One Minute Reflection – 28 August – The Memorial of St Augustine (354-430) – Doctor of Grace
“Therefore, whosoever hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.…” Matthew 7:24
REFLECTION – “If any one will piously and soberly consider the sermon which our Lord Jesus spoke on the mount, as we read it in the Gospel according to Matthew, I think that he will find in it, so far as regards the highest morals, a perfect standard of the Christian life: and this we do not rashly venture to promise but gather it from the very words of the Lord Himself.
For the sermon itself is brought to a close in such a way, that it is clear there are in it all the precepts which go to mould the life. … He has sufficiently indicated, as I think, that these sayings which He uttered on the mount so perfectly guide the life of those who may be willing to live according to them, that they may justly be compared to one building upon a rock.”...St Augustine (On the Sermon on the Mount)
PRAYER – Lord God, renew Your Church with he Spirit of wisdom and love which You gave to St Augustine. Lead us by that same Spirit, to seek You, the only fountain of true wisdom and the source of everlasting love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, in union with the Spirit, one God, forever and ever, St Augustine, pray for the Church and for us all, amen.
Saint of the Day – 28 August – St Augustine (354-430) born Augustinus Aurelius (13 November 354 at Tagaste, Numidia, North Africa (Souk-Ahras, Algeria) – 28 August 430 at Hippo, North Africa) – Doctor of Grace and one of the original Four Fathers & Doctors of the Latin Church – Bishop, Theologian, Philosopher, Rhetorician, Writer, Preacher, Teacher, Advisor, Reformer, Confessor, Apologist, Apostle of Charity. PATRONAGES – of theologians, brewers, printers, 7 Diocese, 7 Cities, against sore eyes, eye diseases, against vermin. Attributes – Child; dove; pen; shell, pierced heart, holding book with a small church, bishop’s staff, mitre, flaming heart, an allusion to a passage in his Confessions.
Augustine was born in the year on 13 November in 354 AD in the municipium of Thagaste (now Souk Ahras, Algeria) in Roman Africa. His mother, Monica, was a devout Christian; his father Patricius was a Pagan who converted to Christianity on his deathbed. Scholars generally agree that Augustine and his family were Berbers, an ethnic group indigenous to North Africa but that they were heavily Romanized, speaking only Latin at home as a matter of pride and dignity. In his writings, Augustine leaves some information as to the consciousness of his African heritage. For example, he refers to Apuleius as “the most notorious of us Africans,” to Ponticianus as “a country man of ours, insofar as being African”and to Faustus of Mileve as “an African Gentleman.”
Augustine’s family name, Aurelius, suggests that his father’s ancestors were freedmen of the gens Aurelia given full Roman citizenship by the Edict of Caracalla in 212. Augustine’s family had been Roman, from a legal standpoint, for at least a century when he was born. It is assumed that his mother, Monica, was of Berber origin, on the basis of her name but as his family were an upper class of citizens known as honorable men, Augustine’s first language is likely to have been Latin.
Augustine Aurelius still unbaptised and burning for knowledge, he came under the influence of the Manicheans, which caused his mother intense sorrow. He left Africa for Rome, deceiving his mother, who was ever anxious to be near him. She prayed and wept. A bishop consoled her by observing that a son of so many tears would never be lost. Yet the evil spirit drove him constantly deeper into moral degeneracy, capitalising on his leaning toward pride and stubbornness. Grace was playing a waiting game; there still was time and the greater the depths into which the evil spirit plunged its fledgling, the stronger would be the reaction.
Augustine recognised this vacuum; he saw how the human heart is created with a great abyss; the earthly satisfactions that can be thrown into it are no more than a handful of stones that hardly cover the bottom. And in that moment grace was able to break through: Restless is the heart until it rests in God. The tears of his mother, the sanctity of Milan’s Bishop Ambrose, the book of St Anthony the hermit and the sacred Scriptures wrought his conversion, which was sealed by baptism on Easter night 387. Augustine’s mother went to Milan with joy and witnessed her son’s baptism. It was what it should have been, the greatest event of his life, his conversion — metanoia. Grace had conquered. Augustine accompanied his mother to Ostia, where she died. She was eager to die, for now she had given birth to her son for the second time.
St Augustine and St Ambrose
In 388 he returned to Tagaste, where he lived a common life of prayer and solitude with his friends. In 391 he was ordained priest at Hippo, in 394 made coadjutor to bishop Valerius and then from 396 to 430 bishop of Hippo.
Augustine, numbered among the four great Doctors of the Western Church, possessed one of the most penetrating minds of ancient Christendom. He was the most important Platonist of patristic times, the Church’s most influential theologian, especially with regard to clarifying the dogmas of the Trinity, grace and the Church. He was a great speaker, a prolific writer, a saint with an inexhaustible spirituality. His Confessions, a book appreciated in every age, describes a notable portion of his life (until 400), his errors, his battles, his profound religious observations. Famous too is his work The City of God, a worthy memorial to his genius, a philosophy of history. Most edifying are his homilies, especially those on the psalms and on the Gospel of St. John.
Augustine’s episcopal life was filled with mighty battles against heretics, over all of whom he triumphed. His most illustrious victory was that over Pelagius, who denied the necessity of grace; from this encounter he earned the surname “Doctor of grace.” As an emblem Christian art accords him a burning heart to symbolise the ardent love of God which permeates all his writings. He is the founder of canonical life in common; therefore Augustinian monks and the Hermits of St. Augustine honour him as their spiritual father.
As bishop, Augustine worked tirelessly for his people. He fought false religious teachings, protected the people from corrupt officials and invaders and cared for the sick, the poor and those in prison. His many sermons, letters and books reflect the ever-deepening love he felt for God. He wisely observed: “You have made us, O God, for yourself, and our hearts shall find no rest until they rest in you.”
He wrote and advised bishops, popes and councils. His influence on the Church and his fight against heresy were exceptional. He was loved by many, for he had struggled much and could help others who were struggling.
In 430 Vandals invaded the province. For three months Augustine inspired Christian hope in his people. According to Possidius, Augustine spent his final days in prayer and repentance, requesting that the penitential Psalms of David be hung on his walls so that he could read them. vv He directed that the library of the church in Hippo and all the books therein should be carefully preserved. He died on 28 August 430. Shortly after his death, the Vandals lifted the siege of Hippo but they returned not long thereafter and burned the city. They destroyed all of it but Augustine’s cathedral and library, which they left untouched.
St Bede’s True Martyrology, recounts that Augustine’s body was later translated or moved to Cagliari, Sardinia, by the Catholic bishops expelled from North Africa by Huneric. Around 720, his remains were transported again by Peter, bishop of Pavia and uncle of the Lombard king Liutprand, to the church of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro in Pavia, in order to save them from frequent coastal raids by Muslims. In January 1327, Pope John XXII issued the papal bull Veneranda Santorum Patrum, in which he appointed the Augustinians guardians of the tomb of Augustine (called Arca), which was remade in 1362 and elaborately carved with bas-reliefs of scenes from Augustine’s life.
St Augustine’s Relics in HippoSt Augustine’s Shrine at San Pietro
Thought for the day – 27 August – The Memorial of St Monica
Today we celebrate the memorial of St Monica, the mother of St Augustine, whose memorial we will celebrate tomorrow.
We celebrate this memorial not simply because St Monica was the mother of a great saint.
The opening prayer for Mass goes like this and it is worthwhile to take note: ‘God of mercy, comfort of those in sorrow, the tears of St Monica moved you to convert her son, St Augustine to the faith of Christ.’
All in all, she prayed for something like 30 years before she finally had the joy of seeing St Augustine baptised.
St Monica enfleshed the words which we hear in the 1st reading: ‘May our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who has given us His love and through His grace, such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope, comfort you and strengthen you.’
The consolation, experienced by St Monica and her total abandonment to God can also be ours today when we persevere in patience and in trust – this is Monica’s lesson – keep on praying good folk, for God hears you!
St Monica, pray for us!
“The day was now approaching when my mother Monica would depart from this life; You know that day, Lord, though we did not. She and I happened to be standing by ourselves at a window that overlooked the garden in the courtyard of the house. At the time we were in Ostia on the Tiber. And so the two of us, all alone, were enjoying a very pleasant conversation, “forgetting the past and pushing on to what is ahead..” We were asking one another in the presence of the Truth – for You are the Truth – what it would be like to share the eternal life enjoyed by the saints, which “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, which has not even entered into the heart of man.” We desired with all our hearts to drink from the streams of your heavenly fountain, the fountain of life. That was the substance of our talk, though not the exact words. But You know, O Lord, that in the course of our conversation that day, the world and its pleasures lost all their attraction for us. My mother said, “Son, as far as I am concerned, nothing in this life now gives me any pleasure. I do not know why I am still here, since I have no further hopes in this world. I did have one reason for wanting to live a little longer: to see you become a Catholic Christian before I died. God has lavished His gifts on me in that respect, for I know that you have even renounced earthly happiness to be his servant. So what am I doing here?” I do not really remember how I answered her. Shortly, within five days or thereabouts, she fell sick with a fever. Then one day during the course of her illness she became unconscious and for a while she was unaware of her surroundings. My brother and I rushed to her side but she regained consciousness quickly. She looked at us as we stood there and asked in a puzzled voice: “Where was I?” We were overwhelmed with grief, but she held her gave steadily upon us, and spoke further: “Here you shall bury your mother.” I remained silent as I held back my tears. However, my brother haltingly expressed his hope that she might not die in a strange country but in her own land, since her end would be happier there. When she heard this, her face was filled with anxiety and she reproached him with a glance because he had entertained such earthly thoughts. Then she looked at me and spoke: “Look what he is saying.” Thereupon she said to both of us, “Bury my body wherever you will; let not care of it cause you any concern. One thing only I ask you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be.” Once our mother had expressed this desire as best she could, she fell silent as the pain of her illness increased.”– from the Confessions of Saint Augustine
Quote of the Day – 27 August – The Memorial of St Monica
“Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled.”
Our Morning Offering – 27 August – The Memorial of St Monica
LATE HAVE I LOVED YOU By St Augustine
Late have I loved You,
Beauty so ancient and so new,
late have I loved You!
Lo, you were within,
but I outside, seeking there for You,
and upon the shapely things You have made
I rushed headlong – I, misshapen.
You were with me but I was not with You.
They held me back far from You,
those things which would have no being,
were they not in You.
You called, shouted, broke through my deafness.
You flared, blazed, banished my blindness.
You lavished Your fragrance, I gasped
and now I pant for You;
I tasted You and now I hunger and thirst;
You touched me and I burned for Your peace.
Saint of the Day – 27 August – St Monica (322-387) – Mother of St Augustine (354-430) Great Father and Doctor of the Churcg,, Widow, Religious Lay Woman – born in 322 at Tagaste,Souk Ahrus), Roman North Africa (modern Algeria) and died in 387 at Ostia, Italy). Patronages – conversion of relatives, alcoholics, alcoholism, difficult marriages, disappointing children, homemakers, housewives, married women, wives, mothers, victims of adultery or unfaithfulness, victims of verbal abuse, widows, Archconfraternity of Christian Mothers, Bevilacqua, Italy, Mabini, Bohol, Philippines, various cities across the world. Attributes – cincture, girdle, tears, religious habit, in prayer.
Because of her name and place of birth, Monica is assumed to have been born in Thagaste (present-day Souk Ahras, Algeria). She is believed to have been a Berber on the basis of her name. She was married early in life to Patricius, a Roman pagan, who held an official position in Tagaste. Patricius had a violent temper and appears to have been of dissolute habits; apparently his mother was the same way. Monica’s alms, deeds and prayer habits annoyed Patricius but it is said that he always held her in respect.
Monica had three children who survived infancy: sons Augustine and Navigius and daughter Perpetua. Unable to secure baptism for them, she grieved heavily when Augustine fell ill. In her distress she asked Patricius to allow Augustine to be baptised; he agreed, then withdrew this consent when the boy recovered. But Monica’s joy and relief at Augustine’s recovery turned to anxiety as he misspent his renewed life being wayward and, as he himself tells us, lazy. He was finally sent to school at Madauros. He was 17 and studying rhetoric in Carthage when Patricius died.
Augustine had become a Manichaean at Carthage; when upon his return home he shared his views regarding Manichaeism, Monica drove him away from her table. However, she is said to have experienced a vision that convinced her to reconcile with him. At this time she visited a certain (unnamed) holy bishop who consoled her with the now famous words,“the child of those tears shall never perish.” Monica followed her wayward son to Rome, where he had gone secretly; when she arrived he had already gone to Milan but she followed him. Here she found Ambrose and through him she ultimately had the joy of seeing Augustine convert to Christianity after 17 years of resistance.
In his book Confessions, Augustine wrote of a peculiar practice of his mother in which she “brought to certain oratories, erected in the memory of the saints, offerings of porridge, bread, water and wine.” When she moved to Milan, the bishop Ambrose forbade her to use the offering of wine, since “it might be an occasion of gluttony for those who were already given to drink”. So, Augustine wrote of her:
“In place of a basket filled with fruits of the earth, she had learned to bring to the oratories of the martyrs a heart full of purer petitions and to give all that she could to the poor–so that the communion of the Lord’s body might be rightly celebrated in those places where, after the example of His passion, the martyrs had been sacrificed and crowned.” — Confessions 6.2.2
Mother and son spent 6 months of true peace at Rus Cassiciacum (present-day Cassago Brianza) after which Augustine was baptised in the church of St John the Baptist at Milan.
Africa claimed them, however, and Augustine and the members of his family now set out for their return to Tagaste. At the port of Ostia, Monica fell ill. She knew that her work had been accomplished and that life would soon be over. Her exaltation of spirit was such that her sons were unaware of the approach of death. As Monica’s strength failed, she said to Augustine: “I do not know what there is left for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled. All I wished for was that I might see you a Catholic and a child of Heaven. God granted me even more than this in making you despise earthly felicity and consecrate yourself to His service.” Shortly afterwards they asked her if she did not fear to die so far from home, for she had earlier expressed a desire to be buried beside her husband in Tagaste. Now, with beautiful simplicity, she replied, “Nothing is far from God” and indicated that she was content to be buried where she died. Monica’s death plunged her children into the deepest grief and Augustine, “the son of so many tears,” in the Confessions implores his readers’ prayers for his parents. It is the prayers of Monica herself that have been invoked by generations of the faithful who honour her as a special patroness of married women and as an example for Christian motherhood. Her relics are alleged to have been transferred from Ostia to Rome, to rest in the church of San Agostino.
St Monica’s death and Augustine’s grief inspired the finest pages of his Confessions.
Thought for the Day – The Memorial of St Simplician – 15 August
“Augustine and Simplician, sons of Milan, followers of Christ”
“Another great name enters Milan’s rich story in 384, that of the man who became St Augustine. In 384 he was not yet a saint. But he was a man who was searching, probing and asking questions, testing the spirits that drove him. First he found Ambrose, who “welcomed me as a father would and like a good bishop approved of my journeying,”according to his Confessions. Still, he was not ready to accept the Christian faith and way of life. But Ambrose could not be the spiritual director he needed.
Augustine had gotten through his doctrinal doubts and he “liked the Way, which was our Saviour, though the tight and narrow parts of that way” annoyed him. So God put it in his mind to go to Simplician, “whom I considered to be your good servant and your grace shone in him. I heard that since his youth he lived most devoted to you.”Now he had grown old and to Augustine he seemed to have become a great expert in studying God’s ways. “And so he was! So I wanted to share with him my inner turmoil so he might teach me how best I, as I was, could walk in your ways.”
That is quite an endorsement! From one saint-to-be about a wise and holy mentor, guide, companion on the road. One intently searching, the other guiding that search. We all need help from time as we make our authentic way. Maybe it can sound trite, an easy image, our life as a journey or pilgrimage, our walking the camino to a holy goal. But it speaks a deep truth.“…(Fr Edward W Schmidt S.J.)
St Simplician, Sts Augustine & Ambrose, pray for us!
Quote/s of the Day – 15 August – The Memorial of St Simplicain, Friend and Teacher of St Ambrose and the “spiritual father of my soul” of St Augustine, both Fathers and Doctors of the Church
“Only the “new” person can sing a new song to the Lord: the person restored from a fallen condition through the grace of God. Let us sing a new song – not with our lips but with our lives!”
St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of the Church
“All the children of the Church are priests. At Baptism, they received the anointing that gives them a share in the priesthood. The sacrifice which they must offer to God is completely spiritual – it is THEMSELVES!”
St Ambrose (340-397) Father and Doctor of the Church
The Confessions – Book VIII – St Augustine’s Conversion to Christ. Augustine is deeply impressed by Simplicianus’ story of the conversion to Christ of the famous orator and philosopher, Marius Victorinus. He is stirred to emulate him but finds himself still enchained by his incontinence and preoccupation with worldly affairs. He is then visited by a court official, Ponticianus, who tells him and Alypius the stories of the conversion of Anthony and also of two imperial “secret service agents.” These stories throw him into a violent turmoil, in which his divided will struggles against himself. He almost succeeds in making the decision for continence but is still held back. Finally, a child’s song, overheard by chance, sends him to the Bible; a text from Paul resolves the crisis; the conversion is a fact. Alypius also makes his decision and the two inform the rejoicing Monica.
“For I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, Do not fear, I will help you.”….Isaiah 41:13
REFLECTION – “And Thou didst put it into my mind and it seemed good in my own sight, to go to Simplicianus, who appeared to me a faithful servant of Thine and Thy grace shone forth in him. I had also been told that from his youth up he had lived in entire devotion to Thee. He was already an old man and because of his great age, which he had passed in such a zealous discipleship in Thy way, he appeared to me likely to have gained much wisdom–and, indeed, he had. From all his experience, I desired him to tell me–setting before him all my agitations–which would be the most fitting way for one who felt as I did to walk in thy way.”…St Augustine (From the Confessions – Book VIII – Chapter 1)
PRAYER – “Go on, O Lord and act: stir us up and call us back; inflame us and draw us to Thee; stir us up and grow sweet to us; let us now love Thee, let us run to Thee. Are there not many men … who, out of a deeper pit of darkess,.. return to Thee–who draw near to Thee and are illuminated by that light which gives those who receive it power from Thee to become Thy sons? “… (St Augustine – From the Confessions Book VIII – Chapter IV) St Simplician, pray for us, Amen.
You are Christ,
my Holy Father,
my Tender God,
my Great King,
my Good Shepherd,
my Only Master,
my Best Helper,
my Most Beautiful
and my Beloved,
my Living Bread,
my Priest Forever,
my Leader to my Country,
my True Light,
my Holy Sweetness,
my Straight Way,
my Excellent Wisdom,
my Pure Simplicity,
my Peaceful Harmony,
my Entire Protection,
my Good Portion,
my Everlasting Salvation.
May the live coal of Your Love grow hot within my spirit
and break forth into a perfect fire;
may it burn incessantly on the altar of my heart;
may it glow in my innermost being;
may it blaze in hidden recesses of my soul;
and in the days of my consummation
may I be found consummated with You!
Amen.
St Augustine:
This great Doctor of the Church,
found his delights in repeating the Holy Name.
He himself tells us that he found much pleasure
in books which made frequent mention of this all-consoling
Name. St Bernard – felt a wonderful joy and consolation
in repeating the Name of Jesus. He felt it, as he
says, like honey in his mouth and a delicious
peace in his heart. We, too, shall feel immense
consolation and peace steal into our souls if we
imitate St. Bernard and repeat frequently this
Holy Name. St Dominic – spent his days preaching
and discussing with the heretics. He always went on
foot from place to place as well in the oppressive
heats of the summer as in the cold and rain of
winter. The Albigensian heretics whom he tried to
convert were more like demons let loose from Hell
than mortal men. Their doctrine was infamous
and their crimes enormous. Yet, as another St.
Paul, he converted 100.000 of these wicked men so
that many of them became eminent for sanctity. Wearied at night with his labours he asked only for one reward which was to pass the night before the Blessed Sacrament pouring out his soul in love for Jesus. When his poor body could resist no
longer he leaned his head against the Altar and
rested a little, after which he began once more his
intimate converse with Jesus. In the morning he
celebrated Mass with the ardour of a seraph so that
at times his body was raised in the air in an
ecstasy of love. The Name of Jesus filled his soul
with joy and delight. Blessed Jordan of Saxony – who succeeded St
Dominic as Master General of the Order, was a
preacher of great renown. His words went straight
to the heart of his hearers above all when he spoke
to them of Jesus. Learned professors of the University cities came
with delight to hear him and so many of them be~
came Dominican friars that others feared to come,
lest they, too, should be induced to join his Order.
So many were drawn by his irresistible eloquence
that when his visit to a city was announced the Prior
of the convent bought at once a great quantity of
white cloth to make habits for those who were
sure to seek entrance to the Order. Blessed Jordan
himself received one thousand postulants to the
habit among whom were the most eminent professors
of the European Universities.
Because the loaf of (Eucharist) bread is one,
we, many though we are,
are one body,
for we all partake of the one loaf…………1 Cor 10:17
REFLECTION – “In the Eucharist, all is love. Jesus comes to us and dwells in us.
In doing so, He teaches us how we are to love one another.”………….St Augustine (354-430)
PRAYER – Most loving Father, grant that every Eucharistic Celebration may unit me more closely to Your Divine Son. May it also unite me to all Christians and help me to show greater love for them every day. St Veronica Giuliani, you truly experienced total and supreme love in Holy Communion, pray for us that we might come to understand this immense and ineffable love of our Saviour for us all, as He becomes our food of life, amen.
Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being. Do it for the Lord………..Colossians 3:23
REFLECTION -“We do not cease praying so long as we continue to do good.
The prayer of the heart and of good deeds has more value than the prayer of the lips.”…………….St Augustine
PRAYER – Dear God, move me to make a morning offering to You with total sincerety each day and then grant that all my deeds may be a devout continuation of that prayer. Open my eyes to those who need me in any way, let me see as You do and do as You do. Blessed Peter To Rot, you never failed to help each and every person in whatever way you could, you defended the Church and the Faith and your neighbour, please pray for us all, amen.
Just as we have a share in Christ’s many sufferings, so also through Christ, we share in his great help……2 Cor 1:4-5
REFLECTION – “Christians celebrate the memory of the martyrs with religious ceremony in order to arouse emulation and in order that they may be associated with their merits and helped by their prayers. But to none of the martyrs do we erect altars as we do to the God of martyrs; we erect altars at their shrines. For what bishop standing at the altars over the bodies of martyrs ever said: We offer to Peter or Paul or Cyprian?
Mass is offered to God who crowned the martyrs, at the shrine of the martyrs, so that the very spot may remind us to arouse in ourselves a more fervent charity toward those whom we imitate and toward Him who gives us the power to do so.”……..St Augustine
PRAYER – Lord God, you consecrated with the blood of the martyrs the fertile beginnings of the Roman Church. Grant us the grace to rejoice at the martyrs’ victory and strengthen us with firm courage as we remember their endurance of such a trial. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Holy Martyrs of the early Church of Rome, Pray for us, amen.
“Their sound has gone out into all the earth and their words to the ends of the world” ……….Psalm 19
REFLECTION – “There is one day for the passion of two apostles. But these two also were as one; although they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first, Paul followed. We are celebrating a feast day, consecrated for us by the blood of the apostles. Let us love their faith, their lives, their labours, their sufferings, their confession of faith, their preaching.”………St Augustine
PRAYER – Almighty God, whose blessed Apostles Peter and Paul glorified you by their martyrdom: grant that your Church, instructed by their teaching and example and knit together in unity by your Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Sts Peter and Paul, pray for us and for the universal Church, amen.
Blessed be God the Father . who gave us a new birth to a living hope…..to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you………1 Peter 1:3-4
REFLECTION – “You have within you, everything that you need to purchase the kingdom of heaven.
Joy will be purchased by your sorrow,
rest by your labour,
glory by your humiliation
and eternal life by your passing death.”………………….St Augustine
PRAYER – Loving Father,. teach me how to make every event on earth lay up treasures for me in heaven. Help me to endure sorrows, labour, humiliations, pain and death willingly so as to attain heaven with You, in unity with Your Son, Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. St William of Vercelli, your life was a focused gift to God, pray for us that we too may join you in eternal life. Amen
Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit,
That my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me, O Holy Spirit,
That my work, too, may be holy.
Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit,
That I love but what is holy.
Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit,
To defend all that is holy.
Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit,
That I always may be holy.
“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”
I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shalll I send?….”Here I am.” I said, “send me!”……………Isaiah 6:8
REFLECTION – “You ask what you might offer to God?
Offer yourself!
What does God expect from you – except yourself?”
PRAYER – Help me to discern through prayer and meditation what You truly want of me.
The enable me to offer it to You and indeed, to offer myself and all I have and all I am, to You.
St Rita of Cascia, you prayed so earnestly to give yourself totally to the Lord and suffer for Him, please pray for us, amen.
Blessed Virgin Mary, Holy Mary Excerpt from a prayer by St Augustine (354-430) Doctor gratiae (Doctor of Grace)
Holy Mary, help those who are miserable,
strengthen those who are discouraged,
comfort those who are sorrowful,
pray for your people,
plead for the clergy,
intercede for all women consecrated to God.
May all who venerate you
experience your assistance and protection.
Be ready to aid us when we pray,
and bring back to us the answers to our prayers.
Make it your continual concern
to pray for the People of God,
for you were blessed by God
and were made worthy
to bear the Redeemer of the world,
who lives and reigns forever.
Amen.
“Whoever consistently looks at God and themselves
through this attractive mirror (Mary), will sooner or later
turn into another Mary.”
Servant of God, Fr Joseph Kentenich (1885-1968) – Founder of Schoenstatt
“If the Church shows respect and veneration for everything
that came in contact with the Saviour’s Body: the Cross,
the Nails, the Thorns, the Winding Sheet of His Sepuchre,
the Swathing-bands of His infancy and similar things – what
honour must be due to this venerable body of the
Blessed Virgin from which the Body of the Redeemer was formed!”
St John Eudes
“The flesh of Christ is the flesh of Mary
and although it was raised to great glory
in His Resurrection, yet it still remained
the same that was taken from Mary.”
St Augustine (354-430) – Fathe & Doctor gratiae (Doctor of Grace)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading,
kept in heaven for you………1 Peter 1:3-4
REFLECTION – “You have within you everything that
you need to purchase the kingdom of heaven.
Joy will be purchased by your sorrow,
rest by your labour,
glory by your humiliation
and eternal life by your passing death.”……St Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church (354-430) Doctor gratiae (Doctor of Grace)
PRAYER – Loving Father, teach me how to make very event on earth lay up treasures for me in heaven. Help me to endure my sorrows, labours, humiliations and death willingly so as to attain heaven. Holy Martyrs Sts Nereus, Achilleus and Pancras, Pray for us, amen!
Blessed Virgin Mary,
who can worthily repay you with praise
and thanks for having rescued a fallen world
by your generous consent!
Receive our gratitude,
and by your prayers obtain the pardon of our sins.
Take our prayers into the sanctuary of heaven
and enable them to make our peace with God.
Holy Mary, help the miserable,
strengthen the discouraged,
comfort the sorrowful,
pray for your people,
plead for the clergy,
intercede for all women consecrated to God.
May all who venerate you
feel now your help and protection.
Be ready to help us when we pray,
and bring back to us the answers to our prayers.
Make it your continual concern
to pray for the people of God,
for you were blessed by God
and were made worthy to bear the Redeemer of the world,
who lives and reigns forever.
Amen
Through (Jesus) let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is,
the fruit of lips which acknowledge his name……………Hebrews 13:15
REFLECTION – “The hour has sounded for joyful chants – Alleluia!
Let us praise God with our life,
with our voice, with our heart
and with our deeds.”………….St Augustine
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, help me to give You constant praise in my heart At the same time, let this attitude bear fruit in my life – producing truly Christ-like deeds. Help me to always be a witness to Your Son, truly risen. St Pope Cletus, ordained by St Peter and martyred for Christ, pray for us, amen.
Lord, strengthen us!
By St Augustine (354-430)
Doctor of Grace
Blessed are all Your saints, my God and King!
Who have through travail and in peace of soul
all traveled within the ship with You,
the tempestuous sea of mortality and have,
at last, made the desired port of peace and of felicity!
O, cast a gracious eye upon us who are
in our dangerous voyage still!
Remember, succour us in our distress and
think of those who lie exposed to the rough storms
of troubles and temptations!
Strengthen our weakness in Your strength,
that valiantly we may do Your will in this spiritual battle.
Help us against our own negligence,
our cowardice and defend us
from the treachery of our unfaithful hearts.
We are exceedingly frail and indisposed
to every virtuous and gallant undertaking.
Grant, O Lord, that we may bring our vessel safe to shore,
into our desired haven, Lord. Amen
Through baptism into (Christ’s) death we were buried with him, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead….we too might live a new life………Romans 6:4
REFLECTION – “Christ is our life. Let us therefore look to Christ. He came to suffer in order to merit glory; to seek cotempt in order to be exalted. He came to die but also to rise again.”……………St Augustine
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, through my baptism, I was buried with Christ and rose to a new life of grace. Let me rejoice in the Easter glory of Your Son and so guard my life that I will enjoy it fully in heaven with Him. St Benedict Joseph Labre, you so rightly are called the “Beggar of Perpetual Adoration”, you so perfectly adored our risen Lord who is always with us in the Blessed Sacrament, please pray for us, amen!
“The passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the hope of glory and a lesson in patience. What may not the hearts of believers promise themselves as the gift of God’s grace, when for their sake God’s only Son, co-eternal with the Father, was not content only to be born as man from human stock but even died at the hands of the men he had created?”
– St. Augustine
“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.”
“As they were looking on, so we too, gaze on His wounds as He hangs. We see His blood as He dies. We see the price offered by the redeemer, touch the scars of His resurrection. He bows His head, as if to kiss you. His heart is made bare open, as it were, in love to you. His arms are extended that He may embrace you. His whole body is displayed for Your redemption. Ponder how great these things are. Let all this be rightly weighed in your mind: as He was once fixed to the Cross in every part of His body for you, so He may now be fixed in every part of your soul!”
AnaStpaul 
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