Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 10 April – Saint Magdalena of Canossa (1774-1835)

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Saint of the Day – 10 April – Saint Magdalena of Canossa (1774-1835) Virgin, Foundress of the Canossian Family of Daughters and Sons of Charity – additional Memorial 8 May (Canossians) – born on 1 March 1774 in Verona, Italy and died on 10 April 1835 in Verona, Italy of natural causes.   St Magdalena was Canonised on 2 October 1988 by St Pope John Paul II. Patronage – the Canonssian Family.

MAGDALENA OF CANOSSA, was a woman who believed in the love of the Lord Jesus and, sent by the Holy Spirit among those most in need, she served them with a Mother’s heart and an Apostle’s zeal.BL_maddalena_di_canossa

Born in Verona on 1 March 1774, of a noble and wealthy family, she was the third of six children.   By way of painful events such as her father’s death, her mother’s second marriage, illness, misunderstanding, the Lord guided her towards unforeseen paths on which Magdalene tentatively set out.

A CALL
Drawn by the love of God, at the age of seventeen she planned to consecrate her life to God and twice tried her vocation at a Carmel.   However, the Holy Spirit urged her to follow a new path – to allow herself to be loved by Jesus Crucified, to belong to Him alone, in order to dedicate herself exclusively to those in greatest need.
She returned to her family and, being compelled by sad events and the tragic political circumstances at the end of the 18th century, she nurtured her true vocation in the depth of her heart and went on with life at Canossa Palace, shouldering the burden of running her family’s large estate.

A GIFT
With complete dedication, Magdalene carried out her daily tasks and widened her circle of friends, while at the same time remaining open to the mysterious action of the Holy Spirit, who gradually moulded her heart and enabled her to share in the love of the Father for mankind, revealed by Jesus’ complete and supreme offering of Himself on the Cross and by the example of Mary, the Sorrowful Virgin Mother.bl magdalena of canossa.jpg

Moved by that love, Magdalene responded to the cry of the poor, hungry for food, instruction, understanding and the Word of God.   She discovered them in the suburbs of Verona, where the echoes of the French Revolution, the occupation by various foreign powers and the Verona uprising had left evident signs of devastation and human suffering.

A PROJECT
Magdalene sought and found her first companions called to follow Christ, poor, chaste, obedient and who were to be sent out as witnesses of His unconditional Love towards all people.   In 1808, Magdalene overcame her family’s opposition and left Canossa Palace once and for all, to begin in the poorest district of Verona what she knew in her heart to be the Will of God, to serve the neediest persons, with the heart of Christ.st magdalena of canossa.jpg

A PROPHECY
Charity is like a blazing fire!   Magdalene opened her heart to the Holy Spirit who guided her to the poor in other cities – Venice, Milan, Bergamo, Trent … In only a few decades the number of her houses increased, her religious family grew in the service of the Kingdom of God.   The Love of the Crucified and Risen Lord burnt in Magdalene’s heart who, together with her companions, became a witness of that same love in five specific areas –
Charity schools, providing an all-round formation geared to pupils status in life. Catechesis, given to all classes of people, with special attention to those most ignorant of the Faith.   Support given to women patients in hospital.   Residential seminars, to train young teachers for rural areas and valuable helpers for parish priests, in their pastoral activities.   Yearly courses of Spiritual Exercises for Ladies of the nobility, with the aim of deepening their spiritual life and involving them in various charitable works.

Later on, this last activity was offered to all those who had a desire for it.

Contemporary to Magdalene and her apostolic work, flourished other witnesses of Charity – Leopoldina Naudet, Antonio Rosmini, Antonio Provolo, Carlo Steeb, Gaspare Bertoni, Teodora Campostrini, T. Eustochio Verzeri, Elisabetta Renzi, Cavanis brothers, Pietro Leonardi, all of whom founded Religious Institutes and all of whom are now Saints or on the path to the heights of honour.st magdalena

A FAMILY
The Institute of the Daughters of Charity, between 1819 and 1820, received its ecclesiastical approval in the various dioceses where the communities were present.

His Holiness Pope Leo XII approved the Rule of the Institute with the Brief Si Nobis, of 23 December 1828.

Towards the end of her life, after unsuccessful attempts with A Rosmini and A Provolo, Magdalene was able to start the male branch of the Institute which she had planned to set up from the very beginning.   On 23 May 1831 in Venice, she began the first Oratory of the Sons of Charity for the Christian formation of boys and men.   She entrusted it to the Venetian priest Don Francesco Luzzo, helped by two laymen from Bergamo, Giuseppe Carsana and Benedetto Belloni.st magdalena maxresdefault.jpg

Magdalene’s active and fruitful life ended when she was 61 years of age.   She died in Verona surrounded by her Daughters on 10 April 1835.   It was the Friday of Passion Week.

A MISSION
Above all, make Jesus Christ known!   This heartfelt concern of Magdalene’s was the great inheritance that the Daughters and Sons of Charity are called to live, a life of complete availability to God and service towards others, willing to go to the most distant countries for the sake of this holy work. (MAGDALENE, Ep. II/I, p. 266).

The Daughters of Charity travelled for the Far East in 1860.   Today, there are about 4000 sisters throughout the world, grouped into 24 provinces.

The Sons of Charity number about 200.   They work in various cities in Italy, Latin America and the Philippines.

Canossian Religious, called to a missionary vocation, “ad gentes” “to nations”, make themselves receptive to those basic Christian values, “the seeds of the Word”, present in every culture while giving witness to and proclaiming, what the “have seen, heard, contemplated…” the Love of the Father who, in Christ, reaches out to every person so that they may have life.   Through this giving and receiving, the charism is enriched and bears fruit for God’s Kingdom.

The charism which the Holy Spirit brought to life in Magdalene did not exhaust itself in the vitality of the two Institutes.   Subsequently, various groups of lay people have found in Magdalene and in her ideals, their special way of living the faith, of witnessing charity, in all walks of Christian life.st magdalena statue

A SONG OF THANKSGIVING
The Church draws our attention, especially that of her Sons and Daughters, to Magdalene, a Witness of the constant and freely given love of God.

We give thanks to Him for the gift of this Mother and Sister of ours and through her intercession we ask that we may love Him, as she did, above all other things and make Him known, to our fellow men by living our specific vocation…Vatican.va

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 10 April

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Bl Antony Neyrot OP (1425-1460) Martyr
Biography:  https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/10/saint-of-the-day-10-april-blessed-antony-neyrot-o-p-1425-1460-martyr/

Bl Antonio Vallesio
St Apollonius of Alexandria
Bl Archangelus Piacentini
St Bademus
St Bede the Younger
St Beocca of Chertsey
Bl Boniface Zukowski
Bl Eberwin of Helfenstein
St Ethor of Chertsey
St Ezekiel the Prophet
St Fulbert of Chartres (c 960-1029) Bishop
About St Fulbert:  https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/04/10/saint-of-the-day-10-april-st-fulbert-of-chartres/

St Gajan
St Hedda of Peterborough
St Macarius of Antioch
St Magdalena of Canossa (1774-1835)

St Malchus of Waterford
Bl Marco Mattia
Bl Mark Fantucci
St Michael de Sanctis
St Palladius of Auxerre
St Paternus the Scot
—
Martyrs of Carthage – 50 saints: A group of 50 Christians who were imprisoned in a pen of snakes and scorpions, and then martyred, all during the persecutions of Decius. Only six of their names have come down to us – Africanus, Alessandro, Massimo, Pompeius, Terence and Teodoro. Beheaded in 250 at Carthage.

Martyrs of Georgia: Approximately 6,000 Christian monks and lay people martyred in Georgia in 1616 for their faith by a Muslim army led by Shah Abbas I of Persia.

Martyrs of Ostia: A group of criminals who were brought to the faith by Pope Saint Alexander I while he was in prison with them. Drowned by being taken off shore from Ostia, Italy, in a boat which was then scuttled, c 115.

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The RESURRECTION, The SIGN of the CROSS

The Cross of Christ is the source of all blessings, the cause of all graces – St Pope Leo the Great

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Lenten Thoughts – 9 April – Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent, Year C

The Cross of Christ

is the source of all blessings,

the cause of all graces

St Pope Leo the Great (c 400-461)
Bishop of Rome and Great Western Father & Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from his On the Lord’s Passion

Sermon 8

Our understanding, which is enlightened by the Spirit of truth, should receive with purity and freedom of heart the glory of the Cross as it shines in heaven and on earth.   It should see with inner vision the meaning of the Lord’s words when He spoke of the imminence of His passion – The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Afterwards, He said – Now my soul is troubled and what am I to say?   Father, save me from this hour.   But it was for this that I came to this hour.   Father, glorify your Son. When the voice of the Father came from heaven, saying, I have glorified him and will glorify him again, Jesus said in reply to those around him:  It was not for me that this voice spoke but for you.   Now is the judgement of the world, now will the prince of this world be cast out.   And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself.

How marvellous the power of the Cross, how great beyond all telling the glory of the passion, here is the judgement-seat of the Lord, the condemnation of the world, the supremacy of Christ crucified.

Lord, you drew all things to Yourself so that the devotion of all peoples everywhere might celebrate, in a sacrament made perfect and visible, what was carried out in the one temple of Judea under obscure foreshadowings.

Now there is a more distinguished order of Levites, a greater dignity for the rank of elders, a more sacred anointing for the priesthood, because Your Cross is the source of all blessings, the cause of all graces.   Through the Cross the faithful receive strength from weakness, glory from dishonour, life from death.

The different sacrifices of animals are no more – the one offering of Your body and blood is the fulfilment of all the different sacrificial offerings, for You are the true Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world.   In Yourself, You bring to perfection all mysteries, so that, as there is one sacrifice in place of all other sacrificial offerings, there is also one kingdom gathered from all peoples.

Dearly beloved, let us then acknowledge what Saint Paul, the teacher of the nations, acknowledged so exultantly.  This is a saying worthy of trust, worthy of complete acceptance – Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.   God’s compassion for us is all the more wonderful because Christ died, not for the righteous or the holy but for the wicked and the sinful and, though the divine nature could not be touched by the sting of death, He took to Himself, through His birth as one of us, something He could offer on our behalf.

The power of His death once confronted our death.   In the words of Hosea the prophet, Death, I shall be your death;  grave, I shall swallow you up.   By dying He submitted to the laws of the underworld, by rising again, He destroyed them.   He did away with the everlasting character of death, so as to make death a thing of time, not of eternity.   As all die in Adam, so all, will be brought to life in Christ.

Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever.
Amenhe did away with the everlasting character of deth - st pope leo the great 9 april 2019.jpg

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SPEAKING of ....., The HOLY CROSS, The SIGN of the CROSS

Quote/s of the Day – 9 April – “Speaking of the Cross of Christ”

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Quote/s of the Day – 9 April – Tuesday of the Fifth week of Lent

“Speaking of the Cross of Christ”

“Jesus never sinned, yet He was crucified for you.
Will you refuse to be crucified for Him, who for your sake was nailed to the cross?
You are not the one who gives the favour, you have received one first.
For your sake He was crucified on Golgotha.
Now you are returning His favour, you are fulfilling your debt to Him.”

St Cyril of Jerusalem (315-387)

Father & Doctor of the Churchjesus-never-sinned-yet-he-was-crucified-for-you-st-cyrilofjerusalem-7feb2019.jpg

“By Baptism we are made flesh of the Crucified.”

“The cross of Christ is the true ground
and chief cause of Christian hope.”

“Let no one be ashamed of the cross
by which Christ has redeemed the world.
None of us must be afraid to suffer
for the sake of justice or doubt the
fulfilment of the promises,
for it is through toil that we come to rest
and through death that we pass to life.”

St Pope Leo the Great (c 400-461) Doctor of the Churchby-baptism-st-leo-the-great-quotes-on-the-cross-10-nov-2018.jpg

“O Blessed Cross,
You are venerated, preached
and honoured by the faith of the Patriarchs,
the predictions of the Prophets,
the senate that judges the Apostles,
the victorious army of Martyrs
and the throngs of all the Saints”
(Sermo XLVII, 14, p. 304)

St Peter Damian (1007-1072) Doctor of the Churcho-blessed-cross-st-peter-damian-21-feb-2019.jpg

“This is that enviable and blessed cross of Christ . . .
the cross in which alone we must make our boast,
as Paul, God’s chosen instrument, has told us.”

St Raymond of Peñafort (1175-1275)
“Father of Canon Law”

this-is-that-enviable-st-raymond-of-penafort-7 jan 2019.jpg

“And if He gave His life for us,
then it should not be difficult
to bear whatever hardships arise for His sake.
If you seek patience,
you will find no better example than the cross.
Christ endured much on the cross and did so patiently,
because “when he suffered he did not threaten,
he was led like a sheep to the slaughter
and he did not open his mouth.”

St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Churchand-if-he-gave-his-life-for-us-st-thomas-aquinas-28-jan-2018 (1).jpg

“The Cross is God’s chair in the world.”

St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)the-cross-is-gods-chair-in-the-world-st-john-paul-22feb2019.jpg

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The WORD

Lenten Reflection – 9 April – “You will know that I Am He”

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Lenten Reflection – 9 April – Tuesday of the Fifth week of Lent, First Reading: Numbers 21:4-9, Gospel: John 8:21–30

The Readings:
Numbers 21:4-9; Psalms 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21; John 8:21-30

“Accordingly Moses made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole and whenever the serpent bit someone, the person looked at the bronze serpent and recovered.”…Numbers 21:9

St Justin Martyr (100-165) Father of the Church and Martyr
comments on this verse from the First Reading proclaimed at Mass today:

“Tell me, did not God, through Moses, forbid the making of an image or likeness of anything in the heavens or on earth?   Yet didn’t He Himself have Moses construct the brazen serpent in the desert?   Moses set it up as a sign by which those who had been bitten by the serpents were healed.   In doing so, was Moses not free of any sin?   By this, as I stated above, God through Moses announced a mystery by which He proclaimed that He would break the power of the serpent, who prompted the sin of Adam.   He promises that He would deliver from the bites of the serpent (that is, evil actions, idolatries and other sins) all those who believe in Him who was to be put to death by this sign, namely, the Cross.”

(Dialogue with Trypho, 94)numbers 21 9 the brazen serpent - st justin martyr did not God - 9 april 2019.jpg

“When you have lifted up the Son of man,
then you will know that I Am He…”… John 8:28

Daily Meditation:
Enlighten our minds and sanctify our hearts.
In our reflection, Jesus is about to face a fiery furnace,
which represents the full onslaught 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 God,
You have heard my complaints, my impatience.
Sometimes I become frightened when I move away from You.
Guide my heart back to You.
Help me to think beyond my own wants
and to desire only to do You will.

Thank You for the many blessings in my life
and for the ways I feel Your presence.

May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.john 8 28 when yu have lifted up the son of man - tuesdayfifthweeklent 9 april 2019.jpg

Posted in LENT 2019, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 9 April – ” And all of our sins were there.”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 9 April – Tuesday of the Fifth week of Lent, First Reading: Numbers 21:4-9, Gospel: John 8:21–30

“When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I Am He…”...John 8:28

REFLECTION – “What is the serpent?   The serpent is the sign for sin.   We think of the Book of Genesis – it was the serpent that seduced Eve, that suggested that she sin.   And God commands [Moses] to lift up the serpent, that is sin, as a flag of victory.   It is something that one cannot understand well, if one does not understand what Jesus said in the Gospel.   Jesus says to the Jews – ‘When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me”.   Lifting up the symbol of their sin and transforming it into an instrument of salvation, therefore, represents the redemption which comes from Christ lifted up on the Cross.

“Christianity, is not a philosophical doctrine, it is not a programme of life that enables one to be well formed and to make peace.   These are its consequences.   Christianity is a person, a person lifted up on the Cross.   A person who emptied Himself to save us.   He took on sin.   And so just as in the desert sin was lifted up, here God made man was lifted up for us.   And all of our sins were there.   Therefore, one cannot understand Christianity, without understanding this profound humiliation of the Son of God, who humbled Himself and made Himself a servant unto death, on the Cross.   To serve”.john 8 28 when you have lifted up - what is the serpent - pope francis 9 april 2019.jpg

PRAYER – Holy Father, we have sinned against You and beg for Your forgiveness and mercy.   Through the merits of the saving Cross of Your Son, help Your people O Lord, to persevere in obedience to Your will, so that through this obedience, we may reach our eternal home.   We hope for the intercession of your angels and saints and our most loving Mother of Mercy.  Through Christ, our Lord with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.mary, mothr of mercy - pray for us - 5 oct 2018.jpg

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The LAMB of GOD

Our Morning Offering – 9 April – O Lamb of God

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Our Morning Offering – 9 April – Tuesday of the Fifth week of Lent

O Lamb of God
By St Irenaeus (c 135- c 202)
Bishop & Martyr, Father of the Church

O Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world,
look upon us and have mercy upon us;
You who art Yourself, both victim and Priest,
Yourself, both Reward and Redeemer,
keep safe from all evil
those whom You have redeemed,
O Saviour of the world.
Ameno-lamb-of-god-st-irenaeus-of-lyons-28-june-2018.jpg

Posted in franciscan OFM, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 9 April – Blessed Thomas of Tolentino OFM (c 1255–1321) Martyr

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Saint of the Day – 9 April – Blessed Thomas of Tolentino OFM (c 1255–1321) Martyr, professed Franciscan Friar, Missionary.bl thomas of tolentino.JPG

Thomas was born in Tolentino in the March of Ancona within the Papal States around 1250 to 1260.   Becoming a Franciscan early in life, he developed a reputation for his strict adherence to its rule, particularly concerning his vow of poverty.   A fellow of St Nicholas of Tolentino (c 1246–1305) and one of Angelo da Clareno’s Spiritual Franciscans, Thomas was jailed twice for his excessive condemnation of luxury.

After being released through the intervention of Raymond Godefroy, a new minister general who sympathised with the Spiritualists, Thomas travelled with companion Franciscans as missionaries to Lesser Armenia in 1289.   In 1291, its King Haython II directed him to return to the courts of Rome, Paris and London to seek help against his Muslim foes.   His efforts to raise a new crusade were unsuccessful and he returned east, departing a second time to gather more missionaries.
Returning with twelve companions in 1302, he worked in Armenia and Persia.   He debated Armenian Christians he considered heretics and participated in the Council of Sis that partially reunited the Armenian and Roman Catholic churches in 1307.

While in Persia, two letters dated 1305 and 1306 arrived from John of Montecorvino, the Franciscan missionary to China and Thomas again travelled to Europe, delivering the correspondence to Rome in 1307.   While there, he addressed a public consistory of the pope and cardinals, praising John’s work in China and asking for assistance in developing his mission.   He also discussed the matter with Clement V at Poitiers in 1308, after which an ecclesiastical hierarchy was established for the Roman Catholics in China. The pontiff named John archbishop of Khanbaliq (now within modern Beijing) and seven Franciscan bishops and many friars were sent to join him.   Only three of the bishops and a few friars, however, successfully completed the journey.   Thomas seems to have then travelled a fourth time to Armenia and Persia.

There is a gap until 1320, during which Thomas may have laboured in India or China.   In 1320, Thomas left from Hormuz with his fellow Franciscan, Blessed James of Padua and Blessed Peter of Siena, the Dominican Blessed Jordan of Severac and the layman Blessed Demetrio da Tifliz.   A Georgian or Armenian, Demetrius was proficient at languages and served as the group’s interpreter.   A storm en route, forced the party to land at Thane on the island of Salsette Island near Mumbai in India. Jordan left them to preach at Bharuch, before he heard Demetrius and the Franciscans had been arrested.

The family with whom they were staying had fallen into a quarrel and the husband had beaten his wife.   When she went to the magistrate to report this abuse, she had mentioned the four clerics as witnesses and they were called before him.   Thomas, James and Demetrius had gone to the court while Peter remained behind to look after their things.   Having begun a discussion of religion, the magistrate had asked them their opinion of Muhammad and Thomas replied bluntly that he was “the son of perdition and had his place in Hell with the Devil his father”.   At this, the Muslims around the court called for their death for blasphemy.   Some accounts claim they were scourged and tortured before their execution by beheading on 8 April 1321. Peter was martyred three days later on 11 April.

Bernardino_Licinio_-_Franciscan_Martyrs_-_WGA12986
Bernardino Licini Franciscan Martyrs

The local Christians may have buried Thomas and his companions but Jordanus Catalani, arriving too late to save them, removed their bodies to the church at Supera with the help of a Genovese youth.   In 1323 or 1326, Blessed Odoric of Pordenone (1286-1331) passed through the region.   Having learned about Thomas and his companions, he took their relics with him to Quanzhou in Fujian.   Thomas’s skull he took back to Europe, where he bestowed it on the Franciscan chapter in Tolentino in 1330.   It was later moved to the town’s cathedral by a Pisan merchant in the late 14th century, who erected a chapel there in the martyr’s honour with the approval of Boniface IX.   It is now kept in the central cathedral in a silver bust.

Thomas and his companions had been unofficially reckoned beatified since the 14th century.   Jordan claimed to have miraculously healed the dysentery of his Genovese companion with one of Thomas’s teeth  . Thomas’s cult was approved by Pius VII in 1809 and again by Leo XIII in 1894.   He is venerated sometimes together with his companions as the Four Martyrs of Thane, on 9 April.franciscan saints

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 9 April

Posted on by AnaStpaul

St Acacius of Amida
St Aedesius of Alexandria
Bl Antony of Pavoni OP (1326-1374) Priest and Martyr
Biography:   https://wordpress.com/post/anastpaul.wordpress.com/9688
St Brogan
St Casilda of Toledo
St Concessus the Martyr
St Demetrius the Martyr
St Dotto
St Eupsychius of Cappadocia
St Gaucherius
St Hedda the Abbot
St Heliodorus of Mesopotamia
St Hilary the Martyr
St Hugh of Rouen
Bl James of Padua
Bl John of Vespignano
Bl Katarzyna Faron
St Liborius of Le Mans (early 4th century – 397)
St Liborius’ story:   https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/09/saint-of-the-day-9-april-st-liborius-of-le-mans-early-4th-century-397/
St Madrun of Wales
St Marcellus of Die
Bl Marguerite Rutan
St Maximus of Alexandria
Bl Pierre Camino
St Prochorus
Bl Thomas of Tolentino OFM (c 1255–1321) Martyr
Bl Ubaldo Adimari
St Waltrude of Mons
—
Martyrs of Croyland – 9 saints: A group of Benedictine monks martyred by pagan Danes – Agamund, Askega, Egdred, Elfgete, Grimkeld, Sabinus, Swethin, Theodore and Ulric. Croyland Abbey, England.

Martyrs of Masyla: Massylitan Martyrs Group of Christians martyred in Masyla in northwest Africa.

Martyrs of Pannonia: Seven virgin-martyrs in Sirmium, Pannonia (modern Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia).

Martyrs of Thorney Abbey – 3+ saints: A group of Hermits, hermitesses and monks who lived in or around Thorney Abbey who were martyred together during raids by pagan Danes. We know little more than the names of three – Tancred, Torthred and Tova. 869 by raiders at Thorney Abbey, Cambridgeshire, England.

Posted in LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on PRAYER

Lenten Thoughts – 8 April – “Praying means …”

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Lenten Thoughts – 8 April – Monday of the Fifth week of Lent, Year C

“Praying means giving up your false security, no longer looking for arguments that will protect you if you get pushed into a corner and no longer setting our hope on a couple of lighter moments which your life might still offer.
To pray, means to stop expecting from God, the same small-mindedness, you discover in yourself.
To pray is to walk in the full Light of God and to say simply, without holding back, “I am human and You are God!”
At that moment, conversion occurs, the restoration for the true relationship.
A human being is not someone who once in a while makes a mistake and God is not someone who now and then forgives.
No!   Human beings are sinners and God is love.
The conversion experience makes this obvious with stunning simplicity and disarming clarity.”

Fr Henri Nouwen (1932-1996)to pray is to walk simply in the full Light of God and to say I am human and you ae God henri nouwen 8 april 2019.jpg

Posted in QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

Quote of the Day – 8 April – “How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, God of hosts.”

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Quote of the Day – 8 April – Monday of the Fifth week of Lent, Year C and the Memorial of Blessed Augustus Czartoryski SDB (1858-1893)

“How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, God of hosts. My soul is longing and yearning, is yearning for the courts of the Lord…. One day within your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere” …Psalm 84[83]: 2, 11

“Blessed Augusto Czartoryski wrote these words of the Psalm, his motto of life, on the holy card of his first Mass.   In them is contained the rapture of a man who, following the voice of the call, discovers the beauty of the ministerial priesthood.   In them resounds the echo of the different choices that the person who is discerning God’s will and wishes to fulfil it must make. Augustus Czartoryski, a young prince, carefully prepared an effective method to discern the divine plan.   In prayer, he presented to God all questions and deep perplexities and then in the spirit of obedience he followed the counsel given by his spiritual guides.   In this way he came to understand his vocation and to take up the life of poverty to serve the “least”.   The same method enabled him throughout the course of his life to make decisions, so that today we can say that he accomplished the designs of Divine Providence in a heroic way.   I would like to leave this example of holiness especially to young people, who today search out the way to decipher God’s will relating to their own lives and desire to faithfully forge ahead each day according to the divine word.   My dear young friends, learn from Blessed Augustus to ask ardently in prayer for the light of the Holy Spirit and wise guides, so that you may understand the divine plan in your lives and are able to walk constantly on the path of holiness.”…St Pope John Paul on the Beatification of Blessed Augustus on Sunday, 25 April 2004bl-augustus-czartoryski-wrote-these-words-st-john-paul-8-april-2018.jpg

Posted in LENT 2019, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, The WORD

Lenten Reflection – 8 April – “The eyes of those who believe in Christ see light even amid the darkest night…” Pope Benedict

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Lenten Reflection – 8 April – Monday of the Fifth week of Lent, Year C

The Readings:
Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 or 13:41C-62;; Psalms 23:1-3A, 3B-4, 5, 6; John 8:12-20

“I am the light of the world;  he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”…John 8:12

Pope Benedict XVI

“The eyes of those who believe in Christ see light

even amid the darkest night…”

24 September 2011

“While all around us there may be darkness and gloom, yet we see a light. a small, tiny flame that is stronger than the seemingly powerful and invincible darkness.   Christ, risen from the dead, shines in this world and He does so most brightly in those places where, in human terms, everything is sombre and hopeless.   He has conquered death – He is alive – and faith in Him, like a small light, cuts through all that is dark and threatening.   To be sure, those who believe in Jesus do not lead lives of perpetual sunshine, as though they could be spared suffering and hardship but there is always a bright glimmer there, lighting up the path that leads to fullness of life (cf. Jn 10:10).   The eyes of those who believe in Christ see light even amid the darkest night and they already see the dawning of a new day.”the eyes of those who believe in christ - pope benedict 8 april 2019.jpg

Daily Meditation:

Help us to pass from our old life of sin
to our new life of grace.
This week we let the powerful Light of God’s love
shine into the deepest, darkest corners of our soul,
revealing the most unloving parts of our hearts,
and we ask forgiveness and holiness.

Perhaps we might make the Stations of the Cross
to stir our hearts more deeply with the sense of His love for us.

Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil,
for thou art with me
Psalm 23:4monday of the fifth week of lent john 812 8 april 2019.jpg

Closing Prayer:
Father of love,
I know that You are the source of all
that it good and graced in my life.
Help me to move from the life of sin
to which I so often cling,
into the new life of grace You offer me.
You know what I need to prepare for Your kingdom.
Bless me with those gifts.

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

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on SANCTITY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 8 April – “I am the Light of the world”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 8 April – Monday of the Fifth week of Lent, Year C, Gospel: John 8:12–20

“I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”...John 8:12

REFLECTION – “It would seem to me that the Lord’s words:  “I am the light of the world” are clear enough for those with eyes that enable them to have a share in that light.   But those who only have bodily eyes are astonished to hear it said by our Lord Jesus Christ – “I am the light of the world.”   There may even be those who say:  “Would Christ be the sun that determines the day by its rising and setting?”… No, Christ is not that.   The Lord is not the created sun but Him by whom the sun was created.   For “all things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be” (Jn 1:3).   Therefore, He is the light who created the light we see.   Let us love this light, understand it, desire it, that led by it we may in due course attain it and may live in it so as never to die…

So you see, my brethren, you see, if you have eyes that see spiritual things, what kind of light this is of which the Lord says:  “Whoever follows me does not walk in darkness.” Follow that sun and let us see whether or not you walk in darkness.   Behold how He arises and comes towards you.   Following His course He makes His way westwards but you on your part, must walk towards the rising sun, the Christ.”…St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Churchi am the light of the world john 8 12 - he is the light who created the light - st augustine 8 april 2019.jpg

PRAYER – Lord God, Your abounding grace has enriched us with every blessing. Transform us from our sinful condition to newness of life and prepare us for the glory of Your kingdom.   Open our eyes to see by the light of Your Son, who always walks with us. Let us lift our eyes to Him, for even now He is preparing for us a place, in His Father’s house  .Listen, we pray, to the prayers of all the angels and saints, who petition on our behalf and may our Mother Mary, keep ever close to our path.   Through Christ, our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for always and forever, amen.mater misericordiae mother of merct pray for us 8 april 2019.jpg

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 8 April – ‘I Am’ Your Salvaton

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Our Morning Offering – 8 April – Monday of the Fifth week of Lent

‘I Am’ Your Salvaton
By St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor

For Your mercies’ sake,
O Lord my God,
tell me what You are to me.
Say to my soul:
“I Am your salvation.”
So speak, that I may hear, O Lord;
my heart is listening;
open it, that it may hear You,
and say to my soul:
“I Am your salvation.”
After hearing this word,
may I come in haste
to take hold of You.
Hide not Your face from me.
Let me see Your face even if I die,
lest I die with longing to see it.
The house of my soul
is too small to receive You,
let it be enlarged by You.
It is all in ruins;
do You repair it.
There are things in it,
I confess and I know,
that must offend Your sight.
But who shall cleanse it?
Or to what others
besides You shall I cry out?
From my secret sins
cleanse me, O Lord,
and from those of others,
spare Your servant.
Ameni am your salvation by st augustine - 8 april 2019

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – Blessed Clement of Osimo OSA (1235-1291)

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Saint of the Day – Blessed Clement of Osimo OSA (1235-1291) aged 56 – Priest, professed Augustinian Religious, Reformer, miracle-worker.   Additional Memorial – 19 May (Augustinians).bl clement of osimo.jpg

Blessed Clement was born in 1235 in the region of Marcas, Italy, probably in San Elpidio.

As a young man, he entered the Augustinians in Brettino.   He was chosen Prior Provincial of the Province of Marche of Ancona in 1269.   He was twice selected as Prior General of the Order, serving in that role from 1271 to 1274, when he resigned his office and returned to a more quiet way of life.  He participated in the Second Council of Lyons in 1274 that Pope Gregory X convoked and then retired but he was again elected Prior General in 1284, this time unanimously.   He served in that office until his death in 1291.

He, along with Blessed Augustine of Tarano (1240-1309), helped revise the Regensburg Constitutions of the Order (the basic law by which the Order is governed).   He encouraged formal studies on the part of the friars and founded five schools where those studies could be undertaken.   He supported the establishment of libraries.   He insisted on proper observance of the Augustinian way of life.   He promoted the foundation of Augustinian houses for women.

Blessed Clement of Osimo and Augustine of Tarano
Blesseds Clement and Augustine

Blesseds Clement and Augustine, whose lives are linked closely by history, share in common not only their religious profession and the office of Prior General but also the mark of sanctity.   Both were drawn by temperament to a love for the contemplative life but were equally engaged in many and important works for the good of the Order in its formative years.

Clement died on 8 April 1291.  His reputation for holiness prompted Pope Nicholas IV to suspend his funeral to allow people more time to flock to Orvieto – where he died – for his funeral.

He was first buried at the Augustinian house in Orvieto. Later his remains were divided, with a portion remaining in Orvieto and other portions sent for burial in Osimo and in San Elpidio.   In the early 18th Century, most of his remains were gathered together and reburied at the St Augustine Church, Rome.   Since 1970 his remains are preserved at the General Headquarters of the Order in Rome.  Pope Clement XIII proclaimed him Blessed in 1759.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 8 April

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St Agabus the Prophet
St Amantius of Como
St Asynkritos of Marathon
Bl Augustus Czartoryski SDB (1858-1893)
Biography of this Prince Salesian Priest: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/08/saint-of-the-day-8-april-blessed-augustus-czartoryski-s-d-b-1858-1893/

St Beata of Ribnitz
Bl Clement of Osimo OSA (1235-1291)
St Concessa
St Dionysius of Alexandria
St Dionysius of Corinth
Bl Domingo Iturrate Zubero
Bl Gonzalo Mercador
St Herodion of Patras
St Julie Billiart (1751-1816)
About St Julie:   https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/04/08/saint-of-the-day-8-april-st-julie-billiat/

Bl Julian of Saint Augustine
Bl Libania of Busano
St Phlegon of Hyrcania
St Redemptus of Ferentini
—
Martyrs of Africa – 3 saints: A group of African martyrs whose name appears on ancient lists, but about whom nothing is known but their names – Januarius, Macaria and Maxima.

Martyrs of Antioch – 4 saints: A group of Christians martyred together for their faith. We know little more than their names – Diogene, Macario, Massimo and Timothy. They died in Antioch, Syria.

Martyrs of Seoul – 5 saints: A group laymen who were martyred together in the apostolic vicariate of Korea.
• Augustinus Jeong Yak-jong
• Franciscus Xaverius Hong Gyo-man
• Ioannes Choe Chang-hyeon
• Lucas Hong Nak-min
• Thomas Choe Pil-gong
They died on 8 April 1801 at the Small West Gate, Seoul, South Korea
Beatified on 15 August 2014 by Pope Francis

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The RESURRECTION

Lenten Thoughts – 7 April – “If you wish to arrive at the second part, do not despise the first”

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Lenten Thoughts – 7 April – The Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C

“Great thing is the knowledge of the crucified Christ.   How many things are enclosed inside this treasure! Christ crucified!   Such is the hidden treasure of wisdom and science.   Do not be deceived, then, under the pretext of wisdom.   Gather before the covering and pray that it may be uncovered.   Foolish philosopher of this world, what you are looking for is worthless… What is the advantage of being thirsty, if you despise the source? …  And what is His precept but that we believe in Him and love each other? In whom?   In Christ crucified.   This is His commandment – that we believe in Christ crucified …  But where humility is, there is also majesty, where weakness is, there shall one find power, where death is, there shall be life as well.   If you wish to arrive at the second part, do not despise the first”

St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor
(Sermon 160, 3-4)this is his commandment that we believe - st augustine 7 april 2019 lenten thoughts.jpg

Posted in GOD ALONE!, GOD the FATHER, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on THE MYSTICAL BODY, QUOTES on ZEAL, SAINT of the DAY, The PASSION

Quote of the Day – 7 April – “Be driven by the love of God”

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Quote of the Day – 7 April – The Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C, Gospel: John 8:1–11 and the Memorial of St John Baptiste de La Salle (1651-1719)

“Be driven by the love of God
because Jesus Christ died for all,
that those who live.
may live not for themselves but for Him,
who died and rose for them.
Above all, let your charity and zeal
show how you love the Church.
Your work is for the Church,
which is the body of Christ.”

St John Baptist de La Salle

more quotes by St John Baptiste here:  https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/quote-s-of-the-day-7-april-easter-saturday-and-the-memorial-of-st-john-baptiste-de-la-salle-1651-1719/

be driven by the love of god - st john baptsiste de la salle 7 april 2019.jpg

Posted in LENT 2019, The WORD

Lenten Reflection – 7 April – “Scapegoating violence”

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Lenten Reflection – 7 April – The Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C, Gospel: John 8:1–11

The Readings:
Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalms 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6; Philippians 3: 8-14; John 8:1-11

And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you;
go and do not sin again.”…John 8:11

Bishop Robert Barron

JOHN 8:1-11

“Friends, our Gospel today tells about the woman that scribes and Pharisees caught in adultery.   Imagine where they were standing when they caught her in the very act.   The voyeurism and perversion of these men!   Then they come en masse, in the terrible enthusiasm of a mob and they present the case to Jesus.

Now, what does Jesus do in the face of this violent mob?   First, He writes on the ground. The mysterious writing might indicate the listing of the sins of each person in the group. As He said in another Gospel, “Remove the plank in your own eye, and then you can see more clearly the speck in your brother’s eye.”

And then He says, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to cast a stone at her.”   He forces them to turn their accusing glance inward, where it belongs.   Instead of projecting their violence outward on a scapegoat, they should honestly name and confront the dysfunction within themselves.

This story, like all the stories in the Gospels, is a foreshadowing of the great story toward which we are tending.   Jesus will be put to death by a mob bent on scapegoating violence.

Reflect: What is “scapegoating violence” and where do you see it in our culture? Have you ever been involved in this type of violence yourself?”john 8 11 - he forces them to turn their accusing glance inwards - bishop robert barron 7 april 2019.jpg

Daily Meditation:
Inspired by His love, guided by His example,
change our selfishness into self-giving.
Today we celebrate the Third Scrutiny,
as we journey to the font with those preparing for Baptism.
We are in our last week before Holy Week.
It seems that there is so much left to do,
to ask for, to be open to, to surrender, to change.
Jesus assures us that He is the “resurrection and the life,”
that if we place our faith in Him, we will “never die.”
“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?
‘Father, save me from this hour’?
But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.”

Today we beg for the graces we need and desire this week.
We ask for courage in the journey ahead.

Indeed I count everything as loss
because of the surpassing worth
of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Philippians 3:8the fifth sunday of lent 7 april 2019

Closing Prayer:
Father,
it’s so hard to love the world sometimes
and to love it the way Jesus did seems impossible.
Help me to be inspired by His love and
guided by His example.
Most of all, I want to accept that I can’t do it alone,
and that trying is an arrogance of self-centredness.
I need You, dear God, to give me support in this journey.
Show me how to unlock my heart
so that I am less selfish.
Let me be less fearful of the pain and darkness
that will be transformed by You into Easter joy.

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

Posted in SUNDAY REFLECTIONS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Sunday Reflection – 7 April – Come to the altar with your wounds and scars.

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Sunday Reflection – 7 April – The Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C

Every moment of your life is a preparation for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, just as every moment of My life was a preparation for and a slow ascent to the Sacrifice of the Cross.   Understand this and you will see that nothing in your life is foreign to My plan for you, that everything you have done and that every place you have ever been and that every person with whom you have been or are connected, is part of My design for your life.

When you bring to your Mass all that you have experienced — your whole life story — you allow Me to redeem those things that are most dark, bitter and painful by taking them into the mystery of My Sacrifice.

Come to the altar with your wounds and scars.   Give them to Me and I shall unite them to My own sufferings and so make them shine in My sight.   Come to the altar with your sins, even with those of which you are most ashamed and I shall show you that I have already taken them upon Myself and expiated them in my Blood.   Come to the altar with every troubled and broken relationship of your past, with every betrayal, every failure, and every falling away from holiness and I shall cast all these things into the ocean of My mercy, never again to be recovered, or named, or used by the Accuser against you.

(From In Sinu Iesu, The Journal of a Priest)when you bring to mass - in sinu jesus - 7 april 2019 sun reflection .jpg

Posted in LENT 2019, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 7 April – He has suffered for all

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One Minute Reflection – 7 April – The Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C, Gospel: John 8:1–11

And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and do not sin again.”…John 8:11

REFLECTION – “The Gospel shows us sinners who accuse another sinner in Jesus’ presence.   Bending over to write on the ground, Jesus seems to be absent. He breaks His silence only twice – the first time to gather accusers and accused together into their shared culpability; the second time, to give voice to His forgiveness, since no-one is left, to condemn another. In the light of Jesus; silent suffering for all of us, every accusation has to fall silent, for “God has locked everyone up in the same disobedience,” not to punish them (as the accusers wanted) but “the he might have mercy on all” (Rom 11:32).   That no-one can condemn the woman, follows from Jesus’ second rather than first statement. He has suffered for all, in order to gain heaven’s forgiveness for all and for that reason, no-one, can accuse anyone else in God’s presence.”…Cardinal Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988)john 8 11 - neither do i condemn you - he has suffered for all - hans urs von balthasar 7 april 2019

PRAYER – Give us good God, a heart of flesh, that we might resemble the heart of Your love.   For truly following the steps of Your divine Son, we would make peace in the world and give glory to Your kingdom.   Help us Lord, to see with Your eyes and hear with Your ears, that the Word may dwell in us all and bring mercy to all.  May the immaculate heart of Mary, our Mother dwell in us and help us to reach our eternal home.   We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord, with You and the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.mary mother of god pray for us - 27 july 2018

Posted in EUCHARISTIC Adoration, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Our Morning Offering – 7 April – Prayer in Honour of the Eucharistic King

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Our Morning Offering – 7 April – The Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C

Prayer in Honour of the Eucharistic King
By St Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)

O Jesus, King of all peoples and all ages,
accept the Acts of Adoration and praise,
which we, Your brothers by adoption,
humbly offer You.
You are the “Living Bread which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world,”
Supreme Priest and Victim.
On the Cross, You offered Yourself to the Eternal Father
as a bloody sacrifice of expiation,
for the redemption of the human race
and now, You offer Yourself daily upon our altars,
by the hands of Your ministers,
in order to establish, in every heart,
Your “reign of truth and life, of holiness and grace,
of justice, love and peace.”
O King of glory, may Your kingdom come!
Reign from Your “throne of grace”,
in the hearts of children,
so that they may guard untainted
the while lily of baptismal innocence.
Reign in the hearts of the young,
that they may grow up healthy and pure,
obedient to the commands of those who represent You
in their families and schools and in the Church.
Reign in our homes,
so that parents and children may live in peace,
in obedience to Your holy law.
Reign in our lands,
so that all citizens,
in the harmonious order of the various social groups,
may feel themselves children of the same heavenly Father,
called to co-operate for the common good of this world,
happy to belong to the one Mystical Body,
of which Your Sacrament is at once the symbol
and the everlasting source.
Finally, reign, O King of kings
and “Lord of lords,”
over all the nations of the earth
and enlighten all their rules in order that,
inspired by Your example, they may make
“plans for welfare and not for evil.”
O Jesus, present in the Sacrament of the Altar,
teach all the nations to serve You with willing hearts,
knowing that “to serve God is to reign.”
May Your Sacrament, O Jesus,
be light to the mind,
strength to the will,
joy to the heart.
May it be the support of the weak,
the comfort of the suffering,
the wayfaring bread of salvation for the dying
and for all,
the “pledge of future glory”
Amenprayer in honour of the eucharisdtic king.jpg

Posted in franciscan OFM, INCORRUPTIBLES, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 7 April – Blessed Maria Assunta Pallotta (1878-1905)

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Saint of the Day – 7 April – Blessed Maria Assunta Pallotta (1878-1905) aged 27, born Assunta Maria Pallotta, was an Italian professed Religious who served as a member of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Missionary to China.  Patronages – Missionaries, against typhus.   Her body is incorrupt.Bienheureuse_Maria_Assunta_Pallotta.jpg

Assunta Maria Pallotta was born on 20 August 1878 in a little village called Force, Italy. Of a gentle and peaceful nature, Assunta was the ray of sunshine in the family home where she was the eldest of four boys and two girls. Although Assunta’s childhood was relatively happy, her family lived in great poverty.   She attended school just for the time necessary to learn to read and write.   In spite of her young age, very soon she had to devote herself fully to the life of the family.   She was a skilful little housekeeper, full of good sense and very active and she helped her mother in everything.

In order to help her family, she courageously faced the humblest and hardest work.   At a certain time, she worked as a diligent little labourer, carrying in a willow basket the materials necessary for the construction work.

When still very young, her attraction for prayer could already be seen.   She had a filial tenderness for the Blessed Virgin and she could be seen setting up little altars or decorating with flowers the pictures of the beloved Madonna in the countryside.  Assunta’s piety very naturally radiated around her by means of a discreet apostolate.   She liked to gather the children of her own age together in the church or under the porch, to speak to them about the goodness of God with all the fervour of her heart.

​On Sundays and in her rare moments of leisure, she would be seen very often in the Church, kneeling for hours before the altar, conversing with the Friend of the humble and the lesser people.   Apprenticed to the old tailor in the village, she liked to place in front of her a holy picture which she looked at from time to time, while her lips murmured the Hail Marys of the Rosary.

At the age of twelve Assunta received Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time.   It was an inexpressible moment of happiness for her, the memory of which would remain as one of the most beautiful of her life.

As a teenager, everyone who knew her was struck by her serenity in look and manner. She was a girl of calm common sense.   Her spirituality was really quite simple.   To God she offered her heart in frequent prayer.   Then, as a continued prayer, she dedicated her exterior actions.

Drawn to give her life entirely to God, Assunta confided in her parish priest, her director, who encouraged her vocation.   When she was nineteen, Assunta decided to enter the convent but encountered many obstacles not least among them her mother’s objections and her lack of dowry.  mariaassuntasite.jpgBut prayer prevailed and at last a letter from Rome, from the Foundress of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, arrived, “Let the little one come as she is.   The doors of the convent of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Mary at 12 Via Giusti are open to receive her.”

Assunta began her postulancy at St Helen’s Convent in Rome.   During her time as a postulant, Assunta was employed in the kitchen.   Humble and silent, she fulfilled her charge so perfectly that for a long time she was cited as a model to those who came after her.

On 9 October 1898, Assunta was received as a novice and sent to the convent at Grottaferrata.   Here, Sr Maria Assunta was employed in work in the fields.   In this modest field of work, sparing herself neither time nor trouble, Sister Maria Assunta was as happy as in the most attractive work.   To serve God and her neighbour in the humblest and most mortified ways was her motto.   It enabled her to feel true Franciscan joy.

There at the end of November, 1898, Assunta met Mother Mary of the Passion.   Upon learning that Assunta came from an area called “The Marches” Mother Mary of the Passion said, “That is the land of saints.  You must become a saint too”. Assunta had her watchword.   In the depth of her heart, Assunta was stowing away these simple words as her precious heritage.

In January 1902, Sr. Assunta left her beloved Grottaferrata to join a new convent in Florence.   For two years she was to be the joy of this house.   Without having any fixed employment, she helped in all the charges.   When there was extra work or when a harder job presented itself, one was sure to find her ready  . She accepted the request for a service with a lovely smile, nothing changed her good humour.  This angelic patience, the gentleness of her character, caused her to be sent as a helper to the infirmary where the sick benefited from the charitable devotedness of their improvised nurse.

On 19 March 1904, together with nine other Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Assunta set sail for China.   Ardently Sister Maria Assunta began to study the Chinese language in order to be able to speak of the goodness of God to those around her.   In the convent where the Franciscan nuns cared for four hundred orphans Maria Assunta joyfully worked in the kitchen.   She did her work there with as much diligence and care as she would have taught catechism.   To accomplish her daily duties as perfectly as possible seemed to her the best way of working as a true missionary.   Ever intimately united with God, she lived day by day the ordinary community life for His honour and glory.

A serious epidemic of typhus broke out in the community and she fell victim to it.   She bore the suffering with great patience and fortified by the rites of Holy Church, she died at sunset on 7 April 1905, being then only twenty-seven years old.   Non-believers as well as Christians flocked to the place where she lay as a mysterious perfume filled the entire house for three days after her death.bl maria assunta portrait

Eight years after Sister Assunta’s death when the community was moving to Tai-Yuan-Foo, the Bishop asked for the body of Sister Assunta to be transferred.   The disinterment revealed the fact that the body was incorrupt.    After being exhumed, the body remained exposed to the air in the chapel of the cemetery for a month without being affected.   Once again, God showed His favour for the little missionary Sister who lived for Him alone.

On 7 November 1954, Sister Assunta was beatified by Pope Pius XII.   The Church officially recognised the little Italian girl whose life had been a song of simplicity, purity and love and who is indeed the beloved of Christ whom she had served so devotedly.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 7 April

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Fifth Sunday of Lent *2019 Year C

St John Baptiste de La Salle (1651-1719) (Memorial)
Biography – https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/07/saint-of-the-day-7-april-st-john-baptiste-de-la-salle-1651-1719-the-father-of-modern-education/ 

St Albert of Tournai
Bl Alexander Rawlins
St Brenach of Carn-Engyle
St Calliopus of Pompeiopolis
Bl Cristoforo Amerio
St Cyriaca of Nicomedia
St Donatus of North Africa
Bl Edward Oldcorne
St Epiphanius the Martyr
St Finian of Kinnitty
St George the Younger
St Gibardus of Luxeuil
St Goran
St Guainerth
St Hegesippus of Jerusalem
St Henry Walpole
Bl Herman Joseph
Bl Maria Assunta Pallotta (1878-1905)
St Peleusius of Alexandria
St Peter Nguyen Van Luu
Bl Ralph Ashley
St Rufinus the Martyr
St Saturninus of Verona
Bl Ursuline of Parma
—
Martyrs of Pentapolis – 4 saints: A bishop, deacon and two lectors at Pentapolis, Lybia who for their faith were tortured, had their tongues cut out, and were left for dead. They survived and each died years later of natural causes; however, because they were willing to die and because there were attempts to kill them, they are considered martyrs. We know little else except their names – Ammonius, Irenaeus, Serapion and Theodore c 310 at Pentapolis, Lybia.

Martyrs of Sinope – 200 saints: 200 Christian soldiers martyred together for their faith. We don’t even have their names. They were martyred in Sinope, Pontus, Asia Minor (in modern Turkey).

Posted in LENT 2019, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The SIGN of the CROSS

Lenten Thoughts – 6 April – THE BELOVED CROSSES

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Lenten Thoughts – 6 April – Saturday of the Fourth week of Lent, Year C

THE BELOVED CROSSES
“Not for a day, not for a week, not for a year but all our lives.”
St John Vianney (1786-1859)

The saints, my dear brethren, all loved the Cross and found in it their strength and their consolation.

But, you will say to me, is it necessary, then, always to have something to suffer? …. Now sickness or poverty, or again scandal or calumny, or possibly loss of money or an infirmity?

Have you been calumniated, my friends?   Have you been loaded with insults?   Have you been wronged?   So much the better!   That is a good sign, do not worry, you are on the road that leads to Heaven.   Do you know when you ought to be really upset? I do not know if you understand it but it should be precisely for the opposite reason — when you have nothing to endure, when everyone esteems and respects you.   Then you should feel envious of those who have the happiness of passing their lives in suffering, or contempt, or poverty.

Are you forgetting, then, that at your Baptism you accepted the Cross, which you must never abandon until death and that it is the key that you will use to open the door of Heaven?   Are you forgetting the words of our Saviour: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Not for a day, not for a week, not for a year but all our lives.   The saints had a great fear of passing any time without suffering, for they looked upon it as time lost.

According to St Teresa, man is only in this world to suffer and when he ceases to suffer, he should cease to live. St John of the Cross asks God, with tears, to give him the grace to suffer more as a reward for all his labours.

What should we conclude, my dear children, from all that?

Just this – Let us make a resolution to have a great respect for all the crosses, which are blessed and which represent to us in a small way all that our God Suffered for us.   Let us recall that from the Cross flow all the graces that are bestowed upon us and that as a consequence, a cross which is blessed is a source of blessings, that we should often make the Sign of the Cross on ourselves and always with great respect and, finally, that our houses should never remain without this symbol of salvation.

“Everything is a reminder of the Cross.
We ourselves are made in the shape of a cross.”

Fill your children, my dear brethren, with the greatest respect for the Cross and always have a blessed cross on yourselves, it will protect you against the Devil, from the vengeance of Heaven and from all danger.   This is what I desire for you.everything is a reminder of the cross - st jon vianney 2018.jpg

Posted in QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on WORK/LABOUR, QUOTES on WORRY/ANXIETY, SAINT of the DAY

Quote of the Day – 6 April – Do not be dismayed

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Quote of the Day – 6 April – Saturday of the Fourth week of Lent, Year C and the Memorial of Blessed Zefirino Agostini (1813-1896)

“Do not be dismayed by toil or suffering,
nor by the meagre fruit of your labours.
Remember that God rewards,
not according to results but effort.”

Blessed Zefirino, 1874do not be dismayed by the meagre fruits - bl sefirino agostino 6 april 2019.jpg

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FAITH, The RESURRECTION, The WORD

Lenten Reflection – 6 April – “No one laid hands on him” Origen

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Lenten Reflection – 6 April – Saturday of the Fourth week of Lent, Year C

The Readings:  Jeremiah 11:18-20; Psalm 7:2-3,9BC-10, 11-12; John 7:40-53

Daily Meditation:
Apart from You we can do nothing.

The conflict around Jesus grows.
And all the while, we are turning to God for mercy.
What Jesus went through is for me,
that I might have mercy and the gift of everlasting life.

We call upon the Lord for help, for strength, for trust.

My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
Psalm 7:10john 7 44 and 7 41 - satfourthweeklent 6 april 2019.jpg

“No one laid hands on him”...John 7:44

Origen (c 185-253)
Father, Priest and Theologian

In Christ we encounter such human characteristics that they have nothing to distinguish them from the weakness common to us mortals.   At the same time, we encounter characteristics so divine, that they can only be appropriate to the sovereign and ineffable divine nature.   Too small to comprehend this, the human mind is so dumbfounded, that it does not know what to take its stand on, nor which path to follow.   Is it aware of God in Christ?   Yet it sees Him die.   Does it take Him to be a man?   But see Him coming back from the dead with the prize of His victory, having destroyed the reign of death.   In the same way our contemplation needs to be practised with such reverence and fear that, in the same Jesus, it considers the truth of the two natures, avoiding attributing to the divine essence those things that are nor worthy of it or do not belong to it but also avoiding seeing only an illusory appearance in historical events.

In truth, causing such things as these to be heard by human ears, trying to express them in words considerably surpasses our ability, talent and language.   I even think it surpasses the capability of the apostles.   More still, the explanation of this mystery probably transcends the entire order of angelic powers.

but see him coming back from the dead - 6 april 2019 - origen.jpg

Closing Prayer:
Lord,
what You ask of my life seems so right.
It is how I want to live,
following Your Son, Jesus, so closely.
And yet I fail so often to stay on that path.
I cannot do it alone, loving Lord.
I need Your help and guidance.
I need to remember Your love for me
and I want to remember
how very much I need You in my life.

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

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, LENT 2019, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on FAITH, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 6 April – Others said, “This is the Christ.” 

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One Minute Reflection – 6 April – Saturday of the Fourth week of Lent, Year C, Gospel: John 7:40–53

Others said, “This is the Christ.”   But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?...John 7:41others said this is the christ john 7 41 - 6 april 2019.jpg

REFLECTION – “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him:  ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’   That is the one thing we must not say.   A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else He would be the Devil of Hell.   You must make your choice.   Either this man was and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.   You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher.   He has not left that open to us.   He did not intend to.”…Prof C S Lewisi am trying here - c s lewis john 7 41 6 april 2019 no 2.jpg

PRAYER – In Your gentle mercy Lord, guide our wayward hearts, for we know that left to ourselves, we cannot do Your will.   Almighty God, turn our hearts to Yourself, so that we, seeking the one thing necessary, may worship You in spirit and in truth.   We give You thanks for our faith, increase our faith O our God!   May the prayers of all your saints and the Virgin Mary, Queen of All Saints, obtain the gift of humility and fidelity for us and for every believer, so that our prayer may always be genuine and pleasing to the Lord. Through Christ our Lord and Redeemer, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.virin mary queen of all saints no 2 pray for us 6 april 2019.jpg

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, LENT 2019, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN Saturdays, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS for SEASONS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Our Morning Offering – 6 April – Prayer to the Sorrowful Mother

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Our Morning Offering – 6 April – Saturday of the Fourth week of Lent, Year C
‘Marian Saturdays’

Prayer to the Sorrowful Mother
By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
Doctor of the Church

My sorrowful Mother,
by the merit of that grief
which you felt at seeing your beloved Jesus
led to death,
obtain for me the grace to bear with patience,
those crosses which God sends me.
I will be fortunate if I also shall know
hot to accompany you with my cross until death.
You and Jesus,
both innocent,
have borne a heavy cross
and shall I,
a sinner who has merited hell,
refuse mine?
Immaculate Virgin,
I hope you will help me
to bear my crosses with patience.
Amenprayer to the sorrowful mother by st alphonsus liguori 6 april 2019.jpg

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 6 April – Blessed Zefirino Agostini (1813-1896)

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Saint of the Day – 6 April – Blessed Zefirino Agostini (1813-1896) Priest, Apostle of the Poor and Founder of the Pious Union of Sisters Devoted to Saint Angela Merici and the Ursuline Sisters of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate of which orders he is the Patron.bl zefirino.jpg

Blessed Zefirino Agostini was born in Verona, Italy on 24 September 1813.   He was the oldest son of his parents, his father was a physician, who died when Zefirino was very young.

Blessed Zefirino commenced his studies for the priesthood at the age of eighteen and was Ordained on 11 March 1837.    He was then and was assigned to a very poor parish in Verona.   There he established an after-school programs for girls, religious education for mothers and education for women.

He began a devotion to Saint Angela Merici for the female parishioners and founded the Pious Union of Sisters Devoted to Saint Angela Merici whose rule was approved by Bishop Ricabona in 1856.

On All Souls Day of that same year, he opened his first charitable school of poor girls.  In 1860, local women who worked in the school chose community life and Father Agostini prepared the first rule for the community and on 24 September 1869, the first 12 Ursulines made their profession.   On 18 November 1869, they founded the Congregation of Ursulines, Daughters of Mary Immaculate.zefirino agostini

Father Agostini died on 6 April 1869 in Verona, Italy of natural causes.   His order received diocesan approval on 24 June 1923 while the papal decree of praise of Pope Pius XI was issued on 14 March 1932 and full papal approval for the institute came on 3 April 1940 from Pope Pius XII during World War II.   The order now operates in places such as Switzerland and Benin and as of 2005 has 628 religious in 78 houses.

He was Beatified on 25 October 1998 by St Pope John Paul II, after approval of the required miracle.   At the Beatification St John Paul said:

“The Lord stood by me and gave me strength” (2 Tm 4:17).

“These words of the Apostle to Timothy certainly apply to Fr Zefirino Agostino, who never lost heart despite countless difficulties.   He stands before us today as a humble, steadfast witness to the Gospel in the latter half of the 19th century, a fruitful period for the Church in Verona.   His faith was steadfast, his charitable work effective and ardent was the priestly spirit that distinguished him.

The love of the Lord spurred him in his apostolate to the poor, especially in the Christian education of girls, particularly the most needy.   He understood well the important role women play in the rehabilitation of society by teaching the values of freedom, honesty and charity.

He advised the Ursulines, his spiritual daughters:  “Poor girls, let them be the favourite object of your care and attention.   Awaken their minds, teach their hearts virtue and save their souls from malignant contact with the wicked world” (Scritti alle Orsoline, 289).   May his example strongly encourage those who honour him today as blessed and invoke him as their protector.”

Zefirino_Agostini