Thought for the Day – 18 January – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Veneration and Imitation of the Saints
“It is not enough, simply to honour the Saints. We should love and imitate them as well. Following the example of the Saints, as St Paul says, is the same as imitating Jesus Christ Himself (1 Cor 4:16). It is a step towards Christian perfection. No matter what our circumstances, we have outstanding models to follow.
From St Francis of Assisi, we can learn to be detached from worldly things, even to the point of loving poverty! From St Philip Neri, we can learn to despise honours and to make God and Heaven, the object of our desires and actions. St Francis de Sales, although he was by nature resentful and scathing, can teach us how to be gentle, kind and calm in all the trials of life. We can learn heroic love for the poor and unfortunate, from St Vincent de Paul. We can imitate the fervent apostolic work of St Francis Xavier,. St Charles Borromeo sold his goods and gave all to the poor. During the plague in Milan, he dedicated himself lovingly to the care of the unfortunate victims, selling his household furniture and even his bed, so that he had nothing left to sleep on but a table! We can learn from his example, how the flame of Christ’s charity can transform the heart and overcome all human wretchedness.
Above all, let us remember that our devotion to the Saints will be valueless, if it is not accompanied by untiring efforts to follow their example.”
Quote/s of the Day – 3 December – The Memorial of St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552) Confessor
“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”
Genesis 12:1
“It is not the actual physical exertion which counts towards a man’s progress, nor the nature of the task but by the spirit of faith with which it is undertaken.”
“I am in a country where all the niceties of life are lacking. But I am filled with many inner consolations. Indeed, I run the risk of crying my eyes out because of my tears of joy”
“His Lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant because thou has been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many thing. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
Matthew 25:21
“Ah! If only those who look for knowledge in study, took as much trouble in looking for the consolations of the apostolate, as they give day and night to the pursuit of knowledge! If only those joys, which the scholar seeks in what he is learning, he were to seek in making his neighbour feel, what he is in need of – to know and serve God, how much more consoled he would find himself to be and better prepared, to give an account of himself, when Christ returns and asks him: “Give me an account of your stewardship” …
“If you are in danger, if your hearts are confused, turn to Mary!”
Prayer for Unbelievers By St Francis Xavier (1506-1552)
O God, the Everlasting Creator of all things, remember that the souls of unbelievers were made by Thee and formed in Thine own image and likeness. Remember that Jesus, Thy Son, endured a most bitter Death for their salvation. Permit not, I beseech Thee, O Lord that Thy Son should be any longer despised by unbelievers but do Thou graciously accept the prayers of holy men and of the Church, the Spouse of Thy Most Holy Son and be mindful of Thy mercy. Forget their idolatry and unbelief and grant that they too, may someday know Him, Whom Thou hast sent…the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is our Salvation, our Life and Resurrection, by Whom we have been [redeemed] and delivered, to Whom be glory for endless ages. Amen.
One Minute Reflection – 3 December – St Memorial of St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552) Confessor – Romans 10:10-18, Mark 16:15-18 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Go into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” – Mark 16:15
REFLECTION – “You have heard what the Lord said to His disciples after the Resurrection. He sent them out to preach the Gospel and they did so. Listen: “Through all the earth their voice resounds and to the ends of the world, their message” (Ps 18[19],5). Step by step, the Gospel has reached even to us and the ends of the earth. In a few words the Lord, addressing Himself to His disciples, set out what we are to do and what we have to hope for. Just as you have heard, He said: “Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved.” He asks for our faith and offers us salvation. What He offers us, is so precious that what He asks of us, is as nothing.
“The children of men take refuge in the shadow of Thy wings, O my God… from Thy delightful stream, Thou gives them to drink, for with Thee, is the Fountain of Life” (Ps 35[36],8f.). Jesus Christ is the Fountain of Life. Before the Fountain of Life came to us, we had only a human salvation like that of the beasts, of which the psalm speaks: “Man and beast you save, O Lord” (Ps 35[36],7). But now the Fountain of Life has come even to us, the Fountain of Life died for our sakes. Will He refuse us His Life,Who, for our sakes, gave His Death? He is salvation and this salvation is not worthless, like the other one. Why? Because it does not pass away. The Lord has come. He died but He killed death. In Himself, He brought an end to death. He assumed it and He killed it. Where is death now, then? Look for it in Christ and it is no longer there. It used to be there but there it died. O Life, Death of death! Take heart: it will also die in us. What was fulfilled in the Head will also be fulfilled in the members and death will die in us, too!” – St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Grace (Sermon 233).
PRAYER – O God, Thou Who were pleased to gather into Thy Church the peoples of the Indies by the preaching and miracles of blessed Francis, mercifully grant that we, who honour his glorious merits, may also imitate the example of his virtues. 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).
Our Morning Offering – 3 December – St Memorial of St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552) Confessor
I Love Thee, God, I Love Thee By St Francis Xavier (1506-1552) Translated by Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ (1844-1889)
I love Thee, God, I love Thee— Not out of hope for Heaven for me Nor fearing not to love and be in the everlasting burning. Thou, my Jesus, after me Didst reach Thine arms out dying, For my sake suffered nails and lance, Mocked and marred countenance, Sorrows passing number, Sweat and care and cumber, Yea and death and this for me, And Thou could see me sinning. Then I, why should not I love Thee, Jesu so much in love with me? Not for Heaven’s sake, not to be Out of hell by loving Thee, Not for any gains I see, But just the way that Thou didst me I do love and will love Thee. What must I love Thee, Lord, for then? For being my King and God. Amen
Saint of the Day – 3 December – St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552) Confessor, Priest, Missionary, Miracle-worker, co-Founder with St Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) and St Peter Faber (1506-1546) of the Society of Jesus. One of the Greatest Missionaries since St Paul. St Francis was Canonised on 12 March 1622 by Pope Gregory XV. His body is incorrupt.
St Francis Xavier By Fr Francis Xavier Weninger SJ (1805-1888) Part One -(His early years, before departing for the Indies).
St Francis Xavier,–the great Apostle of the Indies, as he is called in the Bull of his Canonisation–the celebrated Thaumaturgus of the 16th Century, the irreproachable witness of the truth of our holy religion, the ornament of the Society of Jesus and of the entire Catholic Church–was of Royal lineage and was born of illustrious parents, at the Castle of Xavier, in the Kingdom of Navarre.
Having passed his childhood there, he was sent to the University of Paris, to study the liberal arts, for which he evinced an especial inclination. He applied himself so diligently and made so much progress that he was not only created. Doctor of Philosophy but also appointed to instruct others in that science. All his aim was to gain honours and to become great in the eyes of the world. His father intended to recall him home after some years but his sister, who was Prioress in the Convent of the Poor Clares at Gandia and had the reputation of being a Saint, knew, by Divine inspiration, the great work for which her brother was destined by the Almighty and persuaded her father not to insist on his return, saying, in a prophetic manner that Francis was chosen to become the apostle of many nations.
Whilst Xavier was teaching at Paris, St Ignatius came to the same City to finish his studies. Knowing, by Divine inspiration, how much good Francis, who was so highly gifted by the Almighty, would be able to do for the salvation of souls, he sought the friendship of the young Professor and gradually showed him the emptiness, of all temporal greatness and drew him from his eagerness to obtain worldly honours, by repeating the earnest words of Christ: “What will it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul!” These words of our Saviour, coming from the lips of a St Ignatius, so deeply pierced the heart of Xavier and made so indelible an impression that he became entirely converted.
Taking St Ignatius as his guide, he followed his precepts and after having most fervently gone through the “Spiritual Exercises,” he resolved to devote himself, with Ignatius, to the greater glory of God.
On the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, in the year 1534, Ignatius, St Francis and five others, made a vow in the Church of Montmartre at Paris, to consecrate their lives to the salvation of souls. Soon after, St Francis, by the order of St Ignatius, went with some of these zealous men to Italy.
At the very beginning of this journey, which was to be performed on foot, St Francis gave a striking proof of the ardour of his spirit. Before his conversion, he had been a great lover of dancing and gymnastic exercises and, so greatly excelled in them that he had taken great pride in these accomplishments. To punish this vanity, he tied his arms and ankles so tightly with small knotted cords, that he could not make the least motion without pain. After the first day’s march, his pains became so intense that he fainted away and was forced to reveal the cause. The cords had cut so deeply into the flesh that they could hardly be seen. The surgeon who was called, declared that a painful operation was necessary to cut the cords out of the flesh.St Francis and his companions, not wishing to be delayed on their way, prayed for aid from on High and, on the following morning they found, not only the cords broken but all the wounds entirely healed. Having given due thanks to the Almighty for this miracle, they continued their journey.
At Venice, St Francis spent two months in the hospital, nursing the sick most tenderly. While there, it happened that he found, among the sick, one who was suffering from a loathsome ulcer. St Francis felt a natural repugnance to approach the poor patient, but, recollecting the maxim of St. Ignatius, “Conquer thyself,” he unhesitatingly went to the sick, embraced him kindly and putting his lips to the ulcer, cleansed it of all offensive matter. As a reward for so heroic a victory over self, God restored the sick man’s health and took from St Francis all repugnance to the most hideous forms of disease.
Two months after this, he was Ordained Priest and said his first Holy Mass, amid a flood of tears, after having prepared himself for it, by forty days of solitude, many prayers, austere fasting and other penances.
At Rome, whither he was called by St Ignatius, he preached for a time with great success. It was at this period that John III., King of Portugal, requested the Pope to send him six of the disciples of St Ignatius, for the Indies. St Ignatius, on account of the small number of his followers, gave only two, Simon Rodriguez and Nicholas Bobadilla but, as the latter fell ill just before the time appointed for setting out, St Francis Xavier., whom Heaven had selected for this mission, was sent in his stead.
No tongue can tell the joy with which the Saint received this news, which fulfilled that which had been shown him, years before, in a mysterious dream. It had appeared to him, in his sleep that he had a negro on his shoulders, whom he was obliged to carry and that he was so fatigued, as to sink to the ground under his burden. He then awoke and found himself in truth, covered with perspiration and extremely tired.
He was soon prepared for his journey from Rome to Lisbon, whence he was to sail for the Indies and having received, from St Ignatius, valuable instructions and from the Vicar of Christ, the Papal Blessing, with the powers of an Apostolic Nuncio, he set out with his companion, Rodriguez, carrying nothing with him but the Crucifix on his breast, his Breviary under his arm and his staff in his hand.
At the holy house of Loretto, where he stopped on his way, he commended his important mission to his divine Mother, and begged, with childlike trust, for her motherly assistance. Feeling in his heart that his prayer had been heard, he was greatly comforted, on leaving this blessed spot. To be continued …
St Ethernan St Hilaria the Martyr St Jason the Martyr St John of Africa St Lucius St Lucy the Chaste St Magina of Africa St Mamas St Marcos García Rodríguez St Maurus the Martyr St Seleucus St Stephen of Africa St Theodore of Alexandria St Theodulus of Edessa St Valeriano Rodríguez García St Veranus Zephaniah the Prophet
Martyrs of Nicomedia: Christians Martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian – Ambicus, Julius and Victor. c 303 in Nicomedia, Bithynia (modern Izmit, Turkey).
Quote/s of the Day – 5 November – All Saints and Blesseds of the Society of Jesus (SJ)
“God’s love calls us to move beyond fear. We ask God for the courage to abandon ourselves unreservedly, so that we might be moulded by God’s grace, even as we cannot see where that path may lead us.”
“Hate what the world seeks and seek, what it avoids.”
“He who carries God in his heart bears heaven with him, wherever he goes.”
St Ignatius Loyola SJ (1491-1556)
“We must make our way towards eternity, never regarding what men think of us, or of our actions, studying only to please God.”
St Francis Borgia SJ (1510-1572)
“Better that only a few Catholics should be left, staunch and sincere in their religion, than that they should, remaining many, desire as it were, to be in collusion with the Church’s enemies and in conformity with the open foes of our faith.”
St Peter Canisius SJ (1521-1597) Doctor of the Church
“The path to Heaven is narrow, rough and full of wearisome and trying ascents, nor can it be trodden without great toil and, therefore, wrong is their way, gross their error and assured their ruin, who, after the testimony of so many thousands of Saints, will not learn where to settle their footing!”
St Robert Southwell SJ (1561-1595) Priest and Martyr
“Recommend yourself to your Angel Guardian three times a day – in the morning. by the prayer “Angele Dei” in the evening, by the same prayer and during the day, when you visit the Altars in Churches. Remember that you are to be guided by your Angel, like a blind man who cannot see the dangers of the streets and trusts entirely. to the person who leads him.”
St Aloysius de Gonzaga (SJ 1568-1591)
“My child, it is indeed the Voice of God you have heard. He has given you a great grace in thus calling you into His one true Church. While you live, never cease to thank Him and bless Him for it.”
St John Francis Régis SJ (1597-1640)
“Teach Us Good Lord” By St Ignatius Loyola SJ (1491-1556) Teach us, good Lord, to serve You as You deserve; to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labour and not to ask for reward, except that of knowing that we are doing Your will. Amen
My God, I Love Thee By St Francis Xavier (1506-1552) (Attri) Transr: Fr Edward Caswall CO (1814-1878)
My God, I love Thee, not because I hope for heav’n thereby, nor yet for fear, that loving not, I might forever die but for that Thou didst all mankind upon the Cross embrace; for us didst bear the nails and spear and manifold disgrace.
And griefs and torments numberless and sweat of agony; e’en death itself and all for man, who was Thine enemy. Then why, most loving Jesus Christ, should I not love Thee well? Not for the sake of winning heav’n, nor any fear of hell.
Not with the hope of gaining aught, nor seeking a reward but as Thyself hast loved me, O ever loving Lord! E’en so I love Thee and will love and in Thy praise will sing, solely because Thou art my God and my eternal King! Amen
One Minute Reflection – 4 November – “The Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory – Saint Charles Borromeo (1538-1584) – Sirach 44:16-27; 45:3-20, Matthew 25:14-23 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“His Lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant because thou has been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many thing. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” – Matthew 25:21
REFLECTION – “I have no idea what to write you from these parts [India and Sri Lanka] except this – the consolations bestowed by our Lord God, to those who go among the pagans, to convert them to the faith of Christ, are so great that, if there is any joy to be had in this life, it is surely this! I have often heard it said, to someone going about amongst these Christians: “Lord, do not give me so many consolations in this life! Yet since, in Thy infinite goodness and pity, Thou are giving them me, take me into Thine holy glory! For indeed, there is such great suffering in living without seeing Thee, after Thou has shown Thyself to Thy creature, in this way!” Ah! If only those who look for knowledge in study, took as much trouble in looking for the consolations of the apostolate, as they give day and night to the pursuit of knowledge! If only those joys, which the scholar seeks in what he is learning, he were to seek in making his neighbour feel, what he is in need of – to know and serve God, how much more consoled he would find himself to be and better prepared, to give an account of himself, when Christ returns and asks him: “Give me an account of your stewardship” …
I will end, asking our Lord God … to bring us together in His holy glory. And to obtain this blessing, let us take as our intercessors and advocates, all the holy souls of the region, where I now am. … I beg all these holy souls to obtain for us from our Lord God, for as long as we remain separated, the grace of feeling His holy will in the depth of our souls and of fulfilling it perfectly.” – St Francis Xavier (1506-1552) Jesuit missionary (Letter of 15/01/1544).
PRAYER – Safeguard Thy Church, O Lord, under the continual protection of St Charles, Thy Confessor and Bishop, so that just as his concern for his flock made him glorious, so his intercession may make us ever fervent in loving 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).
Our Morning Offering – 1 April – Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent
My God, I Love Thee By St Francis Xavier (1506-1552) (Attri) Transr: Fr Edward Caswall CO (1814-1878)
My God, I love Thee, not because I hope for heav’n thereby, nor yet for fear, that loving not, I might forever die but for that Thou didst all mankind upon the Cross embrace; for us didst bear the nails and spear and manifold disgrace.
And griefs and torments numberless and sweat of agony; e’en death itself and all for man, who was Thine enemy. Then why, most loving Jesus Christ, should I not love Thee well? Not for the sake of winning heav’n, nor any fear of hell.
Not with the hope of gaining aught, nor seeking a reward but as Thyself hast loved me, O ever loving Lord! E’en so I love Thee and will love and in Thy praise will sing, solely because Thou art my God and my eternal King! Amen
Our Morning Offering – 3 December – Friday of the First week of Advent and The Memorial of St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552)
I Love Thee, God, I Love Thee By St Francis Xavier (1506-1552) Translated by Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ (1844-1889)
I love Thee, God, I love Thee— Not out of hope for heaven for me Nor fearing not to love and be in the everlasting burning. Thou, my Jesus, after me Didst reach Thine arms out dying, For my sake suffered nails and lance, Mocked and marred countenance, Sorrows passing number, Sweat and care and cumber, Yea and death and this for me, And Thou could see me sinning. Then I, why should not I love Thee, Jesu so much in love with me? Not for heaven’s sake, not to be Out of hell by loving Thee, Not for any gains I see, But just the way that Thou didst me I do love and will love Thee. What must I love Thee, Lord, for then? For being my King and God. Amen
Vergine di Montesanto / Our Lady of the Holy Mountain, Rome, Italy (1659) – 3 December:
On the Piazza del Popolo in Rome, there used to be a small Church run by Carmelite Friars, called St Mary of the Holy Mountain after Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. The Church housed a miraculous Madonna and Child, believed to have been painted by a young aspiring female painter, Plautilla Bricci, with supernatural help. It is said that Plautilla Bricci, a Roman painter but also to become the first female architect, had some difficulties in shading Mary’s face and, at a certain point, decided to put down her brush and rest – upon awakening from sleep, she found the face of the Virgin finished to perfection!
After the painting was canonically crowned on 3 December 1659, Cardinal Gerolamo Gastaldi decided to build the Madonna a more splended Sanctuary. It was the work of three great architects. Gian Lorenzo Bernini modified Carlo Rainaldi’s original plan to give the building an oval shape more in keeping with its site and Carlo Fontana supervised its completion in 1679. Around the same time the “twin” Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli was built next door. The painting, hard to date but typical of the 1500s, occupies a large columned Altarpiece with stucco angels by Filippo Carcani. In 1953, Pope Pius XII designated the Basilica di Santa Maria in Montesanto the official Church for artists, who still come before the Virgin seeking divine help.
St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552) (Memorial) Priest, Missionary, co-Founder with St Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) and St Peter Faber (1506-1546) of the Society of Jesus. One of the Greatest Missionaries since St Paul. His body is incorrupt.
St Abbo of Auxerre St Abran St Agapius St Agricola of Pannonia St Alvaro González López St Anthemius of Poitiers St Attalia of Strasbourg Bl Bernard of Toulouse OP Martyr St Birinus of Dorchester (c 660-650) Bishop, “Apostle to the West Saxons,” St Cassian of Tangiers St Claudius of Africa St Claudius the Martyr St Crispin of Africa St Edward Coleman St Eloque of Lagny
St John of Africa St Juan Bautista Ferris Llopis St Julián Heredia Zubia St Lucius St Lucy the Chaste St Magina of Africa St Mamas St Manuel Santiago y Santiago St Marcos García Rodríguez St Maurus the Martyr St Seleucus St Stephen of Africa St Theodore of Alexandria St Theodulus of Edessa St Valeriano Rodríguez García St Veranus Zephaniah the Prophet
Martyrs of Nicomedia: Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian – Ambicus, Julius and Victor. c 303 in Nicomedia, Bithynia (modern Izmit, Turkey).
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: Thousands of people were murdered in the anti-Catholic persecutions of the Spanish Civil War from 1934 to 1939. • Blessed Alvaro González López • Blessed Francisco Delgado González • Blessed Francisco Fernández Escosura • Blessed Juan Bautista Ferris Llopis • Blessed Julián Heredia Zubia • Blessed Manuel Santiago y Santiago • Blessed Marcos García Rodríguez • Blessed Valeriano Rodríguez García
Quote/s of the Day – 5 November – The Memorial of All Jesuit Saints and Blesseds
“Hate what the world seeks and seek, what it avoids.”
“God’s love calls us to move beyond fear. We ask God for the courage to abandon ourselves unreservedly, so that we might be moulded by God’s grace, even as we cannot see where that path may lead us.”
“Act as if everything depended on you; trust as if everything depended on God.”
St Ignatius Loyola SJ (1491-1556)
I Beg of You, My Lord By St Peter Faber (1506-1546)
I beg of You, my Lord, to remove anything which separates me from You and You from me. Remove anything that makes me unworthy of Your sight, Your control, Your reprehension; of Your speech and conversation, of Your benevolence and love. Cast from me every evil that stands in the way of my seeing You, hearing, tasting, savouring and touching You, fearing and being mindful of You, knowing, trusting, loving and possessing You; being conscious of Your Presence and, as far as may be, enjoying You. This is what I ask for myself and earnestly desire from You. Amen
“What a tragedy, how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!”
St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552)
“This death … has already levelled his bow to strike me. Is it not prudent to prevent its stroke, by dying now to the world, that at my death, I may live to God?”
St Francis Borgia (1510-1572)
“We ought to instruct with meekness those whom heresy has made bitter and suspicious and has estranged from orthodox Catholics, … Thus, by whole-hearted charity and goodwill, we may win them over to us in the Lord.”
St Peter Canisius SJ (1521-1397) Doctor of the Church
“We … are under an obligation to be the light of the world by the modesty of our behaviour, the fervour of our charity, the innocence of our lives and the example of our virtues. Thus shall we be able to raise the lowered prestige of the Catholic Church and, to build up again, the ruins that others by their vices have caused. Others, by their wickedness, have branded the Catholic Faith with a mark of shame, we must strive, with all our strength, to cleanse it from its ignominy and to restore it to its pristine glory!”
The Burning Babe,
As I in hoary winter’s night stood shivering in the snow, Surprised I was with sudden heat which made my heart to glow; And lifting up a fearful eye to view what fire was near, A pretty babe all burning bright did in the air appear; Who, scorchëd with excessive heat, such floods of tears did shed As though His floods should quench His flames which with His tears were fed. Alas, quoth He but newly born in fiery heats I fry, Yet none approach to warm their hearts or feel my fire but I! My faultless breast the furnace is, the fuel wounding thorns, Love is the fire and sighs the smoke, the ashes shame and scorns; The fuel justice layeth on and mercy blows the coals, The metal in this furnace wrought are men’s defiled souls, For which, as now on fire I am to work them to their good, So will I melt into a bath to wash them in my blood. With this He vanished out of sight and swiftly shrunk away, And straight I called unto mind that it was Christmas day.
St Robert Southwell SJ (1561-1595) Priest and Martyr
“When He takes away what He once lent us, His purpose is to store our treasure elsewhere, more safely and bestow on us, those very blessings, that we ourselves would most choose to have.” (From A Letter to His Mother)
St Aloysius Gonzaga SJ (1568-1591)
“The Catholic religion was the religion of your forefathers and the only one Jesus Christ founded; – the one which He promised would endure till the end of time. It is in the Catholic religion alone that you can save your soul.”
“How long are you going to be deaf to His call? Or are you going to lose your soul, which Jesus Christ bought at the price of His Precious Blood?”
St John Francis Régis SJ (1597-1640)
“… Make use of Our Lord as an armour which covers [us] all about, by means of which [we] shall resist every device of [our] enemies. You shall then be my Strength, O my God! You shall be my Guide, my Director, my Counsellor, my Patience, my Knowledge, my Peace, my Justice and my Prudence.”
“He promises to be [our] strength, in proportion to the trust which [we] place in Him.”
St Claude de la Colombiere SJ (1641-1682) “Apostle of the Sacred Heart”
The May Magnificat By Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ (1844-1889)
May is Mary’s month and I Muse at that and wonder why: Her feasts follow reason, Dated due to season-
Candlemas, Lady Day: But the Lady Month, May, Why fasten that upon her, With a feasting in her honour? Ask of her, the mighty Mother: Her reply puts this other Question: What is Spring? Growth in everything- All things rising, all things sizing Mary sees, sympathising With that world of good, Nature’s motherhood.
Well but there was more than this: Spring’s universal bliss Much, had much to say To offering Mary May.
Quote/s of the Day – 7 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Genesis 41: 55-57; 42: 5-7a, 17-24a, Psalms 33: 2-3, 10-11, 18-19, Matthew 10: 1-7
“Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority … “
Matthew 10:1
“Speak Lord for your servant hears.”
1 Samuel 3:10
“A person who wishes to become the Lord’s disciple must repudiate a human obligation, however honourable it may appear, if it slows us, ever so slightly, in giving the wholehearted obedience we owe to God.”
St Basil the Great (329-379) Father and Doctor of the Church
“He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the Great Light, bathed in the glory of Him who is the Light of Heaven.”
St Gregory Nazianzen (330-390) Father & Doctor of the Church
“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”
St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church
“What a tragedy, how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!”
Quote/s of the Day – 4 February – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Readings: Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24, Psalms 48:2-3,3-4, 9, 10-11, Mark 6:7-13
And he called the twelve and began to send them out, two by two …
Mark 6:7
“Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to vthe whole creation.”
Mark 16:15
“Lord, if Your people still have need of my services, I will not avoid the toil. Your will be done. I have fought the good fight long enough. Yet, if You bid me to continue to hold the battle line, in defence of Your camp, I will never beg to be excused from failing strength. I will do the work You entrust to me. While You command, I will fight beneath Your banner. Amen”
St Martin de Tours (c 316-397)
“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”
St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church
“What a tragedy, how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!”
St Francis Xavier (1506-1552)
“We ought to instruct with meekness those whom heresy has made bitter and suspicious and has estranged from orthodox Catholics, … Thus, by whole-hearted charity and goodwill, we may win them over to us in the Lord.”
St Peter Canisius (1521-1397) Doctor of the Church
“Let us go in simplicity, where merciful Providence leads us, content to see the stone on which we should step, without wanting to discover, all at once and completely, the windings of the road.”
Blessed Frédéric Ozanam (1813–1853) “Servant to the Poor”
Show forth Your power Lord and come. Come in Your great strength and save us.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” … Matthew 7:24-25
REFLECTION – “The just, (that is to say those who in baptism have put on the new man created in justice) live, insofar as they are just, by faith, by the light that the sacrament of illumination brings to them. The more they live by faith, the more they realise in themselves, the perfection of His divine adoption. Notice this expression carefully: ‘EX fide,’ the exact meaning of this is that faith ought to be the root of all our actions, of all our life. There are souls who live with faith (CUM fide). They have faith and one cannot deny that they practise it. But it is only on certain occasions … that they remember their faith to any purpose. … But when faith is living, strong, ardent, when we live by faith, that is to say, when in everything, we are actuated by the principles of faith, when faith is the root of all our actions, the inward principle of all our activity, then we become strong and steadfast, in spite of difficulties within and without, in spite of obscurities, contradictions and temptations. Why so? Because, by faith, we judge, we estimate all things as God sees and estimates them – we participate in the divine immutability and stability. Is not this what our Lord said? “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them” – that is to live by faith – “will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse.” For Jesus Christ immediately adds: “it had been set solidly on rock” (Mt 7:24-25).” … Bl Columba Marmion (1858-1923) Abbot – Our Faith, the Victory over the World (Christ, the Ideal of the Monk)
PRAYER – God our Father, You open the gates of the kingdom of heaven to those who are born again of water and the Holy Spirit. Increase the grace You have given, so that the people who have been purified from all sin, may not forfeit the promised blessing of Your love. Grant that we may ever keep Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, before our eyes and do all in Him and through Him and for Him. And may the prayers of Your great missioner, St Francis Xavier, he who lived Your words, strengthen our faith.
Our Morning Offering – 3 December – Thursday of the First week of Advent and The Memorial of St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552)
I Love Thee, God, I Love Thee By St Francis Xavier Translated by Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ (1844-1889)
I love Thee, God, I love Thee— Not out of hope for heaven for me Nor fearing not to love and be In the everlasting burning. Thou, my Jesus, after me Didst reach Thine arms out dying, For my sake suffered nails and lance, Mocked and marred countenance, Sorrows passing number, Sweat and care and cumber, Yea and death and this for me, And Thou could see me sinning. Then I, why should not I love Thee, Jesu so much in love with me? Not for heaven’s sake, not to be Out of hell by loving Thee, Not for any gains I see, But just the way that Thou didst me I do love and will love Thee. What must I love Thee, Lord, for then? For being my king and God. Amen
St Abbo of Auxerre St Abran St Agapius St Agricola of Pannonia St Alvaro González López St Anthemius of Poitiers St Attalia of Strasbourg Bl Bernard of Toulouse OP Martyr St Birinus of Dorchester St Cassian of Tangiers St Claudius of Africa St Claudius the Martyr St Crispin of Africa St Edward Coleman St Eloque of Lagny St Emma of Bremen (c 975–1038) St Ethernan St Francisco Delgado González St Francisco Fernández Escosura St Hilaria the Martyr St Jason the Martyr Blessed Johann Nepomuk von Tschiderer (1777-1860) His Life: https://anastpaul.com/2019/12/03/saint-of-the-day-3-december-blessed-johann-nepomuk-von-tschiderer-1777-1860/ St John of Africa St Juan Bautista Ferris Llopis St Julián Heredia Zubia St Lucius St Lucy the Chaste St Magina of Africa St Mamas St Manuel Santiago y Santiago St Marcos García Rodríguez St Maurus the Martyr St Seleucus St Stephen of Africa St Theodore of Alexandria St Theodulus of Edessa St Valeriano Rodríguez García St Veranus Zephaniah the Prophet
Martyrs of Nicomedia: Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian – Ambicus, Julius and Victor. c 303 in Nicomedia, Bithynia (modern Izmit, Turkey).
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: Thousands of people were murdered in the anti-Catholic persecutions of the Spanish Civil War from 1934 to 1939. • Blessed Alvaro González López • Blessed Francisco Delgado González • Blessed Francisco Fernández Escosura • Blessed Juan Bautista Ferris Llopis • Blessed Julián Heredia Zubia • Blessed Manuel Santiago y Santiago • Blessed Marcos García Rodríguez • Blessed Valeriano Rodríguez García
Quote/s of the Day – 2 September – Wednesday of the Twenty-second week in Ordinary Time, Readings: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, Psalms 33:12-13, 14-15, 20-21, Luke 4:38-44
“And the people sought him and came to him and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”
Luke 4:42-43
“Peace be with you as the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”
John 20:21
“Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand and encourage through all patience and teaching.”
2 Timothy 4:2
“Lord, if Your people still have need of my services, I will not avoid the toil. Your will be done. I have fought the good fight long enough. Yet, if You bid me to continue to hold the battle line, in defence of Your camp, I will never beg to be excused from failing strength. I will do the work You entrust to me. While You command, I will fight beneath Your banner. Amen”
St Martin de Tours (c 316-397)
“I preached myself, the scholars came and praised me. I preached Christ, the sinners came and thanked me.”
St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Doctor of the Church
“It is no use walking somewhere to preach, unless our walking is our preaching.”
St Francis of Assisi (c 1181-1226)
“What a tragedy, how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!”
St Francis Xavier (1506-1552)
“Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which, the compassion of Christ, looks out to the world. Yours are the feet, with which, He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands, with which, He is to bless others now.”
St Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) Doctor of the Church
“Never say to God: “Enough;” simply say, “I am ready.”
Bl Sebastian Valfre (1629-1710)
“I greatly desire to become a saint, that I may be able to make others saints and thus procure the glory of God.”
St Peter Julian Eymard (1811-1868)
“In everything, ask yourself only what the Master would have done and do that.”
Quote/s of the Day – 23 April – Thursday of the Second Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 5:27-33, Psalm 34:2, 9, 17-20, John 3:31-36
Nunc, Sancte, nobis Spiritus By St Ambrose (340-397) Come, Holy Ghost, Who ever One Trans St John Henry Newman (1801-1890) Trans 1836
Come, Holy Ghost, Who ever One Art with the Father and the Son. Come, Holy Ghost, our souls possess With Thy full flood of holiness.
In will and deed, by heart and tongue, With all our powers, Thy praise be sung. And love light up our mortal frame, Till others catch the living flame.
Almighty Father, hear our cry Through Jesus Christ our Lord most high, Who with the Holy Ghost and Thee Doth live and reign eternally
“Your love is Your goodness – the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son! “
William of Saint Thierry (c 1075-1148)
Abbot
“I do, therefore, pray and beseech you, to cast away all confidence in your own powers, in human wisdom and reputation and keep all your hopes and thoughts continually, fixed on God alone. If you do this, then I shall consider that you are sufficiently armed and prepared against all the troubles which may beset you, either in the mind or in the body.”
St Francis Xavier (1506-1552)
“I am going to reveal to you the secret of sanctity and happiness. Every day for five minutes control your imagination and close your eyes to the things of sense and your ears to all the noises of the world, in order to enter into yourself. Then, in the sanctity of your baptised soul (which is the temple of the Holy Spirit), speak to that Divine Spirit, saying to Him:
O Holy Spirit, Soul of My Soul
O Holy Spirit, Soul of my soul, I adore You! Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I should do, give me Your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and to accept, all that You permit to happen to me. Just make me know Your Will. Amen
If you do this, your life will flow along happily, serenely and full of consolation, even in the midst of trials. Grace will be proportioned to the trial, giving you strength to carry it and you will arrive at the Gate of Paradise, laden with merit. This submission to the Holy Spirit is the secret of sanctity.”
By Désiré Joseph Cardinal Mercier (1851-1926)
“Life is a battle. Therefore, we have to be armed and ready and always on the alert (Job 7:1) We must be armed with the weapons of the spirit, which we can easily obtain, if we live all the time, in the presence of God.”
Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
“I believe in the surprises of the Holy Spirit. The story of the Church is a long story, filled with the wonders of the Holy Spirit. Why should we think that God’s imagination and love might be exhausted?”
Thought for the Day – 3 December – Tuesday of the First week of Advent, Year A and The Memorial of St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552)
Woe to Me if I do not Preach the Gospel
Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552) Priest and Missionary
An excerpt from Letters to Saint Ignatius
“We have visited the villages of the new converts who accepted the Christian religion a few years ago. No Portuguese live here—the country is so utterly barren and poor. The native Christians have no priests. They know only that they are Christians. There is nobody to say Mass for them, nobody to teach them the Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Commandments of God’s Law.
I have not stopped since the day I arrived. I conscientiously made the rounds of the villages. I bathed in the sacred waters all the children who had not yet been baptised. This means that I have purified a very large number of children so young that, as the saying goes, they could not tell their right hand from their left. The older children would not let me say my Office or eat or sleep until I taught them one prayer or another. Then I began to understand – the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.
I could not refuse so devout a request, without failing in devotion myself. I taught them, first the confession of faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, then the Apostles’ Creed, the Our Father and Hail Mary. I noticed among them persons of great intelligence. If only someone could educate them in the Christian way of life, I have no doubt, that they would make excellent Christians.
Many, many people hereabouts, are not becoming Christians for one reason only – there is nobody to make them Christians. Again and again, I have thought of going round the universities of Europe, especially Paris and everywhere crying out like a madman, riveting the attention of those with more learning than charity – “What a tragedy, how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!”
I wish they would work as hard at this as they do at their books and so settle their account with God, for their learning and the talents entrusted to them.
This thought would certainly stir most of them to meditate on spiritual realities, to listen actively to what God is saying to them. They would forget their own desires, their human affairs and give themselves over entirely to God’s will and His choice. They would cry out with all their heart – Lord, I am here! What do you want me to do? Send me anywhere you like—even to India.”
How can we too fail!
It is Advent. All our answers remain fragmentary. The first thing we have to accept is, ever and again, the reality of an enduring Advent. If we do that, we shall begin to realise that the borderline between “before Christ” and “after Christ” does not run through historical time, in an outward sense and cannot be drawn on any map, it runs through our own hearts. Insofar, as we are living on a basis of selfishness, of egoism, then even today, we are “before Christ.” But in this time of Advent, let us ask the Lord to grant that we may live less and less “before Christ” and certainly not “after Christ” but truly “with Christ and in Christ” – with Him who is indeed Christ yesterday, today and forever.
Joseph Ratzinger (1964)
aka Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
Quote/s of the Day – 3 December – The Memorial of St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552)
“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”
Genesis 12:1
“I am in a country where all the niceties of life are lacking. But I am filled with many inner consolations. Indeed, I run the risk of crying my eyes out because of my tears of joy”
“When trying to evangelise, no tool is more effective, than that of personal witness. …People can argue with points of doctrine but no-one can argue, with a personal testimony!”
“Prayer is powerful! It fills the earth with mercy, it makes the Divine clemency pass from generation to generation, right along the course of the centuries. wonderful works have been achieved. through prayer.”
Advent Reflection – 3 December – Tuesday of the First week of Advent, Year A and the Memorial of St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552)- Readings: Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 72:1-2, 7-9, 12-13, Luke 10:21-24
“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”
Isaiah 11:6
Reflection
“In these passages, the meaning of Christmas shines through – God fulfils the promise by becoming man, not abandoning His people, He draws near to the point of stripping Himself of His divinity. In this way God shows His fidelity and inaugurates a new Kingdom, which gives a new hope to mankind. And what is this hope? Eternal life. ”
... Pope Francis – General audience 21 December 2016
Advent Action
Advent is a time to practice discipleship and the joy of sharing the message given to us! Today, share just a little of this joy of the Gospel and the hope of Christ, with those around you. Giving this gift is immense, as the Lord shared His Father in the Gospel of today, so we share Him. Spiritual love is tender, it is holy ground. There is simply no greater investment.
” …. Paul does not seek himself, he does not want to make a fan club for himself, he does not wish to go down in history as the head of a school of great knowledge, he is not self-seeking, rather, St Paul proclaims Christ and wants to gain people for the true and real God. Paul’s wish is to speak of and preach the One who entered his life and who is true life, who won him over on the road to Damascus. Therefore, talking about God means making room for the One who enables us to know Him, who reveals His face of love to us; it means emptying ourselves of our own ego, offering it to Christ, in the awareness that it is not we who can win over others for God but, that we must expect God to send them, we must entreat God for them. Talking about God, therefore, stems from listening, from our knowledge of God which is brought about through familiarity with Him, through the life of prayer and in accordance with the Commandments.” … Pope Benedict XVI (Excerpt – How to speak about God – The Year of Faith – 28 November 2012)
Prayer
Lord, it is my hope that I may always be in “Your will
and way.”
Sometimes I am selfish with my time and my own desires.
Today, help me sort out things in my life.
I need to make You the first priority in my life
and not the things that really do not matter.
Assist me in conducting myself in ways that are most pleasing to You.
Lord, it is my desire to live more for You this day
and share the joy of Your love with all I meet.
And today, we remember St Francis Xavier, the “second Paul”
Our Morning Offering – 3 December – The Memorial of St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552)
I Love Thee, God, I love Thee By St Francis Xavier
Translated by Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ (1844-1889)
I love Thee, God, I love Thee—
Not out of hope for heaven for me
Nor fearing not to love and be
In the everlasting burning.
Thou, my Jesus, after me
Didst reach Thine arms out dying,
For my sake suffered nails and lance,
Mocked and marred countenance,
Sorrows passing number,
Sweat and care and cumber,
Yea and death and this for me,
And Thou could see me sinning.
Then I, why should not I love Thee,
Jesu so much in love with me?
Not for heaven’s sake, not to be
Out of hell by loving Thee,
Not for any gains I see,
But just the way that Thou didst me
I do love and will love Thee.
What must I love Thee, Lord, for then?
For being my king and God.
Amen
St Abbo of Auxerre
St Abran
St Agapius
St Agricola of Pannonia
St Alvaro González López
St Anthemius of Poitiers
St Attalia of Strasbourg
Bl Bernard of Toulouse
St Birinus of Dorchester
St Cassian of Tangiers
St Claudius of Africa
St Claudius the Martyr
St Crispin of Africa
St Edward Coleman
St Eloque of Lagny
St Emma of Bremen
St Ethernan
St Francisco Delgado González
St Francisco Fernández Escosura
St Hilaria the Martyr
St Jason the Martyr Bl Johann Nepomuk von Tschiderer (1777-1860)
St John of Africa
St Juan Bautista Ferris Llopis
St Julián Heredia Zubia
St Lucius
St Lucy the Chaste
St Magina of Africa
St Mamas
St Manuel Santiago y Santiago
St Marcos García Rodríguez
St Maurus the Martyr
St Seleucus
St Stephen of Africa
St Theodore of Alexandria
St Theodulus of Edessa
St Valeriano Rodríguez García
St Veranus
Zephaniah the Prophet
Martyrs of Nicomedia: Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian – Ambicus, Julius and Victor. c 303 in Nicomedia, Bithynia (modern Izmit, Turkey).
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: Thousands of people were murdered in the anti-Catholic persecutions of the Spanish Civil War from 1934 to 1939.
• Blessed Alvaro González López
• Blessed Francisco Delgado González
• Blessed Francisco Fernández Escosura
• Blessed Juan Bautista Ferris Llopis
• Blessed Julián Heredia Zubia
• Blessed Manuel Santiago y Santiago
• Blessed Marcos García Rodríguez
• Blessed Valeriano Rodríguez García
Thought for the Day – 5 November – The Memorial of St Guido Maria Conforti (1865-1931)
The Crucifix Encounter – St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552)
and St Guido Maria Conforti, Founder of the Xaverian Missionaries
The Source of My Vocation alongside St Francis Xavier
Conforti had similar experience of the crucifix as Saint Francis Xavier had. It is divided into two part, firstly, is the similar experience of the cross since their childhood and secondly, is the experience during their ministry. Both Conforti and Xavier, contemplated the crucifix since they were children.
“I looked at Him and He looked at me and it seemed as though He was telling me many things.”
This is the actual Crucifix which spoke to St Guido
God revealed the fullness of His love in His Crucified Son. One day this love touched the heart of young Guido Conforti in an almost natural way. He was but a child . Every morning, He stopped at the “Church of Peace” to gaze at the the large Crucifix there.
“The huge crucifix which embellished the altar fascinated him. He looked at the figure of Jesus and he really believed that Jesus looked at him. Whatever the nature of the experience, it moved him deeply. Indeed, so entranced did he become with this crucifix that he became increasingly reluctant to leave the church. ‘It looked at me and told me so many things’, he was to remark one day, speaking of ‘his crucifix’, ‘for me it is a miraculous crucifix. I owe my vocation to it’ he was heard to tell one of his friends.”
This was the beginning of an uninterrupted dialogue with Christ crucified. Later when he was sixty years old and bishop, his sister often found him rapt in ecstasy before that crucifix, which had been brought to his residence, at his request. Was it that dialogue with the Crucified Lord that sparked the idea to found a missionary congregation?
In the same way, Saint Francis Xavier had an experience with the crucifix in the chapel of the castle in Navarra. The story says, that while he was cared by his mother in academic and religious education, he passed some time alone contemplating the crucifix which has a special smile.
“During these early years, Francis was often quite late coming home from classes. When that happened, his mother would begin to worry. Soon she would be searching for him in the squares and alleys of the castle town. Usually, she would find her son alone in Church, kneeling before the main altar, apparently absorbed in prayer.”
This experience of both, Xavier and Conforti, is important because it influenced their entire lives. Both have shown the influence of the crucifix in their writings and especially in their ministry.
Conforti expressed the contemplation of the cross in his writings as bishop and as a founder. As bishop he promoted his motto “Christ is all things”because his spirituality was centred on the person of Christ: “ Christ was always present in his thoughts and in the heart. Christ was his constant companion in all the actions of his life.” He always encouraged the Christians of his dioceses to contemplate the crucifix and to be formed by Him.
As founder of the Xaverian Missionaries, Conforti gave to them the contemplation of the crucifix as the centre of their spirituality. “In the mind of Blessed Guido Conforti, consecration is born of the contemplation of the crucified Christ and of the love made manifest therein .”Consecration is not only to make vows but it is more, an experience of the love of Christ on the cross, which invites the consecrated to imitate this love.”
St Francis Xavier, St Guido Maria Conforti, Pray for Us!
Our Morning Offering – 14 February – Thursday of the Fifth week in Ordinary Time, Year C and the Memorial of Sts Cyril and Methodius “Apostles to the Slavs”- Patrons of Europe
Prayer for Unbelievers By St Francis Xavier (1506-1552)
Eternal God,
Creator of all things
remember that the souls of unbelievers
have been created by You,
in Your own image and likeness
and formed to become Your own People..
Behold, O Lord,
how, to Your dishonour,
hell is being filled with these very souls.
Remember that Jesus Christ, Your Son,
for their salvation, suffered a most cruel death.
Do not permit, O Lord, I beseech You,
that Your divine Son be any longer
despised by unbelievers
but rather, being appeased by the prayers
of Your saints and the Church,
the most holy spouse of Your Son,
deign to be mindful of Your mercy
and forgetting their idolatry
and their unbelief,
bring them to know Him,
Whom You did send,
Jesus Christ, Your Son, Our Lord,
Who is our health, life and resurrection,
through Whom,
we have been redeemed and saved,
and to Whom,
be all glory forever.
Amen
Prayer on the Memorial of Sts Cyril & Methodius “Patrons of Europe”
Almighty and everlasting God,
who by the power of the Holy Spirit
moved Your servant Cyril
and his brother Methodius,
to bring the light of the Gospel
to a hostile and divided people,
overcome all bitterness
and strife among us,
by the love of Christ.
May we take Your word
into our hearts
that we may share it with all
and be one in professing the true faith.
Make us one united family
under the banner of the Prince of Peace,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever,
amen.
AnaStpaul 
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