St Bibiana
St Chromatius
St Eusebius
St. Evasius
Bl Ivan Sleziuk
St John Ruysbroeck
St Lupus of Verona
B. Maria Angela Astorch
St Pontian
Thursday of the First Week of Advent – 1 December 2016
“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”
DAILY MEDITATION:
“On that day … ”
The reading from Isaiah is another promise of a day of victory,
when the tables will be turned on injustice.
Today, let’s turn to our God, with all our needs.
Part of our Advent journey is about learning to hope
– learning to imagine what we can’t see.
Let’s go through our day today, desiring freedom with a growing confidence in our God who promises to save us.
Come and set us free, Lord, God of power and might.
Let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
CLOSING PRAYER:
God of strength and protection,
I turn to You because I need help.
I long to be free enough
to trust that I can lean on You.
But I become afraid.
Help me to trust in You, Lord.
Your strength and power
are a gentle place of protection.
Be a safe refuge when I am being trampled.
I long for Your help, Your protecting care.
Help to deliver me from the cold
loneliness of these dark nights.
May the Lord bless us.protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen
#advent2016,#firstweekadvent,
NOVENA TO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (To commemorate the Immaculate Conception)
DAY THREE
O Blessed Virgin Mary,
glory of the Christian people,
joy of the universal Church
and Mother of Our Lord,
speak for us to the Heart of Jesus,
who is your Son and our brother.
O Mary, who by your holy Immaculate Conception
did enter the world free from stain,
in your mercy obtain for us from Jesus
the special favour which we now so earnestly seek…
(State your intention here…)
O Mary of the Immaculate Conception,
Mother of Christ,
you had influence with your Divine Son while upon this earth;
you have the same influence now in heaven.
Pray for us
and obtain for us from Him
the granting of my petition if it be the Divine Will.
Amen.
Image – Mateo Cerezo
#day3novenaimmaculateconception
The Holy Father’s PRAYER Intentions for December 2016
December
Universal: End to Child-Soldiers
That the scandal of child-soldiers may be eliminated the world over.
Evangelization: Europe
That the peoples of Europe may rediscover
the beauty, goodness and truth of the Gospel
which gives joy and hope to life.
Thought for the Day – 1 December
St Edmund Campion was a popular and notable Oxford graduate, but he came to be especially despised because he had converted to Catholicism. He became a Jesuit in 1573 and was ordained five years later. In 1580 he arrived in England disguised as a jewel merchant to support English Catholics.
In a bold move he wrote a challenge to the queen’s Privy Council. He declared that his mission was “to preach the gospel, to minister the sacraments, to instruct the simple, to reform sinners, to confute errors—in brief to cry a spiritual alarm against foul vice and proud ignorance, wherewith many of my dear countrymen are abused.”
This document, that came to be called “Campion’s Brag,” circulated widely and rallied Catholics with renewed hope. Campion seemed to pop up everywhere, his preaching and publications spreading a reinvigorated Catholicism. Unable to ignore such a threat, the government searched him out and arrested him in the fall of 1581. On November 14, a packed jury condemned him to death on the false charge of plotting rebellion. Edmund Campion died a martyr on December 1.
THIS is the challenge we face today – ate we able to oppose the vast secular and political abuses multiplying around us?
Let us Pray: “Lord Jesus grant that I may die pursuing You, that I may die loving You, that I may die for the very LOVE OF YOU!”……..St Claude de la Colombiere SJ
St Edmunc Canpion Pray for us!
Image of Jesus – St Claude la Colombiere chapel Tabernacle mosaic
Quote of the Day – 1 December
“To be a Catholic is my greatest glory.”
St Edmund Campion SJ (Saint of the Day)
One Minute Reflection – 1 December
Make the most of the present opportunity, for the days are evil……Eph 5:16
REFLECTION – Let us not allow this Holy Season of Advent to slip by without spiritual fruit. It is the time of salvation; let us profit from it…………St Mary Euphrase
PRAYER – God of mercy, teach me to live in tune with Your Liturgical Year. Help me to be filled with the sentiments proper to Advent and to prepare fittingly for the renewed birth of Your Son in my Heart. St Edmund Campion and all the angels and Saints, Pray for us! Amen
Our Morning Offering – 1 December
Father,
throughout the ages You inspire
heroic men and women
to preach Your gospel
and proclaim the truth of Your love.
We pray that the example
of St Edmund Campion
may encourage us to stand up
for what it right;
to hold to what is true;
and to love even those who persecute us,
for Christ’s sake. Amen.
by Fr Adrian Porter SJ
Saint of the Day – 1 December
Saint of the Day – 1 December – St Edmund Campion SJ – (1540-1581 aged 41) Religious, Priest, MARTYR
Edmund Campion was born in 1540, the son of a bookseller in Paternoster row, just behind St Paul’s Cathedral in London. He grew up amid the religious upheavals of the sixteenth century following the break between Henry VIII and Rome.
Campion went to the local grammar school and then, age 12, to the new Christ’s Hospital school for orphans and the poor. in August 1553, he was chosen to make a ceremonial address to Queen Mary as she passed through London. Campion was able academically and went to St John’s College, Oxford, at the age of 15 (which was not unusual in those days). He was awarded his degree in 1564 and became a Fellow of the University. In 1566, he was again chosen to make a formal speech of welcome before the new Queen, Elizabeth I, when she visited Oxford. Much impressed with Campion, Elizabeth ensured he had friends and patrons at Court.
Campion was ordained a deacon in the Anglican Church.
Increasingly Campion came to believe that the Protestant church was not the true continuation of the Christian faith and that only in the Catholic church would he find a home. He resigned his position at Oxford..
Campion went to Dublin in 1570 and was involved in the establishment of a university there.
With the excommunication of Elizabeth I by Pope Pius V in 1570, everything became much more difficult for Catholics and people like Campion who were unsure of their religious allegiance.
Campion became a Catholic and went to the new seinary for English Catholics founded at Douai in France. He was ordained subdeacon and then walked, barefoot, to Rome to become a Jesuit in April 1573. Campion pursued his studies as a Jesuit and taught in the Jesuit College in Prague. He was ordained priest in 1578.
Campion was pusuaded, against his better judgement, to join the new mission to England. On 16th June 1580, Fr Robert Persons SJ landed at Dover, the Superior of the new mission. On 24th June, Campion followed, disguised as a jewel merchant. Campion moved between the houses of Catholics (the Recusants) who practised their religion in secret. At one such house, Lyford Grange in Oxfordshire, he was betrayed and arrested on 17th July 1581, barely a year after he had set foot in England.
He was imprisoned and tortured in the Tower of London and tried at Westminster Hall in November 1581. Condemned for treason, he was dragged on a hurdle to Tyburn where he was martyred with Fr Alexander Briant SJ and Fr Ralph Sherwin. He was hanged and then, before he was dead, his genitals cut off, his entrails ripped out and burned before him, his head hacked off and his body quartered.
The Feast Day of St Edmund Campion is celebrated on 1st December. With him are celebrated his fellow martyr St Alexander Briant SJ, and St Robert Southwell SJ who was martyred on 21st February 1595. All were made saints by Pope Paul VI in 1970 along with 37 others (the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales).
Campion’s Bragge – FOLLOW LINK TO READ
The full text of the Bragge – the document prepared by Campion setting out his faith and the reasons for his presence and work in England. Campion wrote this document to be found in the event of his capture. In fact it was published (putting Campion’s and others’ lives in greater danger) by an overenthusiastic supporter.
Campion’s Bragge – Short Version – FOLLOW LINK TO READ
A shortened text of Campion’s Bragge for assembly or classroom use or for reading at Mass on Campion Day (reading time 2-minutes).
Br Thomas Pounde’s contemporary poem on the martyrdom of Edmund Campion – READ HERE
Saints for 1 December
St. Agericus
St. Alexander Briant
St. Ananias
Bl. Anwarite Nangapeta
St. Candres
St. Castritian
Bl. Charles de Foucauld
St. Constantian
St. Diodorus & Marianus
St. Edmund Campion
St. Eligius
St. Evasius
St. Grwst
Bl. John Beche
St. Leontius of Fréjus
St. Lucius
St. Natalia of Nicomedia
St. Olympiades
Bl. Richard Langley
St. Ursicinus of Brescia
One Minute Reflection – 30 November
“As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men'” ……………Mt 4:18-19; Mk 1:16-17
REFLECTION – …………..”O blessed Cross, clothed in the majesty and beauty of the Lord’s limbs!… Take me, carry me far from men, and restore me to my Teacher, so that, through you, the one who redeemed me by you, may receive me. Hail, O Cross; yes, hail indeed!”…………St Andrew (This is what the Apostle is claimed to have said on that occasion, according to an ancient story (which dates back to the beginning of the sixth century), entitled The Passion of Andrew.)………………Pope Benedict XVI
PRAYER – Lord Jesus, It is by the Cross of alone that our sufferings too are ennobled and acquire their true meaning. You have called me personally by name, just as You called your first disciples, Simon, Andrew, and James. Fill me with the joy of Your gospel and help me to be a good and faithful witness of Your kingdom to all I meet. St Andrew Apostle Pray for me and for us all! Amen
Wednesday of First Week of Advent 30 November
“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”
Daily Meditation:
We reflect today on a promise of a day full of hope
of plenty, of peace. We ask for the grace to be open,
to respond to whatever the Lord is offering us in these precious days
of preparation and anticipation.
No matter how difficult our situation, we can trust in the Lord;
we can eat and be satisfied.
I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
On that day it will be said:
“Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!
This is the LORD for whom we looked;
let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”
Closing Prayer:
Lord of all,
you are a God of plenty, a Lord who provides
for us in our need.
As I begin these early days of Advent
help me to believe that You know what I need.
Give me the courage to listen to Your voice
and the freedom
to open my heart to the graces You are
offering me to place my trust in You.
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
NOVENA TO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (To commemorate the Immaculate Conception)
DAY TWO
O Mary, ever blessed Virgin,
Mother of God,
Queen of angels and of saints,
we salute you with the most profound veneration
and filial devotion
as we contemplate your holy Immaculate Conception,
We thank you for your maternal protection
and for the many blessings that we have received
through your wondrous mercy
and most powerful intercession.
In all our necessities
we have recourse to you
with unbounded confidence.
O Mother of Mercy,
we beseech you now to hear our prayer
and to obtain for us of your Divine Son
the favour that we so earnestly request in this novena…
(State your intention here…)
O Mary of the Immaculate Conception,
Mother of Christ,
you had influence with your Divine Son while upon this earth;
you have the same influence now in heaven.
Pray for us
and obtain for us from him
the granting of my petition if it be the Divine Will.
Amen.
#daytwonovenaimmaculateconception
Image – Immaculate Conception, Bartolome Esteban Murillo
Thought for the Day – 30 November
As in the case of all the apostles except Peter and John, the Gospels give us little about the holiness of Andrew. He was an apostle. That is enough. He was called personally by Jesus to proclaim the Good News, to heal with Jesus’ power and to share his life and death.He was a friend of the Master and his joy was in making Him known. It was Andrew who introduced the Greeks to Jesus on Palm Sunday. What a wonderful description of a Christian – “to make Jesus known” And holiness today is no different. It is a gift that includes a call to be concerned about the Kingdom, an outgoing attitude that wants nothing more than to share the riches of Christ with all people.
And we can find no better model than Andrew.
St Andrew Pray for us!
Quote of the Day – 30 November
“No one, however weak, is denied a share in
the victory of the cross. No one is beyond the help
of the prayer of Christ. His prayer brought benefit
to the multitude that raged against Him. How much more
does it bring to those who turn to Him in repentance.”
– St. Leo the Great
Saint of the Day – 30 November
St Andrew Apostle (1st Century) Patron of fishermen, fishmongers and rope-makers, textile workers, singers, miners, pregnant women, butchers, farm workers, protection against sore throats, protection against convulsions, protection against fever, protection against whooping cough, Sctoland, Barbardos, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, Sicily, Greece, Cyprus, Romania and many Diocese, Schools, towns and cities.
Andrew was St. Peter’s brother, and was called with him. “As [Jesus] was walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is now called Peter and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him” (Matthew 4:18-20).
John the Evangelist presents Andrew as a disciple of John the Baptist. When Jesus walked by one day, John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” Andrew and another disciple followed Jesus. “Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come, and you will see.’ So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day” (John 1:38-39a).
Little else is said about Andrew in the Gospels. Before the multiplication of the loaves, it was Andrew who spoke up about the boy who had the barley loaves and fishes. When the Gentiles went to see Jesus, they came to Philip, but Philip then had recourse to Andrew.
Legend has it that Andrew preached the Good News in what is now modern Greece and Turkey and was crucified at Patras.
Images below – Rubens, Georges de la Tour, Jusepe de Ribera
Our Morning Offering – 30 November
Not the intellect but God
Not the will but God
Not the heart but God
Not taste but God
Not touch but God
Not food and drink but God
Not clothing but God
Not tranquility but God
Not worldly goods but God
Not riches but God
Not distinctions but God
God in all
God always.
Prayer of St Vincent Pallotti
Saints for November 30
St. Andrew
St. Constantius
St. Joseph Marchand
St. Maura
St. Trojan
St. Tudwal
Tuesday of First Week of Advent 29 November
“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”
Daily Meditation:
A shoot shall sprout from the stump.
Our God can transform our weakness, our sin, all conflict and all division.
From every life-less stump – where any future hope has been cut off
– a shoot of new life can sprout.
He shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.
We need to really hear this “good news” so that our hearts can begin to be softened
to hear how profoundly our God desires to help us
and to make things right with all of creation.
Throughout the day today, we can lighten our spirits
as we turn to God and pray:
Let me rejoice at the coming of Your Son, for me!
Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever. Psalm 72
Closing Prayer:
God of forgiveness,
I turn to You in my great weakness
and beg for Your help.
Let me feel the joy growing in my heart
as I anticipate Your coming.
I hear the message of the prophets of old
and know that the Messiah will bring
new life and new ways of living.
From the humbleness of my life,
help me to grow and bloom
and hear the words
that will change the world.
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen
NOVENA TO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (To commemorate the Immaculate Conception)
DAY ONE
O most Holy Virgin,
who was pleasing to the Lord and became His mother,
immaculate in body and spirit,
in faith and in love,
look kindly on me as I implore your powerful intercession.
O most Holy Mother,
who by your blessed Immaculate Conception,
from the first moment of your conception
did crush the head of the enemy,
receive our prayers as we implore you
to present at the throne of God the favour we now request…(State your intention here…)
O Mary of the Immaculate Conception,
Mother of Christ,
you had influence with your Divine Son while upon this earth;
you have the same influence now in heaven.
Pray for us
and obtain for us from Him
the granting of my petition if it be the Divine Will.Amen.
Immaculate Conception – Peter Paul Rubens – 1628
#dayoneimmaculateconceptionnovena. #29november,
Thought for the Day – 29 November
“By now we’ve seen enough Jesuit saints, with their extraordinary loyalty to the Pope that it comes as no surprise that this man too was loyal to the Pope, oh, but what loyalty! Loyalty to the hand that stabs you. Provided you believe that hand is guided by the hand of God. And of course, it wasn’t easy to (even as he had that kind of loyalty) to keep others in line. Out of the 23,000 Jesuits put out of existence in 1773, thanks in large measure to the saint who’s virtues we are reflecting on – ST JOSEPH PIGNATELLI, there is not a single evidence of a public criticism of the Pope. How we need that kind of loyalty today! When one supposedly Catholic writer, take an Andrew Greeley in Chicago, or a Richard McBrien at Notre Dame, or a Hans Kung in Germany – almost every time they either open their mouth or put pen to paper, it is galled and bitterness in attacking the Vicar of Christ. We need this today and no doubt, I have no doubt, that one of the providential reasons for the suppression of the order with such dire consequences, was to give the world the lesson of fidelity, even under duress.”
St Joseph Pignatelli – Pray for us, our Holy Father and for the whole Church, especially the Catholicdigital world!
Venerable John A Hardon SJ (Archives of Lectures)
#stjosephpignatelli,29novstjosephpignatelli,venjohnahardon,thoughtfortheday29november,
Quote of the Day – 29 November
“My God, I do not know what
must come to me today.
But I am certain that nothing
can happen to me that You have
not foreseen, decreed and ordained
from all eternity.
That is sufficient for me.”
– St. Joseph Pignatelli (Saint of the Day)
One Minute Reflection – 29 November
The message of the cross is foolishness to those
who are perishing but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God……1 Cor 1:18
REFLECTION – I never tire repeating, whenever I speak and I talk about patience, even for a minute, I tell the people in case they even have forgotten or never heard, that patience comes from patior, which is the Latin verb for ‘to suffer’. So if you’re going cultivate the virtue of patience, you’ve got to find somebody who’s causing you some suffering. But, God will always provide, He always comes through but He uses human beings and I dare say that our worst pain comes from persons. And often from those we most love. Here, loving the Church and this Church tells you, you may no longer do the work of God for which you took solemn vow until death. Patience, indeed and THIS was the Cross and the power of St Joseph Pignatelli!………….Venerable John A Hardon SJ
PRAYER – Lord my God, let me rely always on the Power of the Cross of Your Son. Grant that I may attain the salvation which He won for us by His Passion and Resurrection. Teach me patience, trust, loyality and obedience to You my God by the example of Your Saint Joseph Pignatelli, from whom we request his prayer of intercession. Amen
Our Morning Offering – 29 November
“Prayer for Perfect Resignation” by St Joseph Pignatelli, SJ (1737-1811)
My God, I do not know
what must come to me today.
But I am certain that nothing
can happen to me that You have
not foreseen, decreed
and ordained from eternity.
That is sufficient for me.
I adore Your impenetrable
and eternal designs,
to which I submit with all my heart.
I desire, I accept them all
and I unite my sacrifice
to that of Jesus Christ,
my divine Saviour.
I ask in His name
and through His infinite merits,
patience in my trials and perfect
and entire submission to all that comes to me
by Your good pleasure.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 29 November – St Joseph Pignatelli SJ
St Joseph Pignatelli SJ –José María Pignatell – (1737-1811 aged 73) called The “Second Founder”, the “Saviour” and the “Restorer” of the Society of Jesus – Patron of Jesuit Novices, those suffering unjust After St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, Pignatelli is arguably the most important Jesuit in its subsequent history, linking the two Societies, the old Society which was first founded in 1540 and the new Society which was founded forty years after it had been suppressed by Pope Clement XIV in 1773. Pignatelli can thus be rightly considered the saviour and restorer of the Jesuits.
For multiple political reasons, European monarchs pressured the pope into suppressing the Jesuits in the late 18th century. The Jesuit suppression affected Portugal, France, the Two Sicilies, Parma and the Spanish Empire by 1767. In 1773 Pope Clement XIV dissolved the Order entirely. Prussia and Russia refused to carry out the papal decree. Because of this, the Society of Jesus survived in Russia throughout the suppression.
When the Jesuits were suppressed in Spain, Pignatelli could have remained in his country, because he was a member of the Spanish nobility. Instead Pignatelli chose exile with his Jesuit brothers and became Superior for 600 remaining Jesuits. These Jesuits were refused entry into Italy and settled on the southern tip of Corsica, only to be exiled once again when France acquired Corsica in 1768. The community finally made it to Ferrara in Northern Italy, where they lived a fragile existence until the final suppression in 1773.
Now forbidden to practice his ministry as a priest, Pignatelli moved to Bologna and for the next 24 years kept in contact with his dispersed brethren. Pignatelli attempted to become a member of the Jesuit community in Russia. Unable to go to Russia, Pignatelli accepted an invitation from Ferdinand, Duke of Parma, to reestablish the Society in his territory. With several Jesuits from Russia, the Jesuit community was reestablished in 1797. Pignatelli renewed his vows and was appointed Novice Master. Later he was appointed Provincial in Italy.
In the midst of the Napoleonic wars, with shifting political pressures among the small states in Italy, Pignatelli shepherded the re-founded Jesuit communities. Joseph Pignatelli hoped to live to see the full restoration of the Society of Jesus but, worn out by his labours, died in 1811—three years before Pope Pius VII universally restored the Society.
Monday of the First Week of Advent 2016
“Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise.”
Daily Meditation:
That He may instruct us in His ways.
Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
We want to begin this journey by rallying ourselves
to turn to the Lord with great hope.
In the midst of many discouraging challenges in our lives
and the violence in the world around us,
we desire to spend this day in anticipation of the graces
our God desires to give us.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
one nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again. Isaiah 2
Lord, I am not worthy to receive you; but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.
Closing Prayer:
Loving God,
I sense that all is Your creation
and everything and all of us,
are being drawn back toward Your loving heart.
Help me to be a person of peace,
to speak about Your peace in an uneasy world
and to live it among the people
You have put into my life every day.
Light in me a desire to prepare for Your coming
to stand in the darkness, waiting, eager and filled with joy.
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
Thought for the Day – 28 November
Devotion to Mary is at the very heart of Catholicism and from time to time we are reminded by Our Lady, that this love is not unfounded. This devotion is as ancient as the Church itself and is one of the qualities that marks a Catholic. The beauty which emanates from devotion to Mary, is how she constantly leads us to her Son. We will find on examination of the great Saints who loved her so deeply that they also loved Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, first and foremost – Mary takes second place once she has led us to Him.
Today’s Saint, St Catherine Labouré, said the following:
“Whenever I go to the chapel, I put myself in the presence of our good Lord and I say to Him, ‘Lord, here I am. Tell me what You would have me do.’ If He gives me some task, I am content and I thank Him. If He gives me nothing, I still thank Him since I do not deserve to receive anything more than that. And then, I tell God everything that is in my heart. I tell Him about my pains and my joys and then I listen. If you listen, God will also speak to you, for with the good Lord, you have to both speak and listen. God always speaks to you when you approach Him plainly and simply.”
– St. Catherine Laboure (1806 – 1876)
St Catherine Pray for us!
Quote of the Day – 28 November
“I knew nothing.
I was nothing.
For this reason
God picked me out”
~~~~~ St Catherine Laboure ~~~~~ (Saint of the Day)
One Minute Reflection – 28 November
Those who love me, I also love and those who seek me find me……….Prv 8:17
REFLECTION – Blessed are those who abandon themselves into Our Lady’s hands.Their names are written in the Book of Life…………….St Bonaventure
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, make me a devoted client of Your Beloved Mary, the Mother of our Lord the Christ. Let me entrust myself always into her hands so that she may protect me as she took care of Your Son. Let me place complete trust in her, as St Catherine did, knowing that she will lead me to You. St Catherine Labouré Pray for us! Amen
Our Morning Offering – 28 November
O God
Enlighten my mind with truth
Inflame my heart with love
Inspire my will with courage
Enrich my life with service
Pardon what I have been
Sanctify what I am
Order what I shall be
And Thine shall be the glory
And mine the eternal salvation
Through Jesus Christ Our Lord.
Amen
AnaStpaul 
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