AnaStpaul

CONFESSION/PENANCE, LENT 2019, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE

Shrove Tuesday – 5 March – Ready?

Posted on March 5, 2019February 16, 2023 by AnaStpaul

Shrove Tuesday – 5 March – Ready?

The English term provides the best meaning for this period – “To shrive” meant to hear confessions. In the Anglo-Saxon “Ecclesiastical Institutes,” recorded by Theodulphus and translated by Abbot Aelfric about 1000, Shrovetide was described as follows:
“In the week immediately before Lent, everyone shall go to his confessor and confess his deeds and the confessor, shall so “shrive him,” as he then may hear by his deeds, what he is to do in the way of penance.”
To highlight the point and motivate the people, special plays or masques were performed which portrayed the passion of our Lord or final judgement. Clearly, this Shrovetide preparation for Lent, included the confessing of sin and the reception of absolution. As such, Lent then would become a time for penance and renewal of faith.

Who needs pancakes, we have far more important things to do! shrove tuesday - time for confession - 5 march 2019.jpg

Beginning of Lent: A Time of Penance, Purification and Conversion

We are at the beginning of Lent, a time of penance, purification and conversion. It is not an easy program but then Christianity is not an easy way of life. It is not enough just to be in the Church, letting the years roll by. In our life, in the life of Christians, our first conversion — that unique moment which each of us remembers, when we clearly understood everything the Lord was asking of us — is certainly very significant. But the later conversions are even more important and they are increasingly demanding. To facilitate the work of grace in these conversions, we need to keep our soul young, we have to call upon our Lord, know how to listen to Him and, having found out what has gone wrong, know how to ask His pardon.

“’If you call upon me, I will listen to you,’ we read in holy scripture. Isn’t it wonderful how God cares for us and is always ready to listen to us — waiting for man to speak? He hears us at all times but particularly now. Our heart is ready and we have made up our minds to purify ourselves. He hears us and will not disregard the petition of a ‘humble and contrite heart.’

The Lord listens to us. He wants to intervene and enter our lives to free us from evil and fill us with good. ‘I will rescue him and honour him,’ he says of man. So we must hope for glory. Here again we have the beginning of the interior movement that makes up our spiritual life. Hope of glory increases our faith and fosters our charity, the three theological virtues, godly virtues which make us like our Father God, have been set in motion.

What better way to begin Lent? Let’s renew our faith, hope and love. The spirit of penance and the desire for purification come from these virtues. Lent is not only an opportunity for increasing our external practices of self-denial. If we thought it were only that, we would miss the deep meaning it has in Christian living, for these external practices are — as I have said — the result of faith, hope and charity.”

Josemaria Escrivá (1902-1975)
Christ is Passing By No 57

Explaining “Shrove” – https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/02/13/the-meaning-of-shrove-tuesday-13-february-2018/ beginning lent - our heart is ready - st josemaria escriva - 5 march 2019.jpg

franciscan OFM, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 5 March – St John Joseph of the Cross OFM (1654-1734)

Posted on March 5, 2019March 4, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 5 March – St John Joseph of the Cross OFM (1654-1734) – Priest, Franciscan Friar, Mystic, ascetic, gifted with prophecy and miracles – born Carlo Gaetano Calosinto on 15 August 1654 at Ischia, Naples, Italy and died on 5 March 1734 of natural causes. Patronage – Ischia. Saint-John-Joseph-of-the-Cross

Saint John Joseph of the Cross was born on the feast of the Assumption in 1654, on the island of Ischia in the kingdom of Naples. From his childhood he was a model of virtue and in his sixteenth year he entered the Franciscan Order of the Strict Observance, or Reform of Saint Peter of Alcantara (1499-1562), at Naples. Such was the edification he gave in his Order, that within three years after his profession he was sent to found a monastery in Piedmont. He assisted in its construction himself and established there the most perfect silence and monastic fervour.

One day Saint John Joseph was found in the chapel in ecstasy, raised far above the floor. He won the hearts of all his religious and became a priest out of obedience to his Superiors. He obtained what seemed to be an inspired knowledge of moral theology, in prayer and silence. He assisted at the death of his dear mother who rejoiced and seemed to live again in his presence and after he had sung the Mass for the repose of her soul, saw her soul ascend to heaven, to pray thereafter to their God face to face. st john joseph of the cross 5 march

With his superiors’ permission he established another convent and drew up rules for the Community, which the Holy See confirmed. Afterward, he became a master of novices vigilant and filled with gentleness and of a constantly even disposition. Some time later he was made Provincial of the Province of Naples, erected in the beginning of the 18th century by Clement XI. He laboured hard to establish in Italy this branch of his Order, which the Sovereign Pontiff had separated from the same branch in Spain. His ministry brought him many sufferings, especially moral sufferings occasioned by numerous calumnies. Nonetheless, the Saint succeeded in his undertakings, striving to inculcate in his subjects the double spirit of contemplation and penance which Saint Peter of Alcantara had bequeathed to the Franciscans of the Strict Observance. He gave them the example of the most sublime virtues, especially of humility and religious discipline. God rewarded his zeal with numerous gifts in the supernatural order, such as those of prophecy and miracles.

Finally, consumed by labours for the glory of God, he was called to his reward. Stricken with apoplexy, he died an octogenarian in his convent at Naples, on 5 March 1734. Countless posthumous miracles confirmed the sanctity and glory of the Saint and he was Canonised in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI. SOD-0305-SaintJohnJosephoftheCross-790x480

SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 5 March

Posted on March 5, 2019March 4, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Shrove Tuesday – *2019

St Adrian of Caesarea
St Caron
St Carthach the Elder
Bl Christopher Macassoli of Vigevano
St Clement of Santa Lucia
St Colman of Armagh
St Conon of Pamphylia
Bl Conrad Scheuber
St Eusebius of Cremona
St Eusebius the Martyr
St Gerasimus
Bl Giovanna Irrizaldi
Bl Ion Costist
St John Joseph of the Cross OFM (1654-1734)

St Kieran
Bl Lazër Shantoja
St Lucius I, Pope
St Mark the Ascetic
St Oliva of Brescia
St Phocas of Antioch
St Piran
Bl Roger
Bl Romeo of Limoges
St Theophilus of Caesarea
St Virgilius of Arles

CATHOLIC Quotes, NOTES to Followers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, The WORD

Appeal Update

Posted on March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 by AnaStpaul

The Widow’s Mite

Appeal Update

Can you help?

The generous love of many has been showered upon this work but there is still have a way to go to be able to move and maintain the site.

Any Donation, no matter how small,
will be received with all my heart!

Gratitude is the memory of the heart.”
Saint Mary Euphrasia (1796-1868)

To make a Donation and assist this Site to keep going, please go to:

PayPal.Me/anastpaul

I thank and bless you all.

Holy Mass and Daily Prayer, will be offered for those who donate.

“So now, our God, we give thanks to you
and praise your majestic name…”

1 Chronicles 29:13

Ana StPaul O.P.

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, NOVENAS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on WEALTH/RICHES, The WORD

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day One – 25 February 2019 “Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Posted on March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Eight – 4 March 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday 18 April – Holy Saturday 20 April
Easter Sunday 21 April 2019

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
“How hard it is for those who have wealth
to enter the Kingdom of God!”

Mark 10:23

“How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”

“When Jesus says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” (Mt 5:3), He shows that the kingdom of heaven will be assigned to those who are recommended by the humility of their spirits rather than by the smallness of their means. Yet, it cannot be doubted, that this possession of humility, is more easily acquired by the poor than the rich, for the poverty of the former, inclines them more easily to generosity, while the others’ wealth inclines them rather to pride. Notwithstanding, even in many of the rich is found, a spirit which uses its abundance, not for the increasing of its superiority but on works of kindness and counts its greatest gain, to be what it expends, in relieving the hardship of others.

So it is given to every kind and condition of people, to share in this virtue, for one can be equal as regards one’s dispositions, without being so in respect of fortune. It does not matter how different they are in earthly means, there is no distance between those who are equal in spiritual possessions.

Blessed, therefore, is the poverty, that does not desire to increase its wealth here below but is eager to amass heavenly possessions.”

St Pope Leo the Great (400-461)

Father & Doctor of the Church

A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

REFLECTION – “Easy circumstances are generally thought a special happiness; it is thought a great point to get rid of annoyance or discomfort of mind and body, it is thought allowable and suitable, to make use of all means available, for making life pleasant.”

“Such advice is especially suitable to an age like this, when there is an effort on all hands to multiply comforts and to get rid of the daily inconveniences and distresses of life.
Alas! my brethren, how do you know, if you avail yourselves of the luxuries of this world without restraint but that you are only postponing and increasing by postponing, an inevitable chastisement?
How do you know, but that, if you will not satisfy the debt of daily sin now, it will hereafter come upon you with interest? See whether this is not a thought, which would spoil that enjoyment, which even religious persons are apt to take in this world’s goods, if they would but admit it.
It is said that we ought to enjoy this life as the gift of God.
Easy circumstances are generally thought a special happiness, it is thought a great point, to get rid of annoyance, or discomfort, of mind and body, it is thought allowable and suitable, to make use of all means available, for making life pleasant. We desire and confess we desire, to make time pass agreeably and to live in the sunshine. All things harsh and austere are carefully put aside. We shrink from the rude lap of earth and the embrace of the elements and we build ourselves houses in which the flesh may enjoy its lust and the eye its pride.
We aim at having all things at our will.
Cold and hunger and hard lodging and ill usage and humble offices and mean appearance, are all considered serious evils.

And thus year follows year, tomorrow as today, till we think that this, our artificial life, is our natural state and must and ever will be.” we desire and confess we desire - lent prep nov - 4 march 2019.jpg

Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

“Only by accepting, with humble gratitude,
the love of the Lord,
do we free ourselves, from the seduction of idols
and the blindness of our illusions.
Money, pleasure, success dazzle
but then disappoint,
they promise life but procure death.
The Lord asks us to detach ourselves
from these false riches in order,
to enter into true life,
the full, authentic, luminous life.”

Pope Francis – Angelus, 11 October 2015

Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY EIGHT

Loving Father,
may I live this Lent
as an unceasing act of love for You.
Let me grow in understanding
of the riches hidden in Christ.
In my prayer, grant me a spirit
to see what must be done
and the strength to do what is right.
Make me radiant in Your presence
with the strength of my yearning for You.
By my fasting,
fortify my resolve
to carry out Your loving commands.
Bless me with an increase in devoutness of life
so that I may be found steadfast in faith.
Any by my almsgiving,
renew and purify my heart
so that I may hold to the things that eternally endure.
Help me to repent of my sins now
and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
Teach me and help me Lord, my God,
to relinquish the comforts of this world,
to leave my house and follow only the
Way of the Cross,
to sell all, give to the poor
and follow Your Son.
And thus, united with Him,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
………………..
(Mention your special intention)
Amen lenten prep nov day eight 4 march 2019.jpg

LENT 2019, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, The LAST THINGS

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Seven – 3 March 2019 “Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Posted on March 3, 2019March 2, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Seven – 3 March 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday 18 April – Holy Saturday 20 April
Easter Sunday 21 April 2019

Litany of Humility
Written by Servant of God Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930),
Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honoured, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, O Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may increase and I may decrease, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, grant me the grace to desire it. litany of humility - card merry del val - 20 june 2018.jpg

A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

REFLECTION – “LET US JUDGE OURSELVES, that we be not judged.
Let us afflict ourselves, that God may not afflict us.”

“And be sure of this – that if He has any love for you,
if He sees aught of good in your soul, He will afflict you,
if you will not afflict yourselves.
He will not let you escape.
He has ten thousand ways of purging those whom He has chosen,
from the dross and alloy with which the fine gold is defaced.
He can bring diseases on you, or can visit you with misfortunes,
or take away your friends, or oppress your minds with darkness,
or refuse you strength to bear up against pain when it comes upon you.
He can inflict on you a lingering and painful death.
He can make “the bitterness of death pass” not.
We, indeed, cannot decide in the case of others,
when trouble is a punishment and when not;
yet this we know – that all sin brings affliction.
We have no means of judging others
but we may judge ourselves.
LET US JUDGE OURSELVES, that we be not judged.
Let us afflict ourselves, that God may not afflict us.
Let us come before Him with our best offerings,
that He may forgive us.”

Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

“To be Christian means,
not starting from death
but rather, from God’s love for us
which has defeated our most bitter enemy.
God is greater than nothingness
and a lit candle is enough to overcome the darkest of nights.
Echoing the prophets, Paul cries,
“O death, where is thy victory?
O death, where is thy sting?”

Pope Francis – General Audience, 19 April 2017

Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY SEVEN

Today Lord I choose Your Light,
I choose Your love
and the challenge to live it and share it,
I choose hope, even in moments of darkness,
I choose faith, accepting You as Lord and God,
I choose to let go of some part of my burdens,
day by day handing them over to You,
I choose to take hold of Your strength and power
ever more deeply in my life.
I choose to judge and afflict myself.
I choose repentance and reparation and suffering,
for all my sins
and those of all the world.
Forgive me my Lord!
May this truly be for me a time of new life,
of change, challenge and growth.
May I come to Easter with a heart open to dying with You
and rising to Your new life, day by day.
Help me to repent of my sins now
and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with Your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
…………………………………………..
(Mention your special intention)
Amen lenten prep novena day 7 3 march 2019.jpg

CONFESSION/PENANCE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, NOVENAS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, The WORD

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Six – 2 March 2019 “Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Posted on March 2, 2019March 1, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Six – 2 March 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday 18 April – Holy Saturday 20 April
Easter Sunday 21 April 2019
A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

“He answered, “I heard you in the garden
but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid.”
Then God asked: Who told you that you were naked?
Have you eaten from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat?”

Genesis 3:10-11

“Do you see, dear friend, how patient God is? For when he said, “Adam, where are you?” and when Adam did not at once confess his sin but said, “I heard your voice, O Lord, and realised that I am naked and hid myself,” God was not angered, nor did He immediately turn away. Rather, He gave him the opportunity of a second reply and said, “Who told you that you are naked? Unless you ate of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat.”
Consider how profound are the words of God’s wisdom. He says, “Why do you say that you are naked but hide your sin? Do you really think that I see only your body but do not see your heart and your thoughts?” Since Adam was deceived he hoped that God would not know his sin. He said something like this to himself, “If I say that I am naked, God in His ignorance will say, ‘Why are you naked?’ Then I shall have to deny and say, ‘I do not know’ and so I shall not be caught by Him and He will give me back the garment that I had at first. If not, as long as He does not cast me out, He will not exile me!”
While he was thinking these thoughts … God, unwilling to multiply his guilt, says, “How did you realise that you are naked? Unless you ate of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat.” It is as though He said, “Do you really think that you can hide from me? Do you imagine that I do not know what you have done? Will you not say, ‘I have sinned?’ Say, O scoundrel, ‘Yes, it is true, Master, I have transgressed your command. I have fallen by listening to the woman’s counsel, I am greatly at fault for doing what she said and disobeying Your word. Have mercy on me!’” But he does not humble himself, he does not bend. The neck of his heart is like a sinew of iron! For had he said this he might have stayed in paradise. By this one word he might have spared himself that whole cycle of evils without number that he endured by his expulsion and in spending so many centuries in hell.”

Saint Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022)
(Discourses, 5)

A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

REFLECTION – “Now is the accepted time, now the day of salvation.”

“These are thoughts, I need hardly say, especially suited to this season. From the earliest times down to this day, these weeks before Easter have been set apart every year, for the particular remembrance and confession of our sins. From the first age downward, not a year has passed but Christians have been exhorted to reflect how far they have let go their birthright, as a preparation for their claiming the blessing. At Christmas, we are born again with Christ, at Easter we keep the Eucharistic Feast. In Lent, by penance, we join the two great sacraments together. Are you, my brethren, prepared to say—is there any single Christian alive who will dare to profess—that he has not in greater or less degree, sinned against God’s free mercies, as bestowed on him, in Baptism without, or rather against his deserts? Who will say that he has so improved his birthright that the blessing is his fit reward, without either sin to confess, or wrath to deprecate? See, then, the Church offers you this season for the purpose.

“Now is the accepted time, now the day of salvation.”

Now it is that, God being your helper, you are to attempt to throw off from you the heavy burden of past transgression, to reconcile yourselves to Him, who has once already imparted to you, His atoning merits and you have profaned them!”

Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

“There is still time for endurance,
for patience,
time for healing,
time for change.
Have you slipped? Rise up.
Have you sinned? Cease.
Do not stand among sinners but leap aside.
For when you turn away and weep, then you will be saved.”

St Basil the Great (329-379)

Father and Doctor of the Church

Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY SIX

O gracious Father,
infuse in our hearts
the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom
and open the eyes of our mind
that we may understand the teachings of Your Gospel.
Instil in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments,
so that having curbed all carnal desires,
we may lead a spiritual life,
both thinking and doing everything to please You.
Help us to see,
in our ordinary difficulties and duties,
in the trials and temptations of every day,
the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities.
United with Your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intention
…………………………………
(Mention your intention)
For You, our God,
are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies;
and to You we render glory,
together with Your Suffering Son,
and with Your all holy,
life-creating Spirit,
now and ever, and forever.
Amen

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, PAPAL ENCYLICALS, PRAYERS to the SAINTS, St JOSEPH

Devotion for March – St Joseph

Posted on March 1, 2019March 1, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Devotion for March
St Joseph

Due to the Solemnity of Saint Joseph on 19 March, this month is devoted to this great saint, the foster father of Christ.

“Joseph shines among all mankind by the most august dignity, since by divine will, he was the guardian of the Son of God and reputed as His father among men. Hence it came about that the Word of God was humbly subject to Joseph, that He obeyed him and that He rendered to him all those offices that children are bound to render to their parents. From this two-fold dignity flowed the obligation which nature lays upon the head of families, so that Joseph became the guardian, the administrator and the legal defender of the divine house whose chief he was. And during the whole course of his life he fulfilled those charges and those duties. …It is, then, natural and worthy that as the Blessed Joseph ministered to all the needs of the family at Nazareth and girt it about with his protection, he should now cover with the cloak of his heavenly patronage and defend the Church of Jesus Christ.

“Quamquam Pluries” – On the Devotion to St Joseph –Pope Leo XIII

St Joseph is invoked as patron for many causes, amongst them he is the patron of the Universal Church. He is the patron of the dying because Jesus and Mary were at his death-bed. He is also the patron of fathers, of carpenters, of workers and those seeking work and of social justice.

As the foster father of Christ, St Joseph is, in a very real sense, the foster father of all Christians. The “Prayer for the Intercession of St Joseph” prayer is recited to ask St Joseph to pray on your behalf to the Son of God, whom he protected and reared.

O blessed Joseph, virgin-father of Jesus,
most pure spouse of the Virgin Mary,
pray every day for us to the same Jesus, the Son of God,
that we, being defended by the power of His grace
and striving dutifully in life,
may be crowned by Him at the hour of death.
Amen

Uncategorized

The Holy Father’s Prayer Intention for March 2019

Posted on March 1, 2019 by AnaStpaul

The Holy Father’s
Prayer Intention for March 2019

Evangelisation:

Recognition of the Right of Christian Communities

That Christian communities,

especially those who are persecuted,

feel that they are close to Christ

and have their rights respected.

holy father's prayer intention march 2019 1 march 2019

CONFESSION/PENANCE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, NOVENAS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, The WORD

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Five – 1 March 2019 “Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Posted on March 1, 2019March 1, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Five – 1 March 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday 18 April – Holy Saturday 20 April
Easter Sunday 21 April 2019

“Do not delay turning back to the LORD,
do not put it off day after day.
For suddenly his wrath will come forth;
at the time of vengeance, you will perish…”
Sirach 5:7

Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this verse

“The mind fluctuates between presumption and desperation. You must have fear, otherwise presumption will kill you; you must have fear, that is, rather than counting on the mercy of God, lest you fall into judgement. You also need to have fear, so that desperation does not kill you, when you begin to think, that the horrible sins that you have committed, cannot be forgiven you. In that case, you end up not repenting and incur instead the sentence of Wisdom, which says, “I also will laugh at your destruction.” How then does the Lord treat those who are in danger from both these maladies? To those who are in danger from presumption, He says, “Do not be slow in turning to the Lord. Do not put it off from day to day, for suddenly his anger will come and in the time of vengeance will utterly destroy you.” To those who are in danger from despair, what does He say? “In whatever day the wicked person shall be converted, I will forget all his iniquities.” Accordingly, for the sake of those who are in danger because of despair, He has offered us a refuge of pardon. And for those who are in danger, because of presumption and are deluded by delays, He has made the day of death uncertain. You do not know when your last day may come. You are an ingrate. Why not use the day today that God has given you to repent?”

St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church

(Tractates on the Gospel of John, 33)

A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

REFLECTION – “The one came for a son’s privileges, the other for a servant’s drudgery.”

“Would you see how a penitent should come to God? turn to the parable of the Prodigal Son. He, too, had squandered away his birthright, as Esau did. He, too, came for the blessing, like Esau. Yes, but how differently he came! he came with deep confession and self-abasement. He said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son, make me as one of thy hired servants” but Esau said, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me.” The one came for a son’s privileges, the other for a servant’s drudgery. The one killed and dressed his venison with his own hand and enjoyed it not; for the other the fatted calf was prepared and the ring for his hand and shoes for his feet and the best robe and there was music and dancing.”

Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

When you feel the temptation to dwell on your own weakness,
raise your eyes to Christ crucified and say:
‘Lord, I am a poor sinner but you can work the miracle of making me a little bit better’.
In the Church, holy yet made up of sinners,
you will find everything you need to grow towards holiness.

Pope Francis – Gaudete et Exscultate

Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY FIVE

Dear Lord,
we are fast approaching the holy season of Lent.
We begin to realise anew that these are the days of salvation,
these are the acceptable days.
We know that we are all sinners.
We know that in many things we have all offended Your infinite majesty.
We know that sin destroys Your life in us
as a drought withers the leaves and chokes the life from the land,
leaving an arid, dusty desert.
Help us now, Lord,
in our feeble attempts to make up for past sin.
Bless our efforts with the rich blessing of Your grace.
Make us realise ever more our need of penance and of mortification.
Help us to see,
in our ordinary difficulties and duties,
in the trials and temptations of every day,
the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities.
Every day we are so often reminded in field and wood,
in sky and stream,
of Your own boundless generosity to us.
Help us to realise that You are never outdone in generosity,
and that the least thing we do for You will be rewarded,
full measure, pressed down, shaken together and flowing over.
Then we shall see, in our own souls,
how the desert can blossom,
and the dry and wasted land can bring forth the rich,
useful fruit that was expected of it from the beginning.
United with Your Son, who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intention
………………………………….
(Mention your intention)
Amen lenten preparation novena day five - 1 march 2019

NOTES to Followers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on PRAYER, SACRED and IMMACULATE HEARTS, The WORD

Gratitude and Love to You!

Posted on March 1, 2019March 1, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Gratitude and Love to You!

“…Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts,
giving thanks always and for everything,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.”

Ephesians 5:19-20

To Rosemary and Edward Vrscay

Your donations have poured
Grace and Blessings upon me and upon this Site.

Your Holy Mass will be celebrated on Thursday 7 March

“Would that I could exhaust myself,
in acts of thanksgiving and gratitude,
towards this Divine Heart,
for the great favour He shows us,
in deigning to accept our help,
to make Him known, loved and honoured;
He reserves infinite blessings for all those
who devote themselves to this work.”

St Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690)

CONFESSION/PENANCE, LENT 2019, NOVENAS, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on HELL, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The WORD

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Four – 28 February 2019 “Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Posted on February 28, 2019February 28, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Four – 28 February 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday 18 April – Holy Saturday 20 April
Easter Sunday 21 April 2019

The salt of repentance

Following the Master, every Christian must renounce himself, take up his own cross and participate in the sufferings of Christ (Mt 16:24). Thus transformed into the image of Christ’s death, he is made capable of meditating on the glory of the resurrection. Furthermore, following the Master, he can no longer live for himself but must live for Him who loves him and gave Himself for him. He will also have to live for his brethren, completing “in his flesh that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ…for the benefit of his body, which is the church” (Ga 2:20; Col 1:24).

In addition, since the Church is closely linked to Christ, the penitence of the individual Christian also has an intimate relationship of its own, with the whole ecclesial community. In fact, not only does he receive in the bosom of the Church through baptism the fundamental gift of “metanoia,” namely the transformation and renewal of the whole person but this gift is restored and reinvigorated, in those members of the Body of Christ, who have fallen into sin, through the sacrament of penance. “Those who approach the sacrament of penance receive from the mercy of God forgiveness for offences committed against Him and at the same time become reconciled with the Church on which they have inflicted a wound by sinning and the Church, cooperates in their conversion, with charity, example and prayer” (Vatican II : LG 11). And in the Church, finally, the little acts of penitence imposed each time in the sacrament, become a form of participation, in a special way, in the infinite expiation of Christ.

St Pope Paul VI (1897-1978)

A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

Reflection – “We cannot escape punishment, here or hereafter – we must take our choice, whether to suffer and mourn a little now, or much then.”

“And then, alas! the truth flashed upon him, he uttered a great and bitter cry, when it was too late. It would have been well, had he uttered it before he came for the blessing, not after it. He repented when it was too late—it had been well if he had repented in time. So I say of persons who have in any way sinned. It is good for them not to forget that they have sinned. It is good that they should lament and deplore their past sins. Depend upon it, they will wail over them in the next world, if they wail not here. Which is better, to utter a bitter cry now or then?—then, when the blessing of eternal life is refused them by the just Judge at the last day, or now, in order that they may gain it? Let us be wise enough to have our agony in this world, not in the next. If we humble ourselves now, God will pardon us then. We cannot escape punishment, here or hereafter – we must take our choice, whether to suffer and mourn a little now, or much then.”

Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY FOUR

Loving Father,
may I live this Lent
as an unceasing act of love for You.
Let me grow in understanding
of the riches hidden in Christ.
In my prayer,
grant me a spirit to see what must be done
and the strength to do what is right.
Make me radiant in Your presence
with the strength of my yearning for You.
By my fasting, fortify my resolve
to carry out Your loving commands.
Bless me with an increase in devoutness of life,
so that I may be found steadfast in faith.
And by my almsgiving, renew and purify my heart,
so that I may hold to the
things that eternally endure.
Help me to repent of my sins now
and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
……………………………………………
(Mention your special intention)
Amen

NOTES to Followers, The WORD

My gratitude, love and prayers to YOU

Posted on February 28, 2019 by AnaStpaul

My gratitude, love and prayers to YOU!

“I do not cease to give thanks for you…”

Ephesians 1:16

Beverley Shavey
Hugh Hubble

Holy Mass will be offered
for you and your intentions
on Tuesday 4 March

To make a Donation

and assist this Site to keep going, please go to:

PayPal.Me/anastpaul

NOTES to Followers

To My Pinterest Followers and Collaborators

Posted on February 28, 2019February 28, 2019 by AnaStpaul

To the Awestruck Pinterest Community

because of currency fluctuations,
I cannot pay the fees attached to the site
in US dollars this year.
Any Donation, no matter how small,
will be received
with LOVE and TEARS
and all the GRATITUDE of my HEART.

Holy Mass will be said for all Donors
regularly, mentioning you by name.

To make a Donation please go here:

PayPal.Me/anastpaul

LENT 2019, NOVENAS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on LOVE, The PASSION

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Three – 27 February 2019 “Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Posted on February 27, 2019February 26, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Three – 27 February 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday, 18 April, Good Friday, 19 April, Holy Saturday, 20 April
Easter Sunday – 21 April 2019

WE ARE WRETCHED CREATURES

We cannot dwell upon the conduct of the Jews, my dear people, without being struck with amazement. These very people had waited for God for four thousand years, they had prayed much because of the great desire they had to receive Him and yet when He came, He could not find a single person to give Him the poorest lodging. The all-powerful God was obliged to make His dwelling with the animals.

And yet, my dear people, I find in the conduct of the Jews, criminal as it was, not a subject for explanations but a theme for the condemnation of the conduct of the majority of Christians.

We can see that the Jews had formed an idea of their Redeemer which did not conform with the state of austerity in which He appeared. It seemed as if they could not persuade themselves that this could indeed be He who was to be their Saviour; St Paul tells us very clearly that if the Jews had recognised Him as God, they would never have put Him to death. There is, then, some small excuse for the Jews. But what excuse can we make, my dear brethren, for the coldness and the contempt which we show towards Jesus Christ?

Oh, yes, we do indeed truly believe that Jesus Christ came upon earth, that He provided the most convincing proofs of His divinity. Hence the reason for our hope. We rejoice and we have good reason to recognise Jesus Christ as our God, our Saviour and our Model. Here is the foundation of our faith.

But, tell me, with all this, what homage do we really pay Him? Do we do more for Him than if we did not believe all this? Tell me, dear brethren, does our conduct correspond at all to our beliefs? We are wretched creatures.

We are even more blameworthy than the Jews!

St John Marie Baptiste Vianney (1786-1859)

A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

“He thought he was as sure of the blessing as if he had not sold the birthright.”
And then, when all is done and over and their souls sold to Satan, they never seem to understand that they have parted with their birthright. They think that they stand just where they did, before they followed the world, the flesh and the devil they take for granted that when they choose to become more decent, or more religious, they have all their privileges just as before. Like Samson, they propose to go out as at other times before and shake themselves. And like Esau, instead of repenting for the loss of the birthright, they come, as a matter of course, for the blessing. Esau went out to hunt for venison gaily and promptly brought it to his father. His spirits were high, his voice was cheerful. It did not strike him that God was angry with him for what had past years ago. He thought he was as sure of the blessing, as if he had not sold the birthright.

Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY THREE

Today Lord I choose life,
I choose Your love
and the challenge to live it
and share it,
I choose hope, even in moments of darkness,
I choose faith, accepting You as Lord and God,
I choose to let go of some part of my burdens,
day by day handing them over to You,
I choose to take hold of Your strength and power
ever more deeply in my life.
I choose repentance and reparation and suffering,
for all my sins
and those of all the world.
Forgive me my Lord!
May this truly be for me,
a time of new life, of change, challenge and growth.
May I come to Easter
with a heart open to dying with You
and rising to Your new life, day by day.
Help me to repent of my sins now
and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
…………………………………………..
(Mention your special intention)
Amen lenten preparation novena day three - 27 feb 2019

NOTES to Followers, The WORD

Can you help? AND Thank you!

Posted on February 27, 2019February 27, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Can you help?

Thank you!

My words alone are inadequate to express such bountiful generosity.

“You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us..”
2 Corinthians 9:11

An update on my situation –

Holy Mass will be offered for:

Jairo Carmona
Gladys Soto Villalon
Melanie Jean Juneau

To make a Donation and assist this Site to keep going, please go to:

PayPal.Me/anastpaul

breathing catholic - thanks and mass 27 feb 2019.jpg

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, NOVENAS, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, The WORD

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Two – 26 February 2019 “Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Posted on February 26, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day Two – 26 February 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday, 18 April, Good Friday, 19 April, Holy Saturday, 20 April
Easter Sunday – 21 April 2019

And he sat down and called the twelve and he said to them,
“If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
Mark 9:35

Reflection:

“Answer those whom the marks of the Passion in Christ’s body plunge into uncertainty and who put the question: “Who is this king of glory?” (Ps 24[23]:8). Answer them that He is the Christ,“the mighty, the valiant” (ibid.) in everything He has done and continues to do…

Is He insignificant because He made Himself humble for your sake? Is He to be despised because, as a Good Shepherd laying down His life for His flock, He came in search of the lost sheep and, having found it, brought it back on the shoulders that bore the cross for its sake and, when He had carried it back to the life on high, set it down amongst the faithful flock who remained in the fold? (cf. Jn 10:11; Lk 15:4).

Do you despise Him because he lighted a lamp, His own flesh and swept His house in search of the lost coin, cleansing the world from sin, while losing the beauty of His royal likeness through His Passion? (Lk 15,8f.; Mk 12,16)…

Do you consider Him less great, because He girds Himself with a linen towel to wash His disciples’ feet, showing them, that the certain way to be exalted, is to humble oneself? (Jn 13:4f.). Do you hold a grievance against God because Christ humbles Himself, turning His mind to earth so as to raise up with Himself those who are bowed beneath the weight of sin? (Mt 11:28).

Do you accuse Him of having eaten with publicans and sinners… for their salvation? (Mt 9:10). How can you take to task a doctor who bends over the sufferings and wounds of the sick to bring them healing?”

St Gregory Nazianzen (330-390)

Father & Doctor of the Church

A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

Do I despise the great gift of God’s Love?

“Is it not, I say, quite a common case for men and for women to neglect religion in their best days? They have been baptised, they have been taught their duty, they have been taught to pray, they know their Creed, their conscience has been enlightened, they have opportunity to come to Church. This is their birthright, the privileges of their birth of water and of the Spirit but they sell it, as Esau did. They are tempted by Satan, with some bribe of this world and they give up their birthright, in exchange for what is sure to perish and to make them perish with it. Esau was tempted by the mess of pottage which he saw in Jacob’s hands. Satan arrested the eyes of his lust and he gazed on the pottage, as Eve gazed on the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve sold their birthright for the fruit of a tree—that was their bargain. Esau sold his for a mess of lentils—that was his.

And men now-a-days often sell theirs, not indeed for any thing so simple as fruit or herb but for some evil gain or other, which at the time they think worth purchasing at any price, perhaps for the enjoyment of some particular sin, or more commonly for the indulgence of general carelessness and spiritual sloth, because they do not like a strict life and have no heart for God’s service. And thus, they are profane persons, for they despise the great gift of God.”

Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

“The world tells us to seek success, power and money.
God tells us to seek humility, service and love.”

Pope Francis

Lenten Preparation Novena
DAY TWO

Lord, during this Lenten Season,
nourish me with Your Word of life
and make me one
with You in love and prayer.

Fill my heart with Your love
and keep me faithful to the Gospel of Christ.
Give me the grace to rise above my human weakness.
Give me new life by Your Sacraments, especially the Mass.

Father, our source of life,
I reach out with joy to grasp Your hand;
let me walk more readily in Your ways.
Guide me in Your gentle mercy,
for left to myself, I cannot do Your Will.

Father of love, source of all blessings,
help me to pass from my old life of sin
to the new life of grace.

Help me to repent of my sins now and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with Your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
…………………………………………..
(Mention your special intention)

Prepare me for the glory of Your Kingdom.
I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever.
Amen lenten prep novena day two - come back to me - 26 feb 2019.jpg

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2019, NOVENAS, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ALMS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on FASTING, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on HELL, QUOTES on PRAYER, The LAST THINGS

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day One – 25 February 2019 “Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Posted on February 25, 2019February 25, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Lenten Preparation Novena – Day One – 25 February 2019
“Come Back to Me With all your Heart”

Lent 2019 will begin on
Wednesday, 6 March
The Holy Triduum is
Thursday, 18 April, Good Friday, 19 April, Holy Saturday, 20 April
Easter Sunday – 21 April 2019

How do I want to be during Lent this year? More quiet and thoughtful? More open to God’s desires? B etter able to sit with people who need me? More attentive to sacred readings, whether in church or in private? Do I need to be more compassionate toward my own fears and failings? Do I need to become more courageous about using the gifts God has given me?

If we want this year’s Lent to be life changing, we have to start preparing now. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, not the first day to start thinking about your Lenten practices for this year. The devil and his minions have already begun preparing their attack to dislodge your Lenten sacrifice. What are you doing to prepare yourself and gather reinforcements against him?

The Big Three:
Fasting is not just a spiritual
diet. By denying our bodies,
our physical hunger reminds us
of the hunger of our souls for
God, our longing for a deeper
relationship with our Lord.

Almsgiving teaches us to
separate ourselves from material possessions. By freely giving
of our money and possessions,
we learn to trust the Lord more
deeply for our own daily needs.

Finally, an emphasis on prayer
during Lent is a way to stir up
our love and ardour by having a
deepening conversation with the
Almighty. Remember that the
light of God’s love shines more
brightly in the darkness of the
recognition of our own sinfulness

Pre-planning – what will I do?
• Begin each morning with the prayer: “Lord, I offer you this day and all that I think and do and say.”
• Attend Daily Mass as often as possible.
• Pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
• Make the Stations of the Cross at home or in a parish celebration.
• Read Scripture for 10 minutes every day.
• Pray the Seven Penitential Psalms (Psalm 6, 31, 50, 101, 129 and 142).
• Spend some time in quiet prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
• Abstain from meat for an extra day or two each week.
• Listen to spiritual music or a spiritual speaker.
• Keep a Lenten journal with your spiritual insights, special intentions, people you want to pray for, hurts and disappointments that you want to offer up and progress reports on your Lenten resolutions.

10 tips for making the season more meaningful
Slow Down – Set aside 10 minutes a day for silent prayer or meditation. It will revitalise your body and your spirit.
Read a good book – You could choose the life of a saint, a spiritual how-to, an inspirational book or one of the pope’s new books.
Be kind – Go out of your way to do something nice for someone else every day.
Get involved – Attend a Lenten lecture or spiritual program.
Volunteer at your parish – Whether it’s the parish fundraiser, cleaning the church or helping with the charity project, it will give you a chance to help others.
Reach out – Invite an inactive Catholic to come with you to receive ashes on Ash Wednesday.
Pray – Especially for people you don’t like and for people who don’t like you.
Tune out – Turn off the television and spend quality time talking with family members or friends.
Clean out closets – Donate gently used items to your local Catholic charity or your Parish Charity.
Donate — Google “Catholic Missions.” Then pick one mission and decide how you can help by sending money, clothing or supplies.

“Prayer, mercy and fasting:
these three are one and they give life to each other.
Fasting is the soul of prayer,
mercy is the lifeblood of fasting.
Let no one try to separate them, they cannot be separated.
If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing.
So if you pray, fast,
if fast, show mercy,
if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others.
When you fast, see the fasting of others.
If you hope for mercy, show mercy.
If you look for kindness, show kindness.
If you want to receive, give.”

St Peter Chrysologus (c 406 – c 450)

Father & Doctor of the Church

A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

“Each of us must come to the evening of life. Each of us must enter on eternity. Each of us must come to that quiet, awful time, when we will appear before the Lord of the vineyard and answer for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or bad. That, my dear brethren, you will have to undergo. … It will be the dread moment of expectation when your fate for eternity is in the balance and when you are about to be sent forth as the companion of either saints or devils, without possibility of change. There can be no change, there can be no reversal. As that judgement decides it, so it will be for ever and ever. Such is the particular judgement. … when we find ourselves by ourselves, one by one, in His presence and have brought before us most vividly all the thoughts, words and deeds of this past life. Who will be able to bear the sight of himself? And yet we shall be obliged steadily to confront ourselves and to see ourselves.

In this life we shrink from knowing our real selves. We do not like to know how sinful we are. We love those who prophecy smooth things to us and we are angry with those who tell us of our faults. But on that day, not one fault only but all the secret, as well as evident, defects of our character will be clearly brought out. We shall see what we feared to see here and much more. And then, when the full sight of ourselves comes to us, who will not wish that he had known more of himself here, rather than leaving it for the inevitable day to reveal it all to him! …………………….We can believe what we choose. We are answerable for what we choose to believe.”

Blessed Card. John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Lenten Preparation Novena

DAY ONE

Lord, during this Lenten Season,
nourish me with Your Word of life
and make me one
with You in love and prayer.

Fill my heart with Your love
and keep me faithful to the Gospel of Christ.
Give me the grace to rise above my human weakness.
Give me new life by Your Sacraments, especially the Mass.

Father, our source of life,
I reach out with joy to grasp Your hand;
let me walk more readily in Your ways.
Guide me in Your gentle mercy,
for left to myself I cannot do Your Will.

Father of love, source of all blessings,
help me to pass from my old life of sin
to the new life of grace.

Help me to repent of my sins now and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions

………………………………………
(Mention your special intention)

Prepare me for the glory of Your Kingdom.
I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever.

Amen

NOTES to Followers, The WORD

Away for a week Seeking Help

Posted on February 25, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Remember folks, I am gone this week, except for the Lenten Preparation Novena.

I am reaching the end of my WordPress free data and have to find a way to raise the money to continue with ‘Breathing Catholic’.

As I am in South Africa, the dollar exchange rate is very high and beyond my means. Therefore, I am seeking to create a Paypal account and perhaps, an appeal on a ‘Funding Site’ to allow Donations, every bit helps! the widow's mite - can you help = 25 feb 2019.jpg

I will keep you posted.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26

numbers 6 24 26 may the lord bless you and keep you - widow's mite post - 25 feb 2019.jpg

ArchAngels and Angels, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on LOVE, The WORD

Thought for the Day – 24 February – Love your Enemies

Posted on February 24, 2019February 24, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 24 February – Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Gospel: Luke 6:27–38

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.”…Luke 6:32

The Lord Himself reminds us: Whoever loves me will keep my commandments. And this is my commandments – that you love one another. So the man who does not love his neighbour does not obey God’s command. But one who does not obey His command, cannot love God. A man is blessed if he can love all men equally. Moreover, if he truly loves God, he must love his neighbour absolutely. Such a man cannot hoard his wealth. Rather, like God himself, he generously gives from his own resources to each man according to his needs.

Since he imitates God’s generosity, the only distinction he draws is the person’s need. He does not distinguish between a good man and a bad one, a just man and one who is unjust. Yet his own goodness of will makes him prefer the man who strives after virtue to the one who is depraved.

A charitable mind is not displayed simply in giving money, it is manifested still more by personal service as well as by the communication of God’s word to others. In fact, if a man’s service toward his brothers is genuine and if he really renounces worldly concerns, he is freed from selfish desires. For he now shares in God’s own knowledge and love. Since he does possess God’s love, he does not experience weariness as he follows the Lord his God. Rather, following the prophet Jeremiah, he withstands every type of reproach and hardship without even harbouring an evil thought toward any man.

For Jeremiah warns us: Do not say: “We are the Lord’s temple.” Neither should you say: “Faith alone in our Lord Jesus Christ can save me.” By itself, faith accomplishes nothing. For even the devils believe and shudder. No, faith must be joined to an active love of God which is expressed in good works. The charitable man is distinguished by sincere and long-suffering service to his fellow man, it also means using things aright.”

Saint Maximus the Confessor, Abbot (c 580–662)

May the Blessed Virgin, Mother of Perpetual Succour and the angels and saints, pray for us!

holy angels pray for us 24 feb 2019.jpg

DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 24 February- Humility

Posted on February 24, 2019February 24, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 24 February – Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Do not be attached, therefore,
to clothing and riches
because they divided My garments among themselves.
Nor to honours, for I experienced harsh words and scourgings.
Nor to greatness of rank,
for weaving a crown of thorns,
they placed it on My head.
Nor to anything delightful,
for in My thirst, they gave Me vinegar to drink.

St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Doctor of the Church

(The Cross Exemplifies every Virtue
An excerpt from a Conference)

Nothing is to be done out of jealousy or vanity; instead, out of humility of mind everyone should give preference to others, everyone pursuing not selfish interests but those of others…Philippians 2:3-4

“Once humility is acquired,
charity will come to life, like a burning flame
devouring the corruption of vice
and filling the heart so full,
that there is no place for vanity.”…

St Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419)

MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SUNDAY REFLECTIONS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, Uncategorized

Sunday Reflection – 24 February -Your Intention at Holy Communion

Posted on February 24, 2019February 24, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Sunday Reflection – 24 February – Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

“When you go to Holy Communion, you must always have an intention and say, when you are on the point of receiving our Lord’s Body:

“O my good Father, who art in heaven,
I offer You, at this moment,
Thy dear Son, as He was taken down from the Cross
and laid in the arms of the Blessed Virgin
and offered by her to You, as a sacrifice for us.
I offer Him to You, by the hands of Mary
to obtain ‘such-and-such a grace – faith, charity, humilty….’

My children, mark this well – whenever I obtained a grace, I asked it in this way and it has never failed!”

St John Vianney (1786-1859)

QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on PERSECUTION, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on SUFFERING, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 24 February – Love your enemies

Posted on February 24, 2019February 23, 2019 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 24 February – Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Gospel: Luke 6:27–38

“But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”…Luke 6:27-28

REFLECTION – “To pray for those who want to destroy me, my enemies, so that God may bless them – this is truly difficult to understand.
There is an infinite distance between us – we who frequently refuse to forgive even small things – and what the Lord asks of us, which He has exemplified for us – to forgive those who seek to destroy us.
It is often very difficult within families, for example, when spouses need to forgive one another after an argument, or when one needs to forgive their mother-in-law. The child asking forgiveness from their fathers. It’s not easy… Rather, we are invited to forgive those who are killing us, who want us out of the way… Not only forgive but even pray that God may watch over them! Even more, to love them.
Only Jesus’ word can explain this – I cannot go further.
It would do us well, today, to think of our enemy – I think all of us have one – someone who has hurt us or wants to hurt us. The Mafia’s prayer is: ‘I’ll pay you back.’
The Christian prayer is: ‘Lord, give them Your blessing and teach me to love them.’
Let us think of one enemy and pray for them.
May the Lord to give us the grace to love them.”…Pope Francis – Santa Marta, 19 June 2018)

PRAYER – O Lord my God, give me the strength to endure with patience the sufferings I encounter in my life. Teach me to do my daily work for You alone and to do more than that in every way I can, for your greater glory. Teach me, Holy Father, to obey the words of Your Son, to pray for those who persecute me and to suffer for the glory of the Kingdom. May our Blessed and loving Mother, who had to bear the pain and forgive those who killed her Son, be at our side to help us to forgive, to pray for our enemies and offer our pain in reparation for our sins and those of the world. Amen blessed virgin mary loving mother pray for us 24 feb 2019.jpg

DOMINICAN OP, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Our Morning Offering – 24 February – Grant me, O my God

Posted on February 24, 2019February 24, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 24 February – Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Grant me, O my God
By St Vincent Ferrer OP (1350-1419)

Good Jesus,
let me be penetrated with love
to the very marrow of my bones,
with fear and respect toward You;
let me burn with zeal for Your honour,
so that I may resent terribly all the outrages
committed against You, especially those
of which I myself have been guilty.
Grant further, O my God,
that I may adore
and acknowledge You humbly, as my Creator
and that, penetrated with gratitude
for all Your benefits,
I may never cease to render You thanks.
Grant that I may bless You in all things,
praise and glorify You
with a heart full of joy and gladness
and that, obeying You with docility
in every respect, I may one day,
despite my ingratitude and unworthiness,
be seated at Your table
together with Your Holy Angels and Apostles
to enjoy ineffable delights.
Amen good-jesus-let-me-be-penetrated-with-love-st-vincent-ferrer no 2 -24 feb-2019.jpg

DOMINICAN OP, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 24 February – Blessed Constantius of Fabriano OP (1401-1481)

Posted on February 24, 2019February 23, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 24 February – Blessed Constantius of Fabriano OP (1401-1481) Dominican Priest, Prior, Reformer, Preacher of renown, Writer, known as a Miracle-Worker and had the gift of prophecy, peacemaker – born Constantius Bernocchi in 1401 at Fabriano, Marches of Ancona, Italy and died in 1481 at Ascoli Piceno, Italy of natural causes.

Constantius had an remarkable childhood, not only for the usual signs of precocious piety but also for a miracle that he worked when he was a little boy. Constantius had a sister who had been bedridden most of her nine years of life. One day, the little boy brought his parents in to her bedside and made them pray with him. The little girl rose up, cured and she remained well for a long and happy life. Naturally, the parents were amazed and they were quite sure it had not been their prayers that effected the cure but those of their little son.

Constantius entered the Dominicans at age 15 and had as his masters Blessed Conradin and Saint Antoninus. He did well in his studies and wrote a commentary on Aristotle. His special forte was Scripture and he studied it avidly. After his ordination, he was sent to teach in various schools in Italy, arriving eventually at the convent of San Marco in Florence, which had been erected as a house of strict observance. Constantius was eventually appointed prior of this friary that was a leading light in the reform movement. This was a work dear to his heart and he himself became closely identified with the movement.

Several miracles and prophecies are related about Constantius during his stay in Florence. He one day told a student not to go swimming, because he would surely drown if he did. The student, of course, dismissed the warning and drowned. One day, Constantius came upon a man lying in the middle of the road. The man had been thrown by his horse and was badly injured, he had a broken leg and a broken arm. All he asked was to be taken to some place where care could be given him but Constantius did better than that–he cured the man and left him, healed and astonished.

Constantius was made prior of Perugia, where he lived a strictly penitential life. Perhaps the things that he saw in visions were responsible for his perpetual sadness, for he foresaw many of the terrible things that would befall Italy in the next few years. He predicted the sack of Fabriano, which occurred in 1517. At the death of Saint Antoninus, he saw the saint going up to heaven, a vision which was recounted in the canonisation process.

He was also credited with the power of working miracles and besides the care of his office, he acted as peacemaker outside the convent and quelled popular tumults.

Blessed Constantius is said to have recited the Office of the Dead every day, and often the whole 150 Psalms, which he knew by heart and used for examples on every occasion. He also said that he had never been refused any favour for which he had recited the whole psalter. He wrote a number of books, these, for the most part, were sermon material and some were the lives of the blesseds of the order.

He was esteemed so holy that it was reckoned a great favour to speak to him or even to touch his habit.

On the day of Constantius’s death, little children of the town ran through the streets crying out, “The holy prior is dead! The holy prior is dead!” Upon the news of his death, the senate and council assembled, “considering his death a public calamity” and resolved to defray the cost of a public funeral. The cultus of Blessed Constantius was confirmed in 1821 by Pope Pius VII.

The relics of Blessed Constantius have suffered from war and invasion. After the Dominicans were driven from the convent where he was buried, his tomb was all but forgotten for a long time. Then one of the fathers put the relics in the keeping of Camaldolese monks in a nearby monastery, where they still remain.

bl constanzo right - virgin and child with saints.jpg — Virgin & Child with Dominican Saints, Bl Constantius on the right

SAINT of the DAY

7th Sun in Ord Time, Year C & Memorials of the Saints 24 February

Posted on February 24, 2019February 23, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C (2019)

St Adela of Blois
Bl Antonio Taglia
Bl Arnold of Carcassonne
St Betto of Auxerre
Bl Berta of Busano
Bl Constantius of Fabriano OP (1401-1481)
St Cummian Albus of Iona
St Ethelbert of Kent
Evetius of Nicomedia
Bl Florentina Nicol Goni
Bl Ida of Hohenfels
Bl Josefa Naval Girbes
St Liudhard
Bl Lotario Arnari
Bl Marco De’ Marconi
St Modestus of Trier
St Peter the Librarian
St Praetextatus of Rouen
St Primitiva
St Sergius of Caesarea
Bl Simon of Saint Bertin
Blessed Tommaso Maria Fusco (1831-1891)

Blessed Tommaso;s life: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/02/24/saint-of-the-day-24-february-blessed-thomas-mary-fusco-and-tommaso-maria-fusco-1831-1891/

PRAYERS of the CHURCH, SAINT of the DAY

Thought for the Day – 23 February – A rich and pleasing sacrifice –

Posted on February 23, 2019February 23, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 23 February – A rich and pleasing sacrifice – Memorial of Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, Apostolic Father, Bishop and Martyr

Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (c 69 – c 155)
Bishop, Apostolic Church Father and Martyr

An excerpt from a Letter on the Martyrdom of Saint Polycarp by the Church of Smyrna

When the pyre was ready, Polycarp took off all his clothes and loosened his under-garment. He made an effort also to remove his shoes, though he had been unaccustomed to this, for the faithful always vied with each other in their haste to touch his body. Even before his martyrdom he had received every mark of honour in tribute to his holiness of life.

There and then, he was surrounded by the material for the pyre. When they tried to fasten him also with nails, he said: “Leave me as I am. The one who gives me strength to endure the fire will also give me strength to stay quite still on the pyre, even without the precaution of your nails.” So they did not fix him to the pyre with nails but only fastened him instead. Bound as he was, with hands behind his back, he stood like a mighty ram, chosen out for sacrifice from a great flock, a worthy victim made ready to be offered to God.

Looking up to heaven, he said: “Lord, almighty God, Father of Your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have come to the knowledge of Yourself, God of angels, of powers, of all creation, of all the race of saints who live in Your sight, I bless You for judging me worthy of this day, this hour, so that in the company of the martyrs I may share the cup of Christ, Your anointed one and so rise again to eternal life in soul and body, immortal through the power of the Holy Spirit. May I be received among the martyrs in Your presence today as a rich and pleasing sacrifice. God of truth, stranger to falsehood, You have prepared this and revealed it to me and now You have fulfilled Your promise. I praise You for all things, I bless You, I glorify you through the eternal priest of heaven, Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son. Through Him be glory to You, together with Him and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.”

When he had said “Amen” and finished the prayer, the officials at the pyre lit it. But, when a great flame burst out, those of us privileged to see it witnessed a strange and wonderful thing. Indeed, we have been spared in order to tell the story to others. Like a ship’s sail swelling in the wind, the flame became as it were a dome encircling the martyr’s body. Surrounded by the fire, his body was like bread that is baked, or gold and silver white-hot in a furnace, not like flesh that has been burnt. So sweet a fragrance came to us that it was like that of burning incense or some other costly and sweet-smelling gum.

The fire was lighted but it did him no hurt, so he was stabbed to the heart and his dead body was burnt. “Then,” say the writers of his acts, “we took up the bones, more precious than the richest jewels or gold and deposited them in a fitting place, at which may God grant us to assemble with joy to celebrate the birthday of the martyr to his life in heaven!”

St Polycarp was a Christian leader in a pagan world. He spoke clearly and simply, fearless in love and defense of Christ, even though persecutions raged around him. He sought only to hand on the message he had been given by John. Even as Polycarp prepared for martyrdom, his joy and confident trust were evident to all.

The community of believers celebrated the anniversary of Polycarp’s death with great joy, for in him they had seen an outstanding example of love and patience. He had held strong and had won the treasure of eternal life. Polycarp is remembered as an Apostolic Father, one who was a disciple of the apostles.

St Polycarp, Pray for the Church, Pray for Us!

QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on PEACE, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, QUOTES on TRUTH, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, SAINT of the DAY

Quote/s of the Day – 23 February – “Stand Fast!” – St Polycarp

Posted on February 23, 2019February 23, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 23 February – The Memorial of St Polycarp (c 69–c 155) Martyr and Apostolic Father of the Church

“Stand fast, therefore,
in this conduct
and follow the example of the Lord,
firm and unchangeable in faith,
lovers of the brotherhood,
loving each other,
united in truth,
helping each other
with the mildness of the Lord,
despising no man.”

St Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians

“Let us, therefore,
forsake the vanity
of the crowd and their
false teachings
and turn back
to the Word delivered to us
from the beginning.”

“Hear me declare
with boldness,
I am a Christian!”

St Polycarp (c 69–c 155) Martyr

and Apostolic Father of the Church

DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FAITH, SAINT of the DAY, The TRANSFIGURATION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 23 February – The witness of the Prophets leads to the witness of the Apostles

Posted on February 23, 2019February 23, 2019 by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 23 February – Saturday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year C – The Memorial of St Polycarp (c 69–c 155) Martyr and Father of the Church

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain, apart by themselves and he was transfigured before them and his garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses and they were talking to Jesus…Mark 9:2-4

The witness of the Prophets leads to the witness of the Apostles

REFLECTION – “It was the will of the Lord Jesus that Moses alone (though he was accompanied, it is true, by Joshua (Ex 24:13)) should climb the mountain to receive the law. In the gospel too, out of His many disciples He limited the revelation of His risen glory to three – Peter, James and John. Wishing to put no stumbling block in the way of His weaker followers, whose vacillating minds might prevent them from taking in the full meaning of the paschal mystery, He chose to keep His redemptive plan a secret and repeatedly warned Peter, James and John not to talk freely about what they had seen. Peter, in fact, did not know what to say. He thought of setting up three shelters for the Lord and His attendants. Then he found himself unable to bear the brilliance of the glory radiating from His transfigured Lord. Together with those “sons of thunder” (Mk 3:17), James and John, he fell to the ground (Mt 17:6)…

They entered the cloud in order to receive knowledge of hidden, secret matters and there they heard the voice of God saying: “This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.” What does “This is my beloved Son” mean? The implication is as follows: Make no mistake, Simon. Do not imagine God’s Son can be put into the same category as the servants who attend him. This man is my Son – neither Moses nor Elijah can be given that title, even though the one opened the sea and the other closed the heavens. Both of them exercised dominion over the elements but it was by the power of the Lord’s word that they did so (Ex 14; 1 Kgs 17:1). They were only servants, it was the Lord who made the waters into a solid wall, the Lord who caused the drought that closed the heavens and the Lord who, in his own time, opened them to release the rain.

For evidence of the resurrection to be accepted, the combined witness of those servants is required. But when the glory of their risen Lord is revealed, the servant’ aureole is lost in shadow. Sunrise obscures the stars, the light of the heavenly bodies grows pale before the brilliance of the sun shining on this material world. How then could human stars attract notice in the presence of the eternal Sun of Justice? (Mal 3:20).”…St Ambrose (340-397) Father & Doctor mark 9 2 and he wwas transfigured - sunrise obscures the stars st ambrose 23 feb 2019.jpg

PRAYER – Lord of all creation, let us praise You with voice and mind and deed. Let us too give glory to Your Holy Son and bask in the Sun of Justice! Grant us a place in the reflection of His Light to shine on those around us. As You gave St Polycarp, a place in the company of the Martyrs, grant us our eternal joy with him and all Your angels and saints. May his intercession, give us the strength to drink from that cup which Christ drank and so rise to eternal life. Through Christ our Lord, in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN Saturdays, Our MORNING Offering, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Our Morning Offering – 23 February – O Sweet Mother of God

Posted on February 23, 2019February 23, 2019 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 23 February – Saturday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year C – Marian Saturdays

O Sweet Mother of God
By St Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938)

O sweet Mother of God,
I model my life on You.
You are for me the bright dawn.
In You I lose myself, enraptured.
O Mother, Immaculate Virgin,
In You, the divine ray is reflected,
Midst storms, ‘tis You
who teach me to love the Lord,
O my shield and defense from the foe.
Amen

(Diary 1232) o sweet mother of god - st faustina 23 feb 2019.jpg

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