One Minute Reflection – 6 Novemer – “The Month of The Holy Souls in Purgatory” – Within the All Saints Octave – Apocalypse 7:2-12 – Matthew 5:1-12 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in Heaven.” – Matthew 5:12
REFLECTION – “Rejoice in the Lord without ceasing (cf. Phil 4:4), my dear children. I beg you rejoice, citizens of Heaven but exiles on earth, inhabitants of the Jerusalem on high (cf Gal 4:26) but banished from affairs here below, inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven but disinherited from taking any part at all, in earthly pleasures! Rejoice, ardent travellers, at undergoing exile and maltreatment in a foreign land in the name of the commandment of God! Rejoice, you who are last in this world but lords of blessings that exceed our understanding (cf. Phil 4:7). Rejoice, noble company, brought together by God, assembly united in heart and soul, who give life to filial and fraternal love, a replica on earth of the host of Angels! … Rejoice, God’s workers, apostolic men. … Rejoice, you who set your joy in each other, each making his own the reputation of his brother, you in whom is found neither jealousy, rivalry nor envy but, in their place, peace and charity and life in common. In truth, I do not say that we are not attacked – indeed, who is crowned if not the one who struggles and fights, who exchanges thrusts and wounds with his assailants? – but I say that we should not let ourselves be brought down by the machinations of Satan.
Yes, my children, assembly of God, nourish yourselves with the food of the Spirit and drink the water given by the Lord: whoever comes to possess this water will never thirst again but it will become, in Him, a spring of living water welling up to eternal life (cf. Jn 4:14). … Yet, a little while and we shall have vanquished. And blessed shall we be, blessed also, it shall be said, are the places, family and countries that have borne you (cf Lk 11:27-28).” – St Theodore the Studite (759-826) – Catechesis 47 (The Great Catecheses)
PRAYER – Almighty, eternal God, Who granted us to honour the merits of all Thy Saints in a single solemn festival, bestow on us, we beseech Thee, through their manifold intercession that abundance of Thy mercy for which we yearn. 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).
Quote/s of the Day – 1 April – Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Lent
“Day by day follow God’s path, keeping Him closely attached to you by His promise. In fact, He Himself said, through the mediation of His Apostles, to all those who seek His will and His testimonies that He would be with them until the end of the world (Mt 28:20) where paths and footsteps will be unknown (cf Ps 76:20), as the divine David said in his songs. Yet, in an invisible way, He is present to the eyes of the mind, making Himself seen by those who have a pure heart and conversing with them. So pursue your path …. ”
St Theodore the Studite (759-826) Abbot, Confessor, Father of the Church
“May the God of love and peace, set your hearts at rest and speed you on your journey, may He meanwhile, shelter you from disturbance by others, in the hidden recesses of His Love, until He brings you, at last, into that place of complete plenitude, where you will repose forever, in the vision of peace, in the security of trust and in the restful enjoyment of His riches.”
St Raymond of Peñafort (1175-1275)
“If, then, you looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ for He, Himself is the Way.”
St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church
Saint of the Day – 19 September – St Theodore of Canterbury (c602-690) the 7th Archbishop of Canterbury, England and the first archbishop to rule the whole English Church. Theodore was an important and memorable figure in the English Church. Born inc 602 in the City of St Paul’s birth, Tarsus in Cilici, Greece, now in modern Turkey and died on 19 September 690 in Canterbury, Kent, England of natural causes. Also known as – Theodore of Tarsus. His body is Incorrupt.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Canterbury, the holy Bishop, Theodore, who was sent to England by Pope Vitalian and was renowned for learning and holiness.”
After the death of St Deusdedit, the Archbishop of Canterbury, King Oswi of Northumberland and King Egbert of Kent, sent a virtuous and learned Priest – named Wighard – to Rome that he might be Consecrated as the new Bishop and duly confirmed to that important See by the Pope himself. However, sadly, Wighard and most of those who attended him, died in Italy of the Plague and Pope Vitalian chose instead, Adrian, Abbot of Niridian, near Naples, to be raised to that dignity. This Abbot was by birth an African. He understood Greek and Latin perfectly and was thoroughly versed in theology, as well as in monastic and Ecclesiastical discipline. But so great were his fears of the dignity to which he was called that the Pope was compelled, by his entreaties and tears, to yield to his excuses. He insisted, however, that Adrian should find a person equal to that charge and should, himself, attend upon and assist him in instructing the inhabitants of this remote island in the perfect discipline of the Church.
Adrian first named to the Pope a Monk called Andrew but he was judged incapable of the necessary physical strength on account of his bodily infirmities, although otherwise a person extremely well qualified. There was then at Rome, a Greek Monk named Theodore, aged sixty-six, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, a man of exemplary life and well skilled in divine and human learning and in the Greek and Latin languages. Adrian presented him to the Pope and procured that he should be made a Bishop, promising to bear him company into England.
Theodore was duly Consecrated in 668 and then set out from Rome with St Adrian and St Benedict Biscop, later the Bishop and Abbot of Wearmouth and Jarrow, Durham. In 669 they reached Canterbury, where Theodore appointed Adrian the Abbot of Sts Peter and Paul Monastery, afterward named St Augustine’s.
There they created a famous school influential in the lives of such brilliant scholars as the celebrated historian St Bede the Venerable and the skilled Church architect St Aldhelm.
Theodore organised the English Church, many Sees which were vacant on his arrival and others which needed to be divided. In 672 he called the first General Synod of the English Church at Hertford, to end certain Celtic practices and to divide Diocese. The division issue was postponed, but the Synod imposed the date of the Roman Easter, established obedience for Clerics and Monks, forbade Bishops to interfere in matters relating to and of other diocese and reaffirmed the Church teaching on Marriage and Divorce.
During this period Theodore came into sharp conflict with St Wilfrid, whom he had appointed as the Bishop of York but whom he soon deposed. In 677/678, St Wilfrid went to Rome to protest. Meanwhile, in 678, Theodore helped settle relations between King Aethelred of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia and King Ecgfrith of Northumbria, whom Aethelred had defeated in battle.
Theodore’s Synod at Hatfield in 679, his 2nd Genral Synod, cleared the English Church from associations with the heresy of the Monothelites. Few things have rendered the name of St Theodore more famous than his Penitential or Code of Canons, prescribing the term of public penance for penitents, according to the quality and enormity of their sins. In this Penitential it is stated that when a Monk died, Holy Mass was offered for him on the day of his burial, on the third day after and as often again, as the Abbot thought proper. Also, the Holy Sacrifice was offered for the laity and accompanied by fasting. This Penitential which had been colated and published by his disciples, became highly influential in England and on the Continent.
Theodore, being more than eighty years old and seized with frequent bouts of illness, was desirous of being reconnciled with St Wilfrid. He, therefore, requested the exiled holy Prelate to come to him at London, begged his pardon for having consented with the Kings to his deprivation, without any fault on his side, did all he could to make amends and restored him to his See of York. For this purpose he wrote strong letters to Alfrid, King of Northumberland – who had succeeded his brother Egfrid, to Ethelred, King of the Mercians and to others who were opposed to St Wilfrid or were interested in this affair. Theodore had the comfort of seeing his endeavours everywhere successful.
One of Theodore’s greatest achievement was to adapt the Roman ideal of a centralised Church to English conditions. His establishment of a centralised Church under the Archbishopric of Canterbury in close alliance with secular rulers, was maintained by his successors. No biography of Theodore has survived.
This Medallion resides on the west facade of Westminster Cathedral
St Theodore was the Archbishop of Canterbury for twenty two years and died in 690, at the age of eighty-eight years. His memory is honoured on 19 September the date of his death. He was buried in the Monastery of St.Peter, which afterwards took the name of St Augustine. In 1091 his body was found Incorrupt when it was re-interred in the Cathedral.
Notre-Dame de la Salette / Our Lady of La Salette), La Salette-Fallavaux, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France (1846) 19 September: Our Lady appeared to two small children, Melanie Mathieu and Maximin Giraud, on the mountain of La Salette in the French Alps. She was crying and around her neck was a crucifix, with a hammer and pincers on either side – 19 September 1846. Approved by the Diocesan Bishop in 1851. Read the story here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/09/19/feast-of-our-lady-of-la-salette-19-september/
St Arnulph of Gap Bl Carolus Hyon Song-Mun St Constantia of Nocera St Desiderius of Pozzuoli St Eustochius of Tours St Felix of Nocera St Festus of Pozzuoli
St Goeric of Metz (c570-c643)Bishop – Goeric is listed as the 30th Bishop of Metz, having governed that See from 625 to 642 or 643. The Roman Martyrology rads: “In Metz in Austrasia, still in the territory of today’s France, Saint Goeríco or Abo, Bishop, who succeeded Saint Arnulf, whose body was transported with veneration to this City.” His Life: https://anastpaul.com/2023/09/19/saint-of-the-day-19-september-saint-goeric-of-metz-c570-c643-bishop/
St Maria de Cervellón OdeM (1230 – 1290) Virgin, Catalan Superior of Second Order of the Mercedarians in her region. Mystic, graced with the gift of bilocation, Apostle of the poor, the abandoned, the needy. She was the first woman to wear the Habit of the ‘ Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Ransom. She is considered the Founder of the Mercedary Nuns. Her entry in the Roman Martyrology states: “At Barcelona in Spain, blessed Maria de Cervellione, Virgin of the Order of Our Lady of Ransom. She is commonly called Maria of Help on account of the prompt assistance she renders to those who invoke her.“ Patronages – Mercadarian Nuns and Sisters, Navigators, against shipwreck, Spanish sailors, of the abandoned. On 13 February1692, Pope Innocent XII gave a favourable judgement and confirmed her immemorial cult;and she was introduced into the Roman Martyrology as a Saint on 8 November 1729. Her body is Incorrupt. Her Holy Life: https://anastpaul.com/2021/09/19/saint-of-the-day-19-september-st-maria-de-cervellon-odem-1230-1290/ Please watch this video if you are able to spare the time. It is absolutely beautiful.
St Pomposa St Sequanus St Sosius of Puzzuoli St Theodore of Canterbury (c602-690) the 7th Archbishop of Canterbury St Trophimus of Synnada
Martyrs of Antioch – 3 Saints: Christians imprisoned, tortured and executed in various ways in the persecutions of Emperor Probus; some names have come down to us – Dorymedon, Sabbatius and Trophimus. c 277 at Antioch (in modern Turkey).
Martyrs of Phunon – (4 aints): Four bishops in Egypt who were sentenced to forced labour in a rock quarry and martyred in the persecution of Diocletian. Noted for celebrating Mass in prison. – Elias, Nilus, Patermuzio and Peleus. They were burned to death in 310 at Phunon, near Petra in Palestine.
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