Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Novenas- Day Three, Our Lady of the Expectation and the Saints celebrated on 18 December

Our Lady of the Expectation – This Feast originated in Spain. When the Feast of the Annunciation (25 March) was transferred to 18 December because of the regulation forbidding Feasts in Lent, it remained on this date after the Annunciation was again celebrated on its original date. It impressed on the faithful, the sentiments of the Blessed Virgin as the time of her delivery approached.
More about the Feast here:

https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/18/the-feast-of-our-lady-of-expectation-18-december/

Christmas Novena to the Christ Child – Day Three: THE THIRD DAY

The Monthly Novena to the Infant of Prague – LINK : The Third Day

St Auxentius (Died c 321) Bishop of Mopsuestia, Southern Turkey, ex-Office in the Roman Army.
A Shepherd’s Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/12/18/saint-of-the-day-18-december-saint-auxentius-of-mopsuetia-died-c-321-bishop/

St Basilian of Laodicea
St Bodagisil (Died c588) Abbot of Aquitaine
St Desiderius (8th Century) Monk of Fontenelle Monastery

St Flannán (7the Century) Bishop of Killaloe , Abbot, Missionary to the Hebrides Islands, renowned for his preaching.
His Zealous Life:

https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/18/saint-of-the-day-18-december-saint-flannan-of-killaloe-7th-century/

St Flavitus (Died 630) Priest, HermitMiracle-worker:
His Life of Mortifications and Holiness:

https://anastpaul.com/2023/12/18/saint-of-the-day-18-december-st-flavitus-died-630-priest-hermit/

St Gatian of Tours (c251-301) The founding Bishop of the See of Tours, Missionary..
St Gatian’s Mission:

https://anastpaul.com/2019/12/18/saint-of-the-day-18-december-saint-gatian-of-tours-c-251-301/


St Mawnan of Cornwall – He is included in various calendars in the British Isles. A Town in the County of Cornwall is named in his memory. No reliable information about his life has survived.
St Rufus of Philippi +

St Samthann (Died 739) Virgin, Founder Abbess of the Monastery she had founded, Clonbroney. Born in Ireland and died at her Convent Clonbroney in 739.
Her Holy Life:

https://anastpaul.com/2024/12/18/saint-of-the-day-18-december-saint-samthann-died-739-virgin-abbess/

St Theotimus of Laodicea– Martyr. No further information has survived.

St Winebald OSB (c701-761) Benedictine Priest, Abbot, Confessor, Missionary, Founder of many Monasteries, disciple of St Boniface.
St Winebald’s Fervent Life:

https://anastpaul.com/2020/12/18/saint-of-the-day-18-december-saint-winebald-osb-c-701-761/

St Zosimus of Philippi+

Mercedarians Redeemers – Also known as “Blessed Redentori.”
A group of Mercedarian Friars who worked together, under the leadership of Saint Peter de Amer, to ransom prisoners and minister to them after.
Blessed Bernardo de Pratis
Blessed Giacomo de Lara
Blessed Louis Gasco
Blessed Peter de Quesada
Blessed Peter of Barcelona
Blessed William de Quadres

Martyrs of Northwest Africa – 42 Saints:
Mercedarian Redeemers – 6 beati – These are a group of Mercedarian Friars who worked together, under the leadership of Saint Peter de Amer, to ransom (e.g., redeem) prisoners 

Posted in CATECHESIS, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN TITLES, MOTHER of GOD, QUOTES on CHASTITY, QUOTES on HUMILITY, Quotes on SALVATION, St Francis de Sales, The ANNUNCIATION, The INCARNATION, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 18 December – Chastity and Humility

Quote/s of the Day – 18 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – The Feast of Our Lady of Expectation

By a woman,
came the flood of our ills
and by a woman too,
our blessings,
have their spring.

St Gregory Thaumaturgus (c213-c270)
“the Wonder-Worker,” Bishop, Confessor

And Mary said,
‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be to me according to thy word.’

Luke 1:38

The price of our salvation
is offered to thee.
We shall be set free at once, if thou consent.
In the eternal Word of God, we all came to be
and behold, we die.
In thy brief response,
we are to be remade.
in order to be recalled to life.
Answer quickly, O Virgin.
Reply in haste to the Angel,
or rather, through the Angel to the Lord.
Answer with a word,
receive the Word of God.
Speak thine own word,
conceive the Divine Word.
Breathe a passing word,
embrace the Eternal Word
!”

St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
The Last Father and the Mellifluous Doctor

She saw herself raised to the highest dignity
that ever was or will be, for although
it should please God to create anew many worlds,
He could never make a pure creature be greater
than the Mother of God.
Our Lady humbled herself and acknowledged herself unworthy of being raised to the high dignity
of Mother of God, therefore, she was made to be His Mother, for she had no sooner uttered the protestation of her littleness, than, having abandoned herself to Him,
by an act of incomparable charity,
she became the Mother of the Most High,
Who is the Saviour of our souls!

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritas

Posted in ADVENT, DECEMBER - The DIVINE INFANCY and The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, EMBER DAYS, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, MOTHER of GOD, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on PURITY, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, The INCARNATION, The REDEMPTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 18 December – ‘ … She indeed, is Mother of God, divinely named Mary … ‘

One Minute Reflection – 18 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Ember Wednesday – The Feast of Our Lady of Expectation – Isaias 7:10-15; Luke 1:26-38 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Hail, full of grace!” – Luke 1:28

REFLECTION – “The degeneration caused by sin had obscured the beauty of our original nobility. But when the mother of supreme Beauty is born, our nature finds its purity once more and sees itself moulded according to the perfect model, worthy of God (Gn 1:26)… We had all preferred the world below, to that above. There no longer remained any hope of salvation. The state of our nature cried aloud to Heaven to come to the rescue … Then, at last, in His good pleasure, the world’s Divine Artificer determined to make a new world appear, a different world full of harmony and youth.

Now was it not fitting, that a most pure virgin without stain, should place herself at the service of this mysterious plan, first of all?… And where was this virgin to be found, if not in this woman, alone of her kind, chosen by the world’s Creator before all generations? Yes, she indeed, is Mother of God, divinely named Mary, whose womb gave birth to God Incarnate and whom, He Himself had supernaturally prepared, as His Temple…

In this way, then, the design of the Redeemer of our race was to bring about a birth and, as it were, a new creation to replace the one which went before. Therefore, just as in Paradise, He had taken a little clay out of the pure and spotless earth, to fashion the first Adam (Gn 2:7), so, at the moment of bringing about His Own Incarnation, He made use of another earth, so to speak, namely, this Pure and Immaculate Virgin, chosen from among all other beings He had created. It is in her that He, Adam’s Creator, has remade us in our very substance and become a new Adam (1 Cor 15:45), that the old might be saved by the New and Eternal!” – St Andrew of Crete (660-740) Bishop (Sermon 1 for the Nativity of the Mother of God ; PG 97, 812).

PRAYER – O God, Who, by the message of an Angel, willed to take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant that we, Thy suppliants, who believe her to be truly, the Mother of God, may be helped by her intercession with Thee. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in ADVENT PRAYERS, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MARIAN POETRY, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN TITLES, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS to the DIVINE INFANT JESUS

Our Morning Offering – 18 December – Awaiting Baby Jesus

Our Morning Offering – 18 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – The Feast of Our Lady of Expectation

Awaiting Baby Jesus
Traditional Catholic Advent Prayer

My heart is beating,
filled with joy,
awaiting Mary’s Baby Boy.
For with this Child, we embrace
the birth of God’s
most precious grace.
Baby Jesus, soon to come!
For us comes the Promised One.
Baby Jesus, God’s own Son,
Thou will be the Chosen One
to lead Thy flock unto salvation.
Our eternal life awaits.
The birth of Jesus brings us nearer
Heaven’s Holy Gates.
Sing with joy
and count the days,
for soon to come,
the Lord we’ll praise.
Rejoice that Jesus
will soon arrive,
the Messiah and our faith alive.
Amen

Posted in EMBER DAYS, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Ember Wednesday, Novenas- Day Three, Our Lady of the Expectation and the Saints celebrated on 18 December

Christmas Novena to the Christ Child – Day Three: THE THIRD DAY

The Monthly Novena to the Infant of Prague – LINK : The Third Day

Our Lady of the Expectation – This Feast originated in Spain. When the Feast of the Annunciation (25 March) was transferred to 18 December because of the regulation forbidding Feasts in Lent, it remained on this date after the Annunciation was again celebrated on its original date. It impressed on the faithful, the sentiments of the Blessed Virgin as the time of her delivery approached.
More about the Feast here:

https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/18/the-feast-of-our-lady-of-expectation-18-december/

St Basilian of Laodicea
St Bodagisil of Aquitaine
St Desiderius of Fontenelle

St Flannán of Killaloe (7the Century) Bishop, Abbot, Missionary to the Hebrides Islands, renowned for his preaching.
Biography:

https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/18/saint-of-the-day-18-december-saint-flannan-of-killaloe-7th-century/

St Gatian of Tours (c 251-301) The founding Bishop of the See of Tours, Missionary..
About St Gatian:

https://anastpaul.com/2019/12/18/saint-of-the-day-18-december-saint-gatian-of-tours-c-251-301/


St Mawnan of Cornwall – He is lincluded in various calendars in the British Isles. A Town in the County of Cornwall is named for him. No reliable information about his life has survived.
St Rufus of Philippi+
St Samthann (Died 739) Virgin, Founder Abbess
St Theotimus of Laodicea– Martyr. No further information has survived.

St Winebald OSB (c 701-761) Benedictine Priest, Abbot, Confessor, Missionary, Founder of many Monasteries, disciple of St Boniface.
St Winebald’s Life:

https://anastpaul.com/2020/12/18/saint-of-the-day-18-december-saint-winebald-osb-c-701-761/

St Zosimus of Philippi+

Mercedarians Redeemers – Also known as “Blessed Redentori.”
A group of Mercedarian Friars who worked together, under the leadership of Saint Peter de Amer, to ransom prisoners and minister to them after.
Blessed Bernardo de Pratis
Blessed Giacomo de Lara
Blessed Louis Gasco
Blessed Peter de Quesada
Blessed Peter of Barcelona
Blessed William de Quadres

Martyrs of Northwest Africa – 42 Saints:
Mercedarian Redeemers – 6 beati – These are a group of Mercedarian Friars who worked together, under the leadership of Saint Peter de Amer, to ransom (e.g., redeem) prisoners and minister to them after.

Posted in ADVENT PRAYERS, DANTE ALIGHIERI!, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, HYMNS, MARIAN POETRY, MARIAN TITLES, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The INCARNATION, The NATIVITY of JESUS, The O ANTIPHONS

Our Morning Offering – 18 December – “O Virgo Virginum” and Maiden yet a Mother

Our Morning Offering – 18 December and also the Feast of Our Lady of Expectation

O Virgo Virginum

O Virgin of Virgins,
how shall this be?
For neither before thee was any like thee,
nor shall there be after.
Daughters of Jerusalem,
why marvel ye at me?
That which ye behold,
is a divine mystery.

Maiden yet a Mother
By Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
Tr Msgr Ronald A Knox (1888-1957)

Maiden yet a mother,
daughter of thy Son,
high beyond all other,
lowlier is none;
thou the consummation
planned by God’s decree,
when our lost creation
nobler rose in thee!

Thus His place prepared,
he who all things made
‘mid his creatures tarried,
in thy bosom laid;
there His love He nourished,
warmth that gave increase
to the root whence flourished
our eternal peace.

Nor alone thou hearest
When thy name we hail;
Often thou art nearest
When our voices fail;
Mirrored in thy fashion
All creation’s gird,
Mercy, might compassion
Grace thy womanhood.

Lady, let our vision
Striving heavenward, fail,
Still let thy petition
With thy Son prevail,
Unto whom all merit,
prayer and majesty,
With the Holy Spirit
And the Father be.

Most authors agree that there were seven original ‘O Antiphons’ and that they are a very ancient expression of Christian Prayer. While their author is unknown, they are cited in at least two works as early as the eighth century. Both Cynewulf, an Anglo-Saxon author and Amalarius, a liturgist and the Archbishop of Trier (died 850), who was a student of the teacher St Alcuin, cite the existence of the ‘O Antiphons’ as early as the seventh/eighth century.

The ‘O Antiphons’ get their name from the fact that they all begin with the interjection ‘O’: O Sapientia (Wisdom); O Adonai (Lord); O Radix Jesse (Root of Jesse); O Clavis David (Key of David); O Oriens (Dawn of the East); O Rex Gentium (King of Gentiles); O Emmanuel.

While the original ‘O Antiphons’ numbered seven, over time a number of others were added to the liturgy of particular regions and sometimes for particular religious feast days which fell during Advent, or even in the liturgy of some medieval religious orders. Some medieval religious churches had as many as twelve O Antiphons which were sung in the Advent Liturgy leading up to Christmas Eve.

Among these, there was an important Marian ‘O Antiphon’ which appears in both the Gallican (France) and Sarum (England) liturgies. Although it is difficult to establish just when this antiphon was first introduced, it was certainly known in the Middle Ages.

This Marian Antiphon is still used today in the liturgy of the Norbertine Order. While the Latin Liturgy begins the O Antiphons on 17 December with ‘O Sapientia,’ and ends on 23 December with ‘O Emmanuel,’ the Liturgy of the Norbertine Order begins their O Antiphons on 16 December with ‘O Sapientia,’ and ends on 23 December with the beautiful Marian Antiphon ‘O Virgo Virginum.’

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Feast of Our Lady of the Expectation and Memorials of the Saints – 18 December

Our Lady of the Expectation – This Feast originated in Spain. When the feast of the Annunciation (25 March) was transferred to 18 December because of the regulation forbidding feasts in Lent, it remained on this date after the Annunciation was again celebrated on its original date. It impressed on the faithful, the sentiments of the Blessed Virgin as the time of her delivery approached.

More about the Feast here:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/18/the-feast-of-our-lady-of-expectation-18-december/

Our Lady of Expectation, Valencia, Spain

St Auxentius of Mopsuetia
St Basilian of Laodicea
St Bodagisil of Aquitaine
St Desiderius of Fontenelle
Bl Eugenio Cernuda Febrero
St Flannán of Killaloe
St Gatian of Tours (c 251-301)
About St Gatian:

https://anastpaul.com/2019/12/18/saint-of-the-day-18-december-saint-gatian-of-tours-c-251-301/
Blessed Giulia Valle (1847-1916)
About Blessed Giulia: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/12/18/saint-of-the-day-18-december-bl-giulia-nemesia-valle-1847-1916/

St Malachi the Prophet
St Mawnan of Cornwall
Bl Miguel San Román Fernández
St Phaolô Nguyen Van My
St Phêrô Truong Van Ðuong
St Phêrô Vu Van Truat
Bl Philip of Ratzeburg
St Rufus of Philippi
St Samthann of Clonbroney
St Theotimus of Laodicea
St Winebald OSB (c 701-761) Priest, Abbot
St Zosimus of Philippi

Martyrs of Northwest Africa – 42 saints:
Mercedarian Redeemers – 6 beati – These are a group of Mercedarian friars who worked together, under the leadership of Saint Peter de Amer, to ransom (e.g., redeem) prisoners and minister to them after.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Feast of Our Lady of Expectation and Memorials of the Saints – 18 December

Our Lady of the Expectation – This Feast originated in Spain.   When the feast of the Annunciation (25 March) was transferred to 18 December because of the regulation forbidding feasts in Lent, it remained on this date after the Annunciation was again celebrated on its original date.   It impressed on the faithful, the sentiments of the Blessed Virgin as the time of her delivery approached.

More about the Feast here:  https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/18/the-feast-of-our-lady-of-expectation-18-december/

St Auxentius of Mopsuetia
St Basilian of Laodicea
St Bodagisil of Aquitaine
St Desiderius of Fontenelle
Bl Eugenio Cernuda Febrero
St Flannán of Killaloe
St Gatian of Tours (c 251-301)
Bl Giulia Valle (1847-1916)
About Blessed Giulia:   https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/12/18/saint-of-the-day-18-december-bl-giulia-nemesia-valle-1847-1916/

St Malachi the Prophet
St Mawnan of Cornwall
Bl Miguel San Román Fernández
St Phaolô Nguyen Van My
St Phêrô Truong Van Ðuong
St Phêrô Vu Van Truat
Bl Philip of Ratzeburg
St Rufus of Philippi
St Samthann of Clonbroney
St Theotimus of Laodicea
St Winebald of Heidenheim
St Zosimus of Philippi

Martyrs of Northwest Africa – 42 saints:
Mercedarian Redeemers – 6 beati – These are a group of Mercedarian friars who worked together, under the leadership of Saint Peter de Amer, to ransom (e.g., redeem) prisoners and minister to them after.