Quote/s of the Day – 12 August – St Clare (1194-1253) Virgin
“We are to become vessels of God’s compassionate love for others.”
“Our labour here is brief but the reward is eternal. Do not be disturbed by the clamour of the world which passes like a shadow. Do not let false delights of a deceptive world deceive you.”
“Never forget that the way which leads to Heaven is narrow that the gate leading to Life, is narrow and low that there are but few who find it and enter by it and if, there be some, who go in and tread the narrow path, for some time, there are but very few, who persevere therein.”
Quote/s of the Day – 12 August – St Clare of Assisi (1194-1253) Virgin
“God will be your helper and best consoler. …”
“Because the way and path is difficult and the gate through which one passes and enters into life, is narrow, there are both few who walk it and who enter through it.”
“May the love you have in your hearts be shown outwardly in your deeds.”
Excerpt from the Prayer to the Five Wounds of Jesus By St Clare of Assisi (1194-1253)
I pray Thee, O most gentle Jesus, that having redeemed me by Baptism from original sin, so now, by Thy Precious Blood, which is offered and received, throughout the world, deliver me from all evils, past, present and to come. And by Thy most bitter Death, give me a lively faith, a firm hope and perfect charity, so that I may love Thee with all my heart and all my soul and all my strength. Make me firm and steadfast in good works and grant me perseverance in Thy service, so that I may be able to please Thee always. Amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 10 August – St Lawrence (Died 258) Martyr, “Keeper of the Treasures of he Church” – 2 Corinthians 9:6-10, John 12:24-26 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“If anyone serves me, he must follow me and where I am, there will my servant be also.”
John 12:26
“If it dies, it produces much fruit” John 12:24
“Through the glorious achievements of the holy Martyrs with which the Church blossoms everywhere, we are ourselves, proving to our own eyes, how true are the words we have been singing that: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” (Ps 116[115]:15). For it is precious both in our sight and in the sight of Him, in Whose Name. the death took place.”
“Do not love your life in this world! If you truly love yourselves, do not thus love your life and then, you will save your life!”…
St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of the Church
“Day by day follow God’s path, keeping Him closely attached to you by His promise. In fact, He Himself said, through the mediation of His Apostles, to all those who seek His will and His testimonies that He would be with them until the end of the world (Mt 28:20) where paths and footsteps will be unknown (cf Ps 76:20), as the divine David said in his songs. Yet, in an invisible way, He is present to the eyes of the mind, making Himself seen by those who have a pure heart and conversing with them. So pursue your path …. “
St Theodore the Studite (759-826) Monk and Theologian at Constantinople
One Minute Reflection – 21 October – Saint Ursula and Companions: (Died c 238) Virgin Martyrs – Ecclesiasticus 45:1-6, Matthew 19:27-29 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“And everyone who has left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for My Name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold and shall possess life everlasting.” – Matthew 19:29
REFLECTION – “Again He says: My sheep hear My Voice and I know them; they follow Me and I give them eternal life. Shortly before this He had declared – If anyone enters the sheepfold through Me he shall be saved; he shall go freely in and out and shall find good pasture. He will enter into a life of faith; from faith he will go out to vision, from belief to contemplation and will graze in the good pastures of everlasting life.
So Our Lord’s sheep, will finally reach their grazing ground where all who follow Him, in simplicity of heart, will feed on the green pastures of eternity. These pastures are the spiritual joys of Heaven. There, the elect look upon the face of God with unclouded vision and feast at the Banquet of Life for evermore.
Beloved …, let us set out for these pastures where we shall keep joyful festival with so many of our fellow citizens. May the thought of their happiness urge us on! Let us stir up our hearts, rekindle our faith and long eagerly for what Heaven has in store for us. To love thus ,is to be already on our way. No matter what obstacles we encounter, we must not allow them to turn us aside from the joy of that Heavenly Feast. Anyone who is determined to reach his destination, is not deterred by the roughness of the road, that leads to it. Nor must we allow the charm of success to seduce us, or we shall be like a foolish traveller who is so distracted by the pleasant meadows through which he is passing, that he forgets where he is going!” – St Gregory the Great (540-604) – Pope and Great Western Father and Doctor of the Church (An excerpt from his Homily 14).
PRAYER – Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord our God that we may never cease devoutly, to venerate the triumphs of Thy holy Virgins and Martyrs, Ursula and her companions that, as we cannot worthily shew forth their praises, yet we may continually honour them, with lowly service 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).
One Minute Reflection – 24 July – “The Month of the Precious Blood” – St Christina of Bolsena (3rd Century) Virgin Martyr – Romans 6:19-23, Matthew 7:15-21
“By their fruits you will know them. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?”- Matthew 7:16
REFLECTION – ““It does not seem to me that “false prophets” here refers to the heretics but rather to persons who live morally corrupt lives, while wearing a mask of virtue. They are usually called ‘frauds’ by most people. For this reason, Jesus continued by saying, “By their fruits you will know them.” For it is possible to find some virtuous persons, living among heretics. But among the corrupted of whom I speak, it is in not possible. “So what difference does it make,” Jesus says in effect, “if even among these false prophets some do put on a hypocritical show of virtue? Certainly, they will soon be detected.”
The nature of this road upon which He commanded us to walk, is toilsome and hard. The hypocrite would seldom choose to toil but would prefer only to make a show. For this very reason, the hypocrite is easily detected. When Jesus notes that “there are few who find it,” He distinguishes these, from those who do not find the way, yet pretend to find it. So do not look to the mask but to the behavioural fruits, of those who pursue the narrow way.” – St John Chrysostom (347-407) Archbishop of Constantinople, Father and Doctor of the Church (The Gospel of Matthew Homily 23).
PRAYER – O God, Who among the other miracles of Thy power have bestowed the victory of martyrdom even upon the weaker sex, graciously grant that we, who commemorate the anniversary of the death of blessed Christina, Your Virgin and Martyr, may come to Thee by the path of her example.Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
Quote/s of the Day – 19 May – The Memorial of St Peter Celestine (1210-1296) Pope and Confessor – 1 Peter 5:1-4; 5:10-11, Matthew 16:13-19
“Upon this rock I will build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Matthew 16:18
“Of one Bread did both Peter and Judas partake and yet, what communion had the believer with the infidel? Peter’s partaking was unto life but that of Judas, unto death. For that good Bread was just like the sweet savour. For as the sweet savour, so also does the good Bread give life to the good and bring death to the wicked. “For he that eateth unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgement to himself:” – judgement to himself,” not to thee. If, then, it is judgement to himself, not to thee, bear as one that is good, with him that is evil, that you may attain the rewards of the good,and be not hurled into the punishment of the wicked.”
“People who associate the name of Christian with a dishonest life, injure Christ! … If God’s Name, is blasphemed by bad Christians, it is praised and honoured, on the other hand, by the good: “For in every place, we are the aroma of Christ” (2 Cor,14-15). And it is said in the Song of Songs: “Your name is oil poured out” (1,3).”
St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of the Church
(On John 12:1-9 Monday of Holy Week).
“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 (1521-1397) 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
Quote/s of the Day – 7 April – Thursday in Passion Week, the Fifth Week of Lent
“Many sins are forgiven her because she has loved much.”
Luke 7:42
“The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, for they repented …”
Matthew 12:41
“… In the conceitedness of our souls, without taking the least trouble to obey the Lord’s commandments, we think ourselves worthy to receive the same reward as those who have resisted sin to the death!”
St Basil the Great (329-379) Father and Doctor of the Church
“And when I hear it said, that God is good and He will pardon us and then see, that men cease not from evil-doing, oh, how it grieves me! The infinite goodness with which God communicates with us, sinners as we are, should constantly make us love and serve Him better but we, on the contrary, instead of seeing in His goodness an obligation to please Him, convert it into an excuse for sin, which will, of a certainty, lead in the end, to our deeper condemnation.”
St Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510)
“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 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
AnaStpaul 
You must be logged in to post a comment.