Posted in CHRIST, the BRIDEGROOM, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on THANKSGIVING, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN, The PASSION, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Quote/s of the Day – 13 December – ‘ … The inestimable treasure of suffering. … ‘ like St Lucy

Quote/s of the Day – 13 December – St Lucy, Virgin Martyr – 2 Corinthians 10:17-18; 11:1-2 – Matthew 13:44-52 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Jesus said in parables:
The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a treasure,
hidden in a field. … Again, the Kingdom of Heaven
is like unto a merchant seeking good pearls.

Matthew 13:44, 45

Do not lay up for yourselves
treasures on earth,
where rust and moth consume
and where thieves break in and steal
but lay up for yourselves,
treasures in Heaven
…”

Matthew 6:19-20

Listen, then, my son and give me your ear.
Break off all ties which bind
and entangle you in this world.
Change your secular service into something better,
start being a soldier for the eternal King
!”

St Paulinus of Nola (c354-431)

Watch, therefore and pray and labour diligently
and do not delay to weave the web of your wedding-garment
that you may be found ready and adorned to meet the Bridegroom!
And remember daily that He, Who gives you the morning,
does not promise you the evening
and although He gives the evening,
yet promises not the morrow.
Spend, therefore, every moment of every hour
according to God’s will, as if it were your last
and so much the more carefully, as, for every moment,
you will have to give the strictest account!

Finally, I warn you to account that day lost,
in which you will neither have gained some victory
over your evil inclinations and your self-will,
although it may have been full of busy action,
nor returned thanksgiving to your Lord for His mercies
and especially for His bitter Passion endured for you
and for His sweet and fatherly correction,
when He has made you worthy to receive,
at His Hand, the inestimable treasure of suffering.

Fr Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

PRAYERS to St Lucy:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/12/13/quote-s-of-the-day-13-december-prayers-to-st-lucy-indulgenced-and-to-st-odilia/

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DECEMBER - The DIVINE INFANCY and The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN QUOTES, QUOTES on CHASTITY, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PURITY, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on THE WORLD, QUOTES on TRUTH, QUOTES on WEALTH/RICHES, The GOOD SHEPHERD, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Quote/s of the Day – 7 December – St Ambrose

Quote/s of the Day – 7 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – St Ambrose (340-397) Confessor, Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church

O, that the soul of Mary were in us,
to glorify the Lord!
That the spirit of Mary were in us,
to rejoice in God.
May the life of Blessed Mary
be ever present to our awareness.
In her, as in a mirror,
the form of virtue
and beauty of chastity, shine forth.
She was Virgin, not only in body
but in mind and spirit.
She never sullied the pure affection of her heart
by unworthy feelings.
She was humble of heart.
She was serious in her conversations.
She was prudent in her counsels.
She preferred to pray rather than to speak.
She united in her heart the prayers of the poor
and avoided the uncertainty of worldly riches.
She was ever faithful to her daily duties,
reserved in her conversations
and always accustomed to recognise God
as the witness of her thoughts.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus
!”

(On Virginity II 2.7)

Our own evil inclinations
are far more dangerous,
than any external enemies. 

Up you get, then and hurry along to the Church —
there is the Father, there the Son, there the Holy Ghost.
He, Who hears you speaking
in the intimate depths of your soul,
is coming to meet you and, when you are still far off,
He sees you and starts running.
He sees your heart; He runs up lest anyone delay you
and embraces you … He flings His arms around your neck
to raise you up, you who were prostrate,
burdened with sins, face to the ground.
He turns you over to face Heaven,
so that you can seek your Creator there.
He causes a Robe, a Ring and Sandals to be brought.
The Robe is the garment of wisdom…
spiritual clothing — the wedding garment.
What is the Ring if not the seal of a genuine faith
and the imprint of truth?
And as for the Sandals —
these are the preaching of the Gospel.

Come, then and search out Thy sheep,
not through Thy servants or hired men
but do it Thineself.
Lift me up bodily and in the flesh,
which is fallen in Adam.
Lift me up, not from Sarah but from Mary,
a Virgin, not only undefiled
but a Virgin, whom grace had made inviolate,
free of every stain of sin.

MORE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/12/07/quote-s-of-the-day-7-december-st-ambrose-5/

St Ambrose (340-397)
Father and Doctor of the Church

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, I BELIEVE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on the CHURCH, The HEART, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 23 October – ‘ … Be careful lest, when the King enters, He finds fault with some aspect of your heart’s clothing! ,,,’

One Minute Reflection – 23 October – Ferial Day – The Feast of the Most Holy Redeemer – The Feast day of St Anthony Mary Claret CMF (1807-1870) Archbishop and Founder of the Claretians – Ephesians 4:23-28 – Matthew 22:1-14 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?” – Matthew 22:12

REFLECTION – “But you, my friends, since you have already come into the house of the marriage feast, our holy Church, as a result of God’s generosity, be careful lest, when the King enters, He finds fault with some aspect of your heart’s clothing!

What do we think is meant by the wedding garment, dearly beloved? For if we say it is Baptism or faith, is there anyone who has entered this marriage feast without them? A person is outside because he has not yet come to believe. What then must we understand by the wedding garment but love? That person enters the marriage feast but without wearing a wedding garment, who is present in the holy Church. He may have faith but he does not have love. We are correct when we say that love is the wedding garment because this, is what our Creator Himself possessed, when He came to the marriage feast, to join the Church to Himself. Only God’s Love brought it about, that His Only-Begotten Son, united the hearts of His chosen, to Himself. John says “God so Loved the world that He gave His Only-Begotten Son for us.” – St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) Father and Doctor of the Church – (Sermons on the Gospel No 38).

PRAYER – O Lord, we beseech Thee, graciously grant Thou faithful, forgiveness and peace that they may be cleansed of all sin and serve Thee with minds free from care. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in "Follow Me", AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CONSECRATION Prayers, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, franciscan OFM, GOD ALONE!, JESUIT SJ, QUOTES on ENEMIES, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, SACRED HEART PRAYERS, St Francis de Sales, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 22 October – ‘So then, have faith with love. This is the “wedding garment!”

Quote/s of the Day – 22 October – Ferial Day – Ephesians 4:23-28 – Matthew22:1-14 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Friend how did you come in here
without a wedding garment?

Matthew 22:12

So then, have faith with love.
This is the “wedding garment!”

St Augustine (354-430)
Father & Doctor of the Church

Totally love Him,
Who gave Himself totally,
for your love.

St Clare (1194-1253)

Do much for God
and do nothing without love:
refer everything to this love;
eat and drink with it in mind
!”

(Letter to Madame de Chantal)

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of Charity

What is it to serve God
and to go to Heaven?
Nothing else but to love
!”

St Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591)

You must be reconciled to your enemies,
speak to them, as if they had never done you
anything but good, all your life,
keeping nothing in your heart but the charity,
which the good Christian should have, for everyone,
so that we may all appear with confidence,
before the tribunal of God.

St John Vianney (1786-1859)

Daily Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Prayers to the Sacred Heart
1936 – 15th Edition, Dublin

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
filled with infinite love,
broken by our ingratitude
and pierced by our sins,
yet loving us still,
accept the Consecration
we make to Thee,
of all that we are
and all that we have.
Take every faculty
of our souls and bodies,
only day by day
draw us, nearer and nearer
to Thy Sacred Heart,
and there, as we shall hear the lesson,
teach us Thy Holy Way.
Amen

Posted in "Follow Me", AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, I BELIEVE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on the CHURCH, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 22 October – ‘What is that “wedding garment” then? …’ St Augustine

One Minute Reflection – 22 October – “The Month of The Most Holy Rosary and The Holy Angels” – Ferial Day – Ephesians 4:23-28 – Matthew22:1-14 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Now the king went in to see the guests and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?‘” – Matthew 22:11-12

REFLECTION – “What is that “wedding garment” then? … The wedding garment” is such charity as this. “Although I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.” Tongues have come in alone and it is said to them, “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and although I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing.

See, these are the miracles of men who very often have not “the wedding garment.” “Although,” he says,” I have all these and have not Christ, I am nothing.” … If then I have not charity, although I bestow alms freely upon the poor, although I have come to the confession of Christ’s Name even unto blood and fire, these things may be done even through the love of glory and so are vain.
… For “the wedding garment” is taken in honour of the union, the union, that is, of the Bridegroom to the Bride. You know the Bridegroom – it is Christ. You know the Bride – it is the Church. Pay honour to the Bride, pay honour to the Bridegroom. If you pay due honour to them both, you will be their children. Therefore, in this make progress. Love the Lord and so learn to love yourselves, that when, by loving the Lord, you shall have loved yourselves, you may securely love your neighbour as yourselves. …So then, have faith with love. This is the “wedding garment!” … St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Grace.

PRAYER – Grant us, Thou servants, O Lord God, we beseech Thee, to enjoy lasting health of mind and body and, by the intercession of glorious and blessed Mary, ever Virgin, may we be delivered from present sorrow and partake to the full of eternal happiness. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in BAPTISM, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD is LOVE, I BELIEVE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on the CHURCH, The HEART, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 19 October – ‘ … What then must we understand by the wedding garment but love?…’ St Gregory the Great – Matthew 22:1-14

One Minute Reflection – 19 October – “The Month of The Most Holy Rosary and The Holy Angels” – St Peter of Alcantara OFM (1499-1562) Confessor – Ephesians 4:23-28 – Matthew 22:1-14 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?” – Matthew 22:12

REFLECTION – “But you, my friends, since you have already come into the house of the marriage feast, our holy Church, as a result of God’s generosity, be careful lest, when the King enters, He finds fault with some aspect of your heart’s clothing!

What do we think is meant by the wedding garment, dearly beloved? For if we say it is Baptism or faith, is there anyone who has entered this marriage feast without them? A person is outside because he has not yet come to believe. What then must we understand by the wedding garment but love? That person enters the marriage feast but without wearing a wedding garment, who is present in the Holy Church. He may have faith but he does not have love. We are correct when we say that love is the wedding garment because this, is what our Creator Himself possessed, when He came to the marriage feast, to join the Church to Himself. Only God’s Love brought it about, that His Only-Begotten Son, united the hearts of His chosen, to Himself. John says “God so Loved the world that He gave His Only-Begotten Son for us.” – St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) Father and Doctor of the Church – (Sermons on the Gospel No 38).

PRAYER – O God, Who graciously made blessed Peter, Thy Confessor, glorious by the gift of remarkable penance and sublime contemplation, grant, we beseech Thee, that, by the merit of his prayers, we may the more easily understand the things of Heaven by curbing our passions. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CATHOLIC Quotes, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LOVE of NEIGHBOUR, QUOTES on ALMS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on POVERTY, QUOTES on the POOR, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 20 December – This is My commandment … and this is that wedding garment

Quote/s of the Day – 20 December – The Vigil of St Thomas, Apostle – Ember Friday, Third Week of Advent – Sirach 44:25-27, 45:2-4, 45:6-9; John 15:12-16 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

This is My commandment
that you love one another,
as I have loved you. 

John 15:12

Love the Lord and so,
learn to love yourselves
that when, by loving the Lord,
you shall have loved yourselves,
you may securely love
your neighbour as yourselves. …
So then, have faith with love.
This is the “wedding garment!

St Augustine (354-430)
Father and Doctor of Grace

Truly blessed is he who cleaves,
with his thought, to the Prayer of Jesus,
constantly calling to Him in his heart,
just as air cleaves to our bodies,
or the flame to the candle.

St Hesychius of Jerusalem (Died c450)
Priest, Exegete, Father

We should always love our neighbour,
as in the breast of Christ

(The Spirit of St François de Sales II, 1)

We must help one another,
as much as we can
and leave the rest to God.

(Letters to Persons in Religion,I, 8)

Love the poor and poverty,
for it is by this love
that you shall become truly poor.

(Introduction to the Devout Life
Part III Chapter 15)

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of the Church

Posted in ASPIRATIONS and EJACULATIONS, AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, franciscan OFM, GOD ALONE!, I BELIEVE!, JESUIT SJ, LOVE of NEIGHBOUR, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on Love of Self, St PAUL!, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 18 September – Wear the correct garment!

Quote/s of the Day – 18 September – “The Month of The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The Holy Cross” – St Joseph of Cupertino OFM Conv (1603-1663) Confessor – 1 Corinthians 13:1-8; Matthew 22:1-14 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Friend, how did you come in here
without a wedding garment?

Matthew 22:12

If I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels
and have not charity,
I am become as sounding brass,
or a tinkling cymbal.
And if I should have prophecy
and should know all mysteries
and all knowledge
and if I should have all faith,
so that I could remove mountains
but have not charity,
I am nothing!

St Paul
1 Corinthians 13:1-2

Love the Lord and so,
learn to love yourselves
that when, by loving the Lord,
you shall have loved yourselves,
you may securely love
your neighbour as yourselves. …
So then, have faith with love.
This is the “wedding garment!

St Augustine (354-430)
Father and Doctor of Grace

Love God, serve God.
Everything is in that!

St Clare of Assisi (1191-1253)

“It is an old custom
with the servants of God,
always to have some little prayers ready
and to be darting them up to Heaven
frequently during the day,
lifting their minds to God
out of the filth of this world.
He who adopts this plan,
will get great fruit, with little pains.

St Philip Neri (1515-1595)

He who most loves,
will be most loved.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of the Church

What is it to serve God
and to go to Heaven?
Nothing else but to love!

St Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591)

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on the CHURCH, The HEART, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 18 September – ‘ … What do we think is meant by the wedding garment, dearly beloved? …’

One Minute Reflection – 18 September – “The Month of The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The Holy Cross” – St Joseph of Cupertino OFM Conv (1603-1663) Confessor – 1 Corinthians 13:1-8; Matthew 22:1-14 – cripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?” – Matthew 22:12

REFLECTION – “But you, my friends, since you have already come into the house of the marriage feast, our holy Church, as a result of God’s generosity, be careful lest, when the King enters, He finds fault with some aspect of your heart’s clothing!

What do we think is meant by the wedding garment, dearly beloved? For if we say it is Baptism or faith, is there anyone who has entered this marriage feast without them? A person is outside because he has not yet come to believe. What then must we understand by the wedding garment but love? That person enters the marriage feast but without wearing a wedding garment, who is present in the holy Church. He may have faith but he does not have love. We are correct when we say that love is the wedding garment because this, is what our Creator Himself possessed, when He came to the marriage feast, to join the Church to Himself. Only God’s Love brought it about, that His Only-Begotten Son, united the hearts of His chosen, to Himself. John says “God so Loved the world that He gave His Only-Begotten Son for us.” – St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) Father and Doctor of the Church – (Sermons on the Gospel No 38).

PRAYER – O God, Who willed that all things be drawn unto Thy Son, when He was raised above the earth, mercifully grant, by the merits and example of Thy seraphic Confessor Joseph that, having been raised above all earthly desires, we may be found worthy to come unto Him. Through the same 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).