebrate
the glorious Light in the midst of all darkness.

Rid yourself of all your sins
and make a new heart and a new spirit.
Gospel antiphon, based upon Ezekiel 18:31

Closing Prayer:
Loving Creator,
I know in Your great love for me,
You see the deep sorrow in my heart.
Hear my prayers which are offered with such trust in You.

Be with me in both mind and heart
as I renew my life in Your spirit.

May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen

LENT 2019, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES on FREEDOM, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 10 April – “…The truth will make you free.”

Posted on April 10, 2019April 9, 2019 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 10 April – Wednesday of the Fifth week of Lent, Year C. Gospel John 8:31–42

“If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”...John 8:31-32

REFLECTION – “We learn that there is no opposition between serving God and being free. The more we act in accord with God’s law and will, the freer we become. “There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to the slavery of sin” (CCC, 1733). As children of God, we are moved to act righteously not by slavish fear but by the Holy Spirit in freedom and out of love.

Freedom is not an indifferent ability to sin or to do good. True freedom is a share in God’s freedom and is ordered to the good. The nearer we approach God through moral progress, the less we are inclined to sin and abuse our freedom. Knowledge of God (knowing the truth) and love for God (living according to the truth), make us truly free. On our own, we are powerless to break free from the devil and the bondage of sin. Christ alone can liberate us and make us sons of the Father. This is the great mystery we contemplate as we approach Holy Week.”…Fr Jason Mitchell

PRAYER – God of mercy, shed Your light on our hearts that are being purified by penance and in Your goodness, give us a favourable hearing. Teach us to work with You and for You and thus fill the world with Your Spirit. In Christ our Saviour, we become a new creation and all things are renewed. May the prayers of St Magdalena of Canossa, who gave herself completely to You, assist us to do the same. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen. st magdalena of canossa pray for us 10 april 2019

DOCTORS of the Church, HYMNS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS to the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 10 April – Jesus, the very thought of Thee!

Posted on April 10, 2019April 9, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 10 April – Wednesday of the Fifth week of Lent, Year C

Jesus, the very thought of Thee!
By St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
Mellifluous Doctor

Jesus, the very thought of Thee
With sweetness fills the breast!
Yet sweeter far Thy face to see
And in Thy presence rest.
No voice can sing, no heart can frame,
Nor can the memory find,
A sweeter sound than Jesus’ name,
The Saviour of mankind.
O hope of every contrite heart!
0 joy of all the meek!
To those who fall, how kind Thou art!
How good to those who seek!
But what to those who find? Ah! this
Nor tongue nor pen can show
The love of Jesus, what it is,
None but His loved ones know.
Jesus! our only hope be Thou,
As Thou our prize shall be;
In Thee be all our glory now,
And through eternity.
Amen jesus the very thought of thee - st bernard - 10 april 2019.jpg

	Santo Adelbertus dar… on Saint of the Day – 23 Ap…
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	Santo Anselmus dari… on Saint of the Day – 21 Ap…
	Beato James Duckett… on Saint of the Day – 19 Ap…

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Meditations on the Stations of the Cross By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

The Third Station Jesus falls the first time beneath the Cross

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Dom John Whiterig OSB (c 1320–1371) Hermit of Farne

Richard Rolle (1290-1349)

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St Teresa de Jesús “de los Andes” Pray for Us!

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Meditations on the Stations of the Cross By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

The Second Station Jesus receives His Cross

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St Teresa de Jesús “de los Andes” (1900-1920)

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Odes of Solomon (Hebrew Christian text from the beginning of the 2nd century) No. 28

Jesus carried our sins in his own body on the cross so that we could die to sin and live in holiness; by his wounds we have been healed. The Communion Antiphon – 1 Peter 2:24

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Each year I post the Stations from a different source, today we begin one of two Station Meditations, composed by Blessed John Henry. Meditations on the Stations of the Cross By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

The First Station Jesus Is Condemned to Death

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Pope Francis

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St Gemma Galgani

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Jesus Christ Prays For Us and In Us and IS the Object of Our Prayers

Saint Augustine (354-430) Bishop and Great Western Father of the Church

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St John Chrysostom (345-407) Father & Doctor of the Church

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Do as Abraham did

St John Chrysostom (345-407) Doctor of the Church

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Meditations on the Stations of the Cross
By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

The Third Station
Jesus falls the first time beneath the Cross

Dom John Whiterig OSB (c 1320–1371)
Hermit of Farne

Meditations on the Stations of the Cross
By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

The Second Station
Jesus receives His Cross

Odes of Solomon
(Hebrew Christian text from
the beginning of the 2nd century)
No. 28

Jesus carried our sins in his own body on the cross
so that we could die to sin and live in holiness;
by his wounds we have been healed.
The Communion Antiphon – 1 Peter 2:24

Each year I post the Stations from a different source, today we begin one of two Station Meditations, composed by Blessed John Henry.

Meditations on the Stations of the Cross
By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

The First Station
Jesus Is Condemned to Death

Saint Augustine (354-430)
Bishop and Great Western Father of the Church

St John Chrysostom (345-407)
Father & Doctor of the Church

St John Chrysostom (345-407)
Doctor of the Church