One Minute Marian Reflection – 3 May – Mary’s Month! – Thursday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide and the Feast of Sts Philip and James Apostles and Martyrs
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High…And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.…Luke 1:30-32,35
REFLECTION – “MARY AND THE BLESSED TRINITY: Through the Incarnation of our Lord in her immaculate womb, Mary, the Daughter of God the Father, is also the Spouse of God the Holy Spirit and the Mother of God the Son.”…Let us offer to our Mother today:
A “Hail Mary” each time the clock strikes another hour…St Josemaria Escriva (1902-1975) – “Mother of God and Our Mother,” Friends of God, 274.
PRAYER – Lord God, You bestowed the Holy Spirit on Your Apostles while they were at prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Fill us too with the gift of Your grace in the Holy Spirit and grant that by Mary’s prayer, we may give You faithful service and spread abroad the glory of Your name by word and example. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, Your divine Son, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 3 May – Mary’s Month! – Thursday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide and the Feast of Sts Philip and James Apostles and Martyrs
O Mother of Jesus and my Mother By Bl John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
O Mother of Jesus and my Mother,
let me dwell with you, cling to you
and love you with ever-increasing love.
I promise the honour,
love and trust of a child.
Give me a mother’s protection,
for I need your watchful care.
You know better than any other
the thoughts and desires of the Sacred Heart.
Keep constantly before my mind
the same thoughts,
the same desires,
that my heart may be filled with zeal
for the interests of the Sacred Heart
of your Divine Son.
Instill in me a love of all that is noble,
that I may no longer be easily turned to selfishness.
Help me, dearest Mother,
to acquire the virtues that God wants of me,
to forget myself always,
to work solely for Him,
without fear of sacrifice.
I shall always rely on your help
to be what Jesus wants me to be.
I am His; I am yours, my good Mother!
Give me each day your holy and maternal blessing
until my last evening on earth,
when your Immaculate Heart
will present me to the heart of Jesus in heaven,
there to love and bless you
and your divine Son for all eternity.
Amen
3 May – Feast of Sts Philip and James – Apostles and Martyrs
Philip was one of the first chosen Disciples of Christ. On the way from Judea to Galilee Our Lord found Philip and said, “Follow Me.” Philip straightway obeyed and then in his zeal and charity sought to win Nathaniel also, saying, “We have found Him of Whom Moses and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth” and when Nathaniel in wonder asked, “Can any good come out of Nazareth?” Philip simply answered, “Come and see” and brought him to Jesus. Another characteristic saying of this apostle is preserved for us by St John. Christ in His last discourse had spoken of His Father and Philip exclaimed, in the fervour of his thirst for God, “Lord, show us the Father and it is enough.” According to the anonymous Acts of Philip, through a miraculous healing and his preaching, Philip converted the wife of the proconsul of the city of Phyrgia. This enraged the proconsul, and he had Philip, Bartholomew tortured. Philip and Bartholomew were then crucified upside down and Philip preached from his cross. As a result of Philip’s preaching the crowd released Bartholomew from his cross but Philip insisted that they not release him, and Philip died on the cross. Another account is that he was martyred by beheading in the city of Hierapolis.
St James the Less, the author of an inspired epistle, was also one of the Twelve. St Paul tells us that he was favoured by a special apparition of Christ after the Resurrection. On the dispersion of the apostles among the nations, St James was left as Bishop of Jerusalem and even the Jews held in such high veneration his purity, mortification and prayer, that they named him the Just. The earliest of Church historians has handed down many traditions of St James’s sanctity. He was always a virgin, says Hegesippus, and consecrated to God. He drank no wine, wore no sandals on his feet and but a single garment on his body. He prostrated himself so much in prayer that the skin of his knees was hardened like a camel’s hoof. The Jews, it is said, used out of respect to touch the hem of his garment. He was indeed a living proof of his own words, “The wisdom that is from above first indeed is chaste, then peaceable, modest, full of mercy and good fruits.” He sat beside St Peter and St Paul at the Council of Jerusalem and when St Paul at a later time escaped the fury of the Jews by appealing to Caesar, the people took vengeance on James and crying, “The just one hath erred,” stoned him to death.
Why do we celebrate the feasts of St Philip and St James the Less on the same day? We celebrate them on the same day because their relics were brought to Rome together on the same day in early May. They rest there still, in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles. The reception of the Bodies of Sts Philip and James, which were brought from the East, somewhere about the 6th Century, gave rise to the institution of to-day’s Feast and this led gradually, to the insertion into the Calendar, of the special Feasts for the other Apostles and Evangelists.
St James the Lesser Apostle (Feast)
St Philip the Apostle (Feast)
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St Adalsindis of Bèze
Bl Adam of Cantalupo in Sabina
St Ahmed the Calligrapher
St Aldwine of Peartney
St Pope Alexander I
St Alexander of Constantinople
Bl Alexander of Foigny
St Alexander of Rome
Bl Alexander Vincioli
St Ansfrid of Utrecht
St Antonina of Constantinople
St Diodorus the Deacon
Bl Edoardo Giuseppe Rosaz
St Ethelwin of Lindsey
St Eventius of Rome
St Fumac
St Gabriel Gowdel
St Juvenal of Narni
Bl Maria Leonia Paradis
St Maura of Antinoe
St Peter of Argos
St Philip of Zell
Bl Ramon Oromí Sullà
St Rhodopianus the Deacon
St Scannal of Cell-Coleraine
Bl Sostenaeus
St Stanislas Kazimierczyk
St Theodolus of Rome
St Timothy of Antinoe
Bl Tommaso Acerbis
Bl Uguccio
Bl Zechariah
Marian Thought for the Day – 2 May – “Mary’s Month”
May 2 – May the Month of Joy
By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
WHY is May called the month of Mary and especially dedicated to her? Among other reasons there is this, that of the Church’s year, the ecclesiastical year, it is at once the most sacred and the most festive and joyous portion. Who would wish February, March, or April, to be the month of Mary, considering that it is the time of Lent and penance? Who again would choose December, the Advent season—a time of hope, indeed, because Christmas is coming but a time of fasting too? Christmas itself does not last for a month; and January has indeed the joyful Epiphany, with its Sundays in succession but these in most years, are cut short ,by the urgent coming of Septuagesima.
May on the contrary belongs to the Easter season, which lasts fifty days and in that season the whole of May commonly falls and the first half always.,, The great Feast of the Ascension of our Lord into heaven is always in May, except once or twice in forty years. Pentecost, called also Whit-Sunday, the Feast of the Holy Ghost, is commonly in May and the Feasts of the Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi are in May not unfrequently. May, therefore, is the time in which there are such frequent Alleluias, because Christ has risen from the grave, Christ has ascended on high and God the Holy Ghost has come down to take His place.
Here then we have a reason why May is dedicated to the Blessed Mary. She is the first of creatures, the most acceptable child of God, the dearest and nearest to Him. It is fitting then that this month should be hers, in which we especially glory and rejoice in His great Providence to us, in our redemption and sanctification in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost.
But Mary is not only the acceptable handmaid of the Lord. She is also Mother of His Son, and the Queen of all Saints and in this month the Church has placed the feasts of some of the greatest of them, as if to bear her company. St John, the beloved disciple, St Philip, and St James. Seven Popes, two of them especially famous, St Gregory VII. and St Pius V, also two of the greatest Doctors, St Athanasius and St Gregory Nazianzen; two holy Virgins especially favoured by God, St Catherine of Sienna (as her feast is kept in England) and St Mary Magdalen of Pazzi and one holy woman most memorable in the annals of the Church, St Monica, the Mother of St Augustine. And above all and nearest to us in this Church, our own holy Patron and Father, St Philip Neri, occupies, with his Novena and Octave, fifteen out of the whole thirty-one days of the month. These are some of the choicest fruits of God’s manifold grace and they form the court of their glorious Queen.
Thought for the Day – 2 May – Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter and the Memorial of St Athanasius (c295-373) – Father and Doctor of the Church “The Father of Orthodoxy”
Athanasius suffered many trials while he was bishop of Alexandria. He was given the grace to remain strong against what probably seemed at times to be insurmountable opposition. Athanasius lived his office as bishop completely. He defended the true faith for his flock, regardless of the cost to himself. In today’s world we are experiencing this same call to remain true to our faith, no matter what.
Quote/s of the Day – 2 May – Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter and the Memorial of St Athanasius (c295-373) – Father and Doctor of the Church
“He became what we are, that He might make us what He is.”
“You cannot put straight in others what is warped in yourself.”
“Christians, instead of arming themselves with swords, extend their hands in prayer.”
“Accordingly, in the Church, one God is preached, one God who is above all things and through all things and in all things. God is above all things as Father, for He is principle and source; He is through all things through the Word; and He is in all things in the Holy Spirit.”
One Minute Marian Reflection – 2 May “Mary’s Month!” – Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”…Luke 1:29
REFLECTION – “MARY: THE MOST PERFECT CREATURE: “She who is full of grace, the object of God’s pleasure, exalted above all the angels and the saints, lived an ordinary life. Mary is as much a creature as we are, with a heart like ours, made for joy and mirth as well as suffering and tears. Before Gabriel communicates to her God’s plan, our Lady does not know that she has been chosen from all eternity to be the mother of the Messiah. She sees herself as a lowly creature. That is why she can acknowledge, with full humility, that ‘he who is mighty has done great things for her.”
Let us offer to our Mother today:
Many glances of affection and many words of love,
when we see her image or picture in our home, in the church, or anywhere.”…… St Josemaría Escrivá (1902-1975) – “Cause of our Joy” – Christ is Passing By 172
PRAYER – Let us praise God the Father, who chose Mary as the Mother of His Son and wanted all generations to hail her, O full of grace! With all confidence we pray, may our Holy Mother, the Blessed Virgin intercede for us today and every day of our lives. We make our prayer through her son, our divine Saviour, Jesus Christ, in unity with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 2 May “Mary’s Month!” – Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter and the Memorial of St Athanasius (c295-373) Father and Doctor of the Church
Prayer to Mary, Mother of Grace By St Athanasius (297-373) Father and Doctor of the Church
It is becoming for you, O Mary,
to be mindful of us,
as you stand near Him
who bestowed upon you all graces,
for you are the Mother of God and our Queen.
Come to our aid for the sake of the King,
the Lord God and Master,
who was born of you.
For this reason,
you are called “full of grace.”
Be mindful of us,
most holy Virgin and bestow on us gifts
from the riches of your graces,
O Virgin full of grace.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 2 May – St Athanasius (c295-373) –Confessor, Bishop of Alexandria, Father and Doctor of the Church – “Father of Orthodoxy”. St Athanasius, Great Defender of the orthodox faith, throughout his life opposed the Arian heresy. By denying the Godhead of the Word, the Arians turned Christ into a mere man, only higher in grace than others in the eyes of God. St Athanasius took part in the Council of Nicea in 325 and until the end remained a champion of the faith, as it was defined by the Council. In him, the Church venerates one of her Great Fathers and Doctors. He was subjected to persecutions for upholding the true teaching concerning the person of Christ and was sent into exile from his See no less than five times. He died at Alexandria in 373 after an Episcopate of forty-six years.
St Athanasius atrue champion of orthodoxy! He did not die a martyr but his life was martyrdom in the truest sense. Athanasius was the Church’s greatest hero in the battle against Arianism. Even as a young deacon at the Council of Nicea (325), he was recognised as “Arius’ ablest enemy” and the foremost defender of the Church’s faith. After the death of his Bishop (328), “the entire Catholic congregation with one accord, as one soul and body, voiced the wish of the dying Bishop Alexander, that Athanasius should succeed him. Everyone esteemed him as a virtuous, holy man, an ascetic, a true bishop.“
There followed fifty years of constant conflict. Under five Emperors and by exile on five different occasions, he gave testimony to the truth of the Catholic position. His allegiance to the Church never wavered, his courage never weakened. As consolation in the face of horrendous calumnies and cruel persecution, Athanasius looked to the unwavering love of his Catholic people. Even time brought no mitigation in Arian hatred. For five years he hid in a deep, dry cistern to be safe from their raging wrath and their attempts to assassinate him. The place was known only to one trusted friend who secretly supplied necessary food.
That Athanasius enjoyed God’s special protection should have been obvious to all. On one occasion when the Emperor’s assassins were pursuing him, Athanasius ordered the ship on which he was fleeing to double-back and sail upstream so that he might meet and by-pass his persecutors. Not recognising the boat upon meeting in semi-darkness, they naively asked whether the ship carrying Athanasius was still far ahead. Calmly and truthfully Athanasius himself called back, “He is not far from here.” So his persecutors kept sailing on in the same direction, allowing the Saint to complete his escape.
Preserved by Divine Providence through a lifetime of trial and danger, he finally died in his own quarters at Alexandria during the reign of the Emperor Valens (373). Athanasius enriched Christian literature with many important works, some pointed toward piety and edification, others polemical and dogmatic in nature. He ruled the Church of Alexandria for forty-six years…..Excerpted from The Church’s Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
What Did St. Athanasius Write? – Among several works, St Athanasius’ two most important apologetics-related books are On the Incarnation and Letters of St Athanasius Concerning the Holy Spirit. The first book has become a theological classic in which Athanasius explains and defends the doctrine of the Incarnation (Jesus was God in human flesh). In the second work, he both critiques the heretical view that the Holy Spirit is a mere creature and sets forth the orthodox view that the Spirit of God is a full divine person like the Father and the Son.
What Did St. Athanasius Believe? – Athanasius’ three most important ideas or arguments for historic Christianity are the following: St Athanasius affirmed Nicene orthodoxy and argued that the Son (Jesus Christ) is homoousios (of the “same substance”) with God the Father. St. Athanasius tied the Incarnation and atonement together in his theological reasoning. He is known for formulating the following theological argument: Only God can save people from sin. Jesus Christ saves people from sin. Therefore, Jesus Christ is God. At a time when the Arian heresy was at its most influential, the Bishops who sided with Arianism taunted Athanasius with the words “The world is against you Athanasius.” But Athanasius defiantly responded: “Athanasius contra mundum.” (“No. It’s Athanasius against the world.”)While Arianism insisted that the Son was a mere creature, Athanasius argued for Christ’s full deity.
Bl John Henry Newman described him as a “principal instrument, after the Apostles, by which the sacred truths of Christianity have been conveyed and secured to the world”.[Letters..]
St Athanasius (c295-373) – Father and Doctor of the Church (Memorial)
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St Alpin de Châlons
Bl Bernard of Seville
St Bertinus the Younger
Bl Boleslas Strzelecki
Bl Conrad of Seldenbüren
St Cyriacus of Pamphylia
St Eugenius of Africa
St Exsuperius of Pamphylia
St Felix of Seville
St Fiorenzo of Algeria
St Gennys of Cornwall
St Germanus of Normandy
St Gluvias
St Guistano of Sardinia
St José María Rubio y Peralta
St Joseph Luu
Bl Juan de Verdegallo
St Longinus of Africa
St Neachtain of Cill-Uinche
St Theodulus of Pamphylia
St Ultan of Péronne
St Vindemialis of Africa
St Waldebert of Luxeuil
St Wiborada of Saint Gall
Bl William Tirry
St Zoe of Pamphylia
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Martyrs of Alexandria – 4 saints: A group of Christians marytred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know little more than their names – Celestine, Germanus, Neopolus and Saturninus. 304 in Alexandria, Egypt
Thought for the Day – 1 May – Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide, the Memorial of St Joseph the Worker and the 1st day of the Month of Mary
May, The Month of Promise
Why is May chosen as the month in which we exercise a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin?
The first reason, is because, it is the time when the earth bursts forth into its fresh foliage and its green grass, after the stern frost and snow of winter and the raw atmosphere and the wild wind and rain, of the early spring. It is because the blossoms are upon the trees and the flowers are in the gardens. It is because the days have got long and the sun rises early and sets late. For such gladness and joyousness of external Nature is a fit attendant on our devotion to her, who is the Mystical Rose and the House of Gold.
A man may say, “True but in this climate, we have sometimes a bleak, inclement May.” This cannot be denied; but still, so much is true that at least it is the month of promise and of hope. Even though the weather happen to be bad, it is the month that begins and heralds in the summer. We know, for all that may be unpleasant in it, that fine weather is coming, sooner or later. “Brightness and beauty shall,” in the Prophet’s words, “appear at the end and shall not lie: if it make delay, wait for it, for it shall surely come and shall not be slack.”
May then is the month, if not of fulfillment, at least of promise and is not this the very aspect, in which we most suitably regard the Blessed Virgin, Holy Mary, to whom this month is dedicated?
The Prophet says, “There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse and a flower shall rise out of his root.” Who is the flower but our Blessed Lord? Who is the rod, or beautiful stalk or stem or plant out of which the flower grows but Mary, Mother of our Lord, Mary, Mother of God?
It was prophesied that God should come upon earth. When the time was now full, how was it announced? It was announced by the Angel coming to Mary. “Hail, full of grace,”said Gabriel, “the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women.” She then was the sure promise of the coming Saviour and, therefore, May is, by a special title her month…. taken from Meditations for the Month of May, by Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Holy Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, Pray for us!
One Minute Reflection – 1 May – Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide, the Memorial of St Joseph the Worker and the 1st day of the Month of Mary
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David and the virgin’s name was Mary...Luke 1:26-27
REFLECTION – “MARY, THE MOTHER OF GOD: “When the Blessed Virgin said yes, freely, to the plans revealed to her by the Creator, the divine Word assumed a human nature — a rational soul and a body – which was formed in the most pure womb of Mary. The divine nature and the human were united in a single Person: Jesus Christ, true God and, thenceforth, true man; the only begotten and eternal son of the Father and from that moment on, as man, the true son of Mary. This is why our Lady is the mother of the Incarnate Word, of the second person of the Blessed Trinity, who has united our human nature to Himself for ever, without any confusion of the two natures. The greatest praise we can give to the Blessed Virgin is to address her loudly and clearly by the name that expresses her very highest dignity: ‘Mother of God’.”
Let us offer to our Mother today:
Brief but frequent prayers of love, such as – “Mother of God, your petitions are most powerful.”… St Josemaría Escrivá (1902-1975) – “Mother of God and Our Mother,” – Friends of God 274
PRAYER – Almighty God and Father, Your ways are not our ways, teach us to willingly agree to them, for You know which way we should go. Help us to say “yes” always to Your plan and to render ourselves as a sacrament of Your divine love to all we meet. Fill us with the grace to be your tools to bring glory to Your kingdom. Our Father, who art in heaven, may Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Mary Mother of God, pray for us! Through our Our Lord Jesus Christ with You, in the union of the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Rejoice! It’s 1 May and the beginning of the Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary
“God wills that all his gifts should come to us through Mary”
St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Mellifluous Doctor
It was in Rome, towards the end of the eighteenth century, one fine evening in May. A child of the poor gathered his companions around him and led them to a statue of Mary, before which a lamp was burning, as is the custom in that holy city. There, these fresh young voices sang the Litany of our Lady. The next day, the little group, followed by other children, again gathered at the feet of the Mother of God. Next came their mothers, to join the little assembly. Soon, other groups were formed and the devotion rapidly became popular. Holy souls, troubled by the disorderly conduct which always increases and becomes graver at the return of the pleasant springtime, saw in these growing practices the hand of God and they co-operated with the designs of Providence by approving and promoting this new devotion, as a public and solemn act of reparation. The Month of Mary was founded! … A Carthusian, A Month with Mary, London: Burns and Oates, 1950.
“This is the month in which, in the churches and individual homes, the most affectionate and fervent homage of prayers and devotions from the hearts of Christians are raised to Mary. It is also the month in which from His throne, descend upon us, the most generous and abundant gifts of the Divine Mercy.” … Blessed Pope Paul VI, The Month of Mary,1967
In our own times, we Catholics, wanting to be close to her always, offer her special presents in May: pilgrimages, visits to churches dedicated to her, little sacrifices in her honour, extra Devotions in her honour, floral ‘Crownings’, periods of study and well-finished work offered up to her and a more attentive recitation of the Marian Litanies and the Holy Rosary.
Opening Hymn from the Little Office of Mary
O Mary of all women, You are the chosen one, Who, ancient prophets promised, Would bear God’s only Son; All Hebrew generations Prepared the way to thee, That in your womb the God-man, Might come to set us free.
O Mary, you embody all God taught to our race, For you are first and foremost In fullness of His grace; We praise this wondrous honour That you gave birth to Him, Who from you took humanity And saved us from our sin.
Our Morning Offering- 1 May – Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide, the Memorial of St Joseph the Worker and the 1st day of the Month of Mary
An Act of Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary By St John Berchmans S.J. (1599-1621)
Holy Mary, Mother of God and Virgin,
I choose you this day for my queen,
patron and advocate
and firmly resolve and purpose,
never to abandon you,
never to say or do anything,
against you,
nor to permit that aught be done by others,
to dishonour you.
Receive me, then, I beg you,
as your perpetual servant,
assist me in all my actions
and do not abandon me
at the hour of my death.
Amen
“May Day” has long been dedicated as a special day for labour and working people. The feast of St. Joseph the Worker was established by Pope Pius XII in 1955 to Christianise labour and give all workers a model and a protector.
By the daily labour in his shop, St. Joseph provided for the necessities of his holy spouse and of the Incarnate Son of God and thus became a role model for labourers. The liturgy for this feast celebrates the right to work and this is a message that needs to be heard and heeded in our modern society. How did this connection with St Joseph the Worker, which is nearly as old as Christianity, get made?
In an effort to keep Jesus from being removed from ordinary life, the Church has from the beginning proudly emphasised that Jesus was a carpenter, obviously trained by Joseph in the satisfaction and the drudgery of that vocation.
Humanity is like God, not only in thinking and loving but also in creating. Whether we make a table or a cathedral, we are called to bear fruit with our hands and mind, ultimately for the building up of the Body of Christ. In addition to this, there is a special dignity and value to the work of caring for the family.
An excerpt from the Vatican II document on the modern world said, “Where men and women, in the course of gaining a livelihood for themselves and their families, offer appropriate service to society, they can be confident that their personal efforts promote the work of the Creator, confer benefits on their fellowmen, and help to realise God’s plan in history.”
St Pope Pius X (1835-1914) composed this prayer to St Joseph, patron of working people, that expresses concisely the Christian attitude toward labour. It summarises also for us the lessons of the Holy Family’s work at Nazareth.
Let us Pray:
Glorious St Joseph,
model of all who devote their lives to labour,
obtain for me the grace to work,
in the spirit of penance, in order thereby,
to atone for my many sins;
to work conscientiously,
setting devotion to duty in preference to my own whims;
to work with thankfulness and joy,
deeming it an honour to employ
and to develop, by my labour,
the gifts I have received from God;
to work with order, peace, moderation and patience,
without ever shrinking from weariness and difficulties;
to work above all with a pure intention
and with detachment from self,
having always before my eyes,
the hour of death and the accounting
which I must then render of time ill spent,
of talents wasted, of good omitted
and of vain complacency in success,
which is so fatal to the work of God.
All for Jesus, all through Mary,
all in imitation of you, O Patriarch Joseph!
This shall be my motto in life and in death,
Amen.
The Church of the Madonna of Giubino was built in 1721 to house a miraculous marble-relief icon of the Madonna, which is brought to a country chapel during the summer. (A copy of the relief is housed in the Church of St Joseph in Brooklyn, New York, giving testimony to the large emigrant community of Calatafimesi who lived in Brooklyn in the early 20th century). The Church of Maria Santissima di Giubino is dedicated to the patroness of the town. It has a single nave, with an elegant barrel vault decorated with frescoes and ornamental motifs. Inside it there are some important works: the painting with the Assumption, Our Lady with Angels and Saints dated 1617, the altar-piece of All Saints, an 18th-century wooden organ and a 15th-century marble alto-rilievo representing Madonna of Giubino with the Infant Jesus. In 1655 an invasion of grasshoppers was destroying all the crops in the countryside of Calatafimi: the people, assembled in a Church, decided that, after putting all the names of the saints who had an altar in town inside a ballot box, they would choose as a patron that one whose name had been drawn. After they invoked the Holy Ghost, it was chosen the name of Maria Santissima di Giubino by lots. The central part of the triptych with the image of the Virgin was soon taken out from the wall in the country church of Giubino and taken in procession: Calatafimi was free from grasshoppers. Maria Santissima di Giubino was elected patroness of the town (25 April 1655) and the bas-relief of the Virgin of Giubino was then placed on the high altar of the new Church, designed by Giovanni Biagio Amico (the same planner of the Church of Santissimo Crocifisso) in 1721. In 1931 the triptych was recomposed in the town sanctuary and restored. There was a new restoration of the Church in 1978.
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St Aceolus of Amiens
St Acius of Amiens
St Aldebrandus of Fossombrone
St Amator of Auxerre
St Ambrose of Ferentino
St Andeolus of Smyrna
Bl Arigius of Gap
St Arnold of Hiltensweiler
St Asaph of Llanelwy
St Augustine Schöffler
St Benedict of Szkalka
St Bertha of Avenay
St Bertha of Kent
St Brieuc of Brittany
St Ceallach of Killala
St Cominus of Catania
Evermarus of Rousson
Bl Felim O’Hara
St Grata of Bergamo
St Isidora of Egypt
St Jeremiah the Prophet
St John-Louis Bonnard
Bl Klymentii Sheptytskyi
St Marculf
St Orentius of Auch
St Orentius of Loret
St Patientia of Loret
St Peregrine Laziosi (1260-1345) Incorrupt
Bl Petronilla of Moncel
St Richard Pampuri
St Romanus of Baghdad
St Sigismund of Burgundy
St Theodard of Narbonne
St Thorette
St Torquatus of Guadix
Bl Vivald of Gimignano
Thought for the Day – 30 April – Monday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842) – known as “The Labourer of Divine Providence”
Speaking of: Trusting in God’s Providence
A letter from Mother Luisita OCDS
“For greater things you were born.
God will provide for all of our needs. Let us trust that we will receive all from Him who loves us so much and is always watching over us!
As you try to see all things as coming from the hand of God, adore His designs. I would like to see you have more trust in Divine Providence. Otherwise, you will be suffering many disappointments and your projects will meet with failure. Trust, my child, only in God. Everything human is changeable and the one who is for you today will be against you tomorrow. You see how good our God is! We should have more confidence in Him every day and have recourse to prayer, not permitting anything to discourage us or make us sad. He has given me so much confidence in His Divine Will that I leave everything in His hands and I am at peace.
My beloved child, let us praise God in everything because all that happens is for our own good. Try to fulfil your duties the best you can and for God alone and always remain happy and serene in all the tribulations of life. As for me, I have placed all in the hands of God and I have been successful. We have to learn to detach ourselves a little, trust in God alone and do God’s holy will with joy.
How beautiful it is to be in the Hands of God, searching His Divine Gaze in readiness to do whatever He wishes.”
“Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have trust in God, trust also in me.” John 14:1
Quote/s of the Day – 30 April – Monday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842) – known as “The Labourer of Divine Providence”.
Speaking of: Recognising God’s Hand
“There is absolutely nothing that gives us more peace, or does more to make us holy, than obeying the will of God.”
“God makes all chosen souls, pass through a fearful time of poverty, misery and nothingness. He desires to destroy in them gradually, all the help and confidence they derive from themselves, so that He may be their sole source of support, their confidence, their hope, their only resource.”
“We must offer ourselves to God like a clean, smooth canvas and not worry ourselves about what God may choose to paint on it but at each moment, feel only, the stroke of His brush.”
Fr Jean Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751)
‘Abandonment to Divine Providence’
“The poor are Jesus they are not just an image of Him.”
St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842)
“The Lord always sets signs on our path to guide us according to His will, to our own true good.”
Pope Benedict XVI
“If you do this one thing you will become a saint. If you don’t do it, you never will. The one thing is this: Let Jesus interrupt your life.”
One Minute Reflection – 30 April – Monday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842) – known as “The Labourer of Divine Providence”.
He who gives heed to the word will prosper and happy is he who trusts in the LORD...Proverbs 16:20
REFLECTION – “I am a good for nothing and I don’t even know what to make of myself. But Divine Providence certainly knows what it wants. It is only up to me to support it. Let us go ahead in Domino“….St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo
PRAYER – Lord, by Your grace, we are made one in mind and heart. Give us a love for what You command and a longing for what You promise, so that, amid this world’s changes, our hearts may be set on the world of lasting joy. We make our prayer, through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God with You, forever and ever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 30 April – Monday of the Fifth Week of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842) – known as “The Labourer of Divine Providence”.
Prayer of Abandonment – Lord, I Glorify You in Everything By Fr Jean Pierre de Caussade S.J. (1675-1751)
Lord, may Your kingdom come into my heart
to sanctify me, nourish me and purify me.
How insignificant is the passing moment
to the eye without faith!
But how important each moment is,
to the eye enlightened by faith!
How can we deem insignificant anything
which has been caused by You?
Every moment and every event, is guided by You,
and so contains Your infinite greatness.
So, Lord, I glorify You in everything
that happens to me.
In whatever manner You make me live and die,
I am content.
Events please me for their own sake,
regardless of their consequences,
because Your action lies behind them.
Everything is heaven to me,
because all my moments manifest Your love.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 30 April – St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842) Priest, Founder, Confessor, Apostle of Charity. Born asGiuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo on3 May 1786 at Bra, Cuneo, Piedmont region, Italy and died on 30 April 1842 of typhus at Chieri, Turin, Italy. He was buried in the Mary altar in the main chapel in Valdocco, Italy. St Joseph was Canonised on 19 March 1934 by Pope Pius XI. Known as “the labourer of Divine Providence”.
“Joseph Benedict Cottolengo was born in Bra, a small town in the Province of Cuneo, on 3 May 1786. The eldest of 12, six of whom died in infancy, he showed great sensitivity to the poor from childhood. He embraced the way of the priesthood, setting an example to two of his brothers. The years of his youth coincided with the Napoleonic period and the consequent hardships in both the religious and social contexts. Cottolengo became a good priest much sought after by penitents and, in the Turin of that time, a preacher of spiritual exercises and conferences for university students who always met with noteworthy success. At the age of 32, he was appointed canon of the Santissima Trinità, a congregation of priests whose task was to officiate in the Corpus Domini Church and to ensure the decorum of the city’s religious ceremonies but he felt uneasy in this situation. God was preparing him for a special mission and, precisely with an unexpected and decisive encounter, made him realise what was to be his future destiny in the exercise of the ministry.
The Lord always sets signs on our path to guide us according to his will to our own true good. This also happened to Cottolengo, dramatically, on Sunday morning, 2 September 1827. The diligence from Milan arrived in Turin, more crowded than ever. Crammed into it was a whole French family. The mother, with five children, was at an advanced stage of pregnancy and had a high temperature. After traipsing to various hospitals, this family found lodgings in a public dormitory but the woman’s situation was serious and some people went in search of a priest. By a mysterious design they came across Cottolengo and it was precisely he who, heavy hearted, accompanied this young mother to her death, amid the distress of the entire family. Having carried out this painful task, with deep anguish he went to the Blessed Sacrament and knelt in prayer: “My God, why? Why did you want me to be a witness? What do you want of me? Something must be done!”. He got to his feet and had all the bells rung and the candles lit and, gathering in the church those who were curious, told them: “The grace has been granted! The grace has been granted!”. From that time Cottolengo was transformed: all his skills, especially his financial and organisational ability, were used to give life to projects in support of the neediest.
In his undertaking he was able to involve dozens and dozens of collaborators and volunteers. Moving towards the outskirts of Turin to expand his work, he created a sort of village, in which he assigned a meaningful name to every building he managed to build: “House of Faith”, “House of Hope”, “House of Charity”. He adopted a “familystyle”, establishing true and proper communities of people with volunteers, men and women religious and lay people, who joined forces in order to face and overcome the difficulties that arose. Everyone in that Little House of Divine Providence had a precise task: work, prayer, service, teaching or administration. The healthy and the sick shared the same daily burden. With time religious life could be specifically planned in accordance with particular needs and requirements.
Cottolengo even thought of setting up his own seminary to provide specific formation for the priests of his Work. He was always ready to follow and serve Divine Providence and never questioned it. He would say: “I am a good for nothing and I don’t even know what to make of myself. But Divine Providence certainly knows what it wants. It is only up to me to support it. Let us go ahead in Domino”. To his poor and the neediest, he would always call himself “the labourer of Divine Providence”.
He also chose to found beside the small citadels five monasteries of contemplative sisters and one of hermits and considered them among his most important achievements. They were a sort of “heart” which was to beat for the entire Work. He died on 30 April 1842, with these words on his lips: “Misericordia, Domine, Misericordia, Domine. Good and Holy Providence… Blessed Virgin, it is now up to you”. The whole of his life, as a newspaper of the time said, was “an intense day of love”.”….Pope Benedict XVI General Audience, Saint Peter’s Square, Wednesday, 28 April 2010.
Today Cottolengo Fathers, Sisters and Brothers still work together in activities focused on communicating God’s love for the poorest. They are spread out all over the world: Ecuador, India, Italy, Kenya, Switzerland, Tanzania and the United States. Don Cottolengo contracted typhoid while assisting his patients and died in Chieri, Piedmont on 30 April 1842. Cottolengo was beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1917 and was Canonised by Pope Pius XI in 1934.
Joseph Benedict Cottolengo was enlisted among the saints of charity by Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical Deus caritas est. The parish of Saint Joseph Benedict Cottolengo is located in Grosseto, Italy. There is a Via San Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo in Pisa.
The Sisters of St Joseph Cottolengo pray before the blessed sacrament inside the Chiesa Piccola
St Marie Guyart of the Incarnation (Optional Memorial)
—
St Adjutor of Vernon
St Aimo of Savigny
St Amator of Córdoba
St Aphrodisius of Alexandria
St Cynwl
St Dedë Plani
St Diodoro of Aphrodisias
St Donatus of Euraea
St Erconwald of London
St Eutropius of Saintes
St Forannan
St Genistus of Limoges
St Giuse Tuân
Bl Gualfardus of Augsburg
Bl Hildegard the Empress
St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (1786-1842)
St Lawrence of Novara
St Louis of Córdoba
St Mariano of Acerenza
St Maximus of Ephesus
St Mercurialis of Forlì
St Peter of Córdoba
St Pomponius of Naples
St Quirinus of Rome
St Rodopiano of Aphrodisias
St Sophia of Fermo
St Swithbert the Younger
Bl Ventura of Spello
Bl William Southerne
Thought for the Day – 29 April – Fifth Sunday of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
Catherine of Siena is one of the most remarkable figures of the fourteenth century and had an influence far beyond her holiness of life. She took part in the politics of both Church and State and was a beacon of light in a very difficult time.
The mystical experiences that were to last throughout her whole life and an intimacy with her Saviour that transformed her whole existence began when she was but six years old. She grew up, known for cheerfulness and merriment, with no indication of the astonishing role she was to play in the work of the Church.
In 1364, she became a member of the Third Order of St Dominic and from this time her influence began to grow in Siena as she gathered around her a circle of followers. She began dictating letters to this circle and to take part in public affairs. (She had never learnt to write, which was not uncommon for women in that era). In 1374, she began to interest herself in furthering a crusade against the Turks and in the return of the Pope from Avignon to Rome. In 1376, she went to Avignon to urge Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome. With her encouragement, he did but died shortly thereafter. In 1375, whilst on a trip to Pisa, she received the Stigmata.
Pope Gregory’s successor, Urban VI, so alienated the Cardinals who elected him, that they decided to elect another pope. This was the beginning of the Great Western Schism in which two and later three, popes, divided the allegiance of Christendom. Catherine was shattered by this division in the Church and went to Rome to work for the reunification of the Church.
Burdened with sorrow and offering herself for the unity of the Church, Catherine died in Rome on 29 April 1380. She left a huge collection of letters as well as her chief work, The Dialogues.
By the sheer force of her personality, St Catherine converted thousands and the mere sight of her would convert hardened sinners. We may not have her personality but we can reach into the lives of others and influence them for good. We cannot have warmth ourselves, without giving it to others. “Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’...Luke 24:32
Sunday Reflection -– 29 April – Fifth Sunday of Eastertide: Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 15:1-8.
“Without Me you can do nothing” John 15:5
“In Christ it hath well pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell.” (Col 1:19) He is gifted with those supernatural powers that accompany the hypostatic union, since the Holy Spirit dwells in Him with a fullness of grace than which no greater can be imagined. To Him has been given “power over all flesh”; (Jn 17:2)… . From Him streams into the body of the Church all the light with which those who believe are divinely illumined, and all the grace by which they are made holy as He is holy…
It is He who imparts the light of faith to believers; it is He who enriches pastors and teachers and above all His Vicar on earth with the supernatural gifts of knowledge, understanding and wisdom, so that they may loyally preserve the treasury of faith, defend it vigorously and explain it and confirm it with reverence and devotion. Finally, it is He who, though unseen, presides at the Councils of the Church and guides them…
Holiness begins from Christ and Christ is its cause. For no act conducive to salvation can be performed unless it proceeds from Him as from its supernatural source. “Without me,” He says, “you can do nothing.”(Jn 15:5) If we grieve and do penance for our sins if, with filial fear and hope, we turn again to God, it is because He is leading us. Grace and glory flow from His inexhaustible fullness…
When the Sacraments of the Church are administered by external rite, it is He who produces their effect in souls. He nourishes the redeemed with His own flesh and blood and thus calms the turbulent passions of the soul; He gives increase of grace and prepares future glory for souls and bodies.
Christ our Lord wills the Church to live His own supernatural life and by His divine power permeates His whole Body and nourishes and sustains each of the members according to the place which they occupy in the body, in the same way as the vine nourishes and makes fruitful the branches which are joined to it. (cf. Jn 15:4-6).
Venerable Pius XII (1976-1958) Pope from 1939 to 1958
Encyclical “Mystici Corporis”
Quote/s of the Day – 29 April – Fifth Sunday of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
“Proclaim the Truth and do not be silent through fear.”
“Preach the Truth as if you had a million voices. It is silence that kills the world.”
“Nothing great is ever achieved, without much enduring.”
“All the way to heaven is heaven because Jesus said, “I am the way.”
“Strange that so much suffering is caused because of the misunderstandings of God’s true nature. God’s heart is more gentle than the Virgin’s first kiss upon the Christ. And God’s forgiveness to all, to any thought or act, is more certain than our own being.”
“Everything comes from love, all is ordained for the salvation of man, God does nothing without this goal in mind.”
“A soul cannot live without loving. It must have something to love, for it was created to love.”
“What is it you want to change? Your hair, your face, your body? Why? For God is in love with all those things and He might weep when they are gone!”
St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
One Minute Reflection – 29 April – Fifth Sunday of Eastertide and the Memorial of St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) Doctor of the Church
And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’….Matthew 25:40
REFLECTION – “Charity is the sweet and holy bond which links the soul with its Creator: it binds God with man and man with God.”…. St Catherine of Siena
PRAYER – Almighty God, You made St Catherine of Siena, a contemplative lover of the Lord’s sufferings and an ardent servant of her neighbour and the Church. Grant that through her prayer, Your people may be united to Christ in His Mystery and true lovers of His sheep. May we live the commands He gave us and see His face in our neighbour. Through Jesus, our Lord, one God with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 29 April – Fifth Sunday of Eastertide
An Act of Confidence Before Holy Mass By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Most Zealous Doctor
My soul expand your heart.
Your Jesus can do You every good
and indeed, love you.
Hope for great things from Your Lord,
who, urged by love,
comes all love to You.
Yes, my dear Jesus, my hope,
I trust in Your goodness,
that in giving Yourself to me this morning,
You will enkindle in my poor heart,
the beautiful flame of Your pure love
and a real desire to please You,
so that, from this day forward,
I may never will anything
but what You will.
Amen
AnaStpaul 
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