SOLEMNITY OF PENTECOST SUNDAY (YEAR B)

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: MAY 19, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINT PETER CELESTINE, POPE; SAINT PUDENTIANA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR AND SAINT YVES OF BRITTANY (IVO OF KERMARTIN), PRIEST AND LAWYER

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Pentecost Sunday!

We thank God for His grace and mercy and for blessing us all with the gift of the Holy Spirit. May we be filled with the blessing of the Holy Spirit now and always. 🙏

Watch “HOLY MASS ON THE SOLEMNITY OF PENTECOST PRESIDED BY POPE FRANCIS” | LIVE FROM THE VATICAN | MAY 19, 2024 |

Pope Francis’ Homily at the Holy Mass on the Solemnity of Pentecost | May 19, 2024 | https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2024/documents/20240519-omelia-pentecoste.html

Watch ” Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on Pentecost Sunday | EWTN on YouTube | May 19, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 19, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | May 19, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 19, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 19, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteriels VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |

Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |

Today’s Bible Readings: Pentecost Sunday, May 19, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 2:1-11
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
Reading 2, First Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13
Gospel, John 20:19-23

SOLEMNITY OF PENTECOST SUNDAY: Happy Birthday! Today is Pentecost, the feast of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost day is called the “birth-day” of the Church. Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday, marks the last day of the fifty glorious days of Easter, it marks the end of the first novena and the Easter Season. We are back to Ordinary Time on Monday. As we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we also celebrate the birth of the Church. Thus, today is a celebration of our membership in the life of the Church. Pentecost (Whitsunday), with Christmas and Easter, ranks among the great feasts of Christianity. It commemorates not only the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and Disciples, but also the fruits and effects of that event: the completion of the work of redemption, the fullness of grace for the Church and its children, and the gift of faith for all nations.

When Jesus ascended into heaven forty days after His resurrection, He instructed the Apostles to wait in Jerusalem for the sending of the Holy Spirit. Ten days later the eleven Apostles, together with the Blessed Virgin Mary, were praying in the Upper Room on the Lord’s Day. The Holy Spirit descended upon them as tongues of fire, as recorded in the second chapter of Acts. “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” ~ Acts 2:1–4

Jews from distant lands were gathered in Jerusalem for the feast of the harvest of the first-fruits, which was the closing festival of the Pascal season. The Apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, began to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the various languages of the people. Scripture records that through this miracle 3,000 souls were baptized and added to the Church that same day. Because of this, Pentecost is considered the birthday of the Catholic Church.

Pentecost enables us to be powerful instruments of the transforming grace of God. And there is no doubt that the world around us needs this grace. As we celebrate Pentecost, it would be helpful to ponder the primary effects of the Holy Spirit in a prayerful way. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are: Fear of the Lord, Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Counsel, Fortitude and Piety.These Gifts are the primary effects of Pentecost for each and every one of us. Use them as an examination of your life and let God show you where you need to grow more deeply in the strength of the Holy Spirit.

PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, through Christ our Lord. Amen. Jesus, I trust in You… Amen🙏

Come, Holy Spirit, Come!

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Readings today, Pentecost Sunday | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/pentecost-sunday-mass-during-day

Pope Francis’ Homily at the Holy Mass on the Solemnity of Pentecost | May 19, 2024 | https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2024/documents/20240519-omelia-pentecoste.html

Gospel Reading ~ John 20:19–23

“As the Father sent me, so I send you: Receive the Holy Spirit”

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

“Come Holy Spirit!”

“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” ~ Acts 2:1–4

In today’s Gospel reading from John 20:19-23, the message of Jesus to His disciples is set within the context of the evening before He was crucified. It is the night of the last supper. Jesus is with His closest disciples, those who, in a sense, have been His family for the previous three years. They have travelled with Him, listening to His words, observing what He was doing. Now it seems as if it is all going to end tragically. In this highly charged moment, Jesus has something important to say to these disciples. As He takes His leave of them, He promises to send them what He calls another Advocate or Paraclete. He has been their Advocate for the previous three years. Now he promises to send them another Advocate, the Holy Spirit. A Paraclete or Advocate is, literally, someone who is called to stand alongside someone else in their time of need. A Paraclete is someone you would want standing alongside you in a difficult situation. Jesus may soon be cruelly taken from His disciples but He promises that He will come to them again in and through this other Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit both of Jesus Himself and of God His Father.

The promise that Jesus makes to His disciples in that Gospel reading is made to all of us. The disciples gathered around Jesus on that night before He died represent the disciples of every generation. The promise that Jesus made to His disciples came to pass for them at the Jewish feast of Pentecost, a short time after Jesus’ death and resurrection. The same promise has come to pass for us at our Baptism, our Confirmation, and, indeed, every day of our lives. The risen Lord is constantly offering us the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, to stand alongside us in our times of need, and not just to stand alongside us but to reside within us. As Saint Paul says in our second reading today, ‘the Spirit of God has made his home in you’, ‘the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you’. On this feast of Pentecost, we give thanks for this wonderful resource that the Lord has given us to stand alongside us and to dwell within us. The readings today remind us of some of the ways that this great gift can be a resource to us. Saint Paul in the second reading tells us that the Holy Spirit makes us cry out ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit within us inspires us to address God in the same intimate way that Jesus did, as ‘Abba, Father’. The Spirit within us is always praying in this way to God. Our prayer is allowing ourselves to be caught up into this prayer of the Spirit which is constantly happening deep within us. Jesus makes reference to another way that the Holy Spirit is a resource for us. He says in that Gospel reading that the Holy Spirit will ‘teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you’. It is the Spirit who makes the words of Jesus preserved in the Gospels come alive for us. That is why before reading the Gospels or listening to them being read it is good to pray to the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who allows us to hear the Lord’s word as a word for us, a word for me, here and now in the concrete circumstances of my life. The Spirit draws out new depths of meaning from the teaching of Jesus for the changing circumstances of life in which we find ourselves. Without the Spirit the Gospel would become a dead letter.

Our first reading today from Acts 2:1-11 reminds us of another way that the Holy Spirit is a resource for us. “Pentecost” which means “fiftieth” was the second of the three most important of the annual feasts in the Jewish calendar. It occurred seven weeks after Passover and was primarily a feast of thanksgiving for the harvest: the first-fruits of the wheat crop were offered to God on that day. On that first Pentecost the Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to communicate Jesus to others, in spite of the various language barriers. When the Holy Spirit came upon the first disciples of Jesus, they received an ability to communicate in a way they had never communicated before. We can only communicate the Lord to each other if we know the Lord ourselves. That is what the Holy Spirit does for us today. It is the Holy Spirit who empowers us to bear witness to Jesus before others, to communicate him to other by what we say and do, by who we are. The Holy Spirit is the great communicator. Today was the day chosen for the opening of this mission of the Apostles. That they were backed by the divine power of the Holy Spirit was proved, not only by the gift of tongues but more especially by the change His coming wrought on the Apostles. From this day forward they were men dedicated to one purpose and to one purpose only, to bring the good news, the Gospel of Christ, to the world. Today’s feast is a reminder to us of the essential role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We need to keep on praying, ‘Come Holy Spirit’, to keep on opening our lives more fully to this great gift of the risen Lord.

Our Second Reading is from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 12:2-7, 12-13. The gifts of the Holy Spirit were very evident in the infant Church. This was necessary to prove to the pagans that the Christian religion was from the real God who controlled all things. The God of the Christians had real powers and they were distributed freely by the Holy Spirit when occasion demanded. St. Paul is emphasizing that these gifts are not given to an individual for his honor or glory but to help to build up the Church. Not only did the Holy Spirit make his presence felt by the external exercise of his powers, on that first Pentecost day, but he continued to do so for some years until the Church had laid solid foundations in the Gentile world. The important point to bear in mind today on this, the anniversary of the public manifestation of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, is the infinite love of God for us, his Chosen People of the new covenant. Through the Incarnation men are empowered to become adopted sons of God; through baptism we become members of Christ’s body, his Church. Through the direct reception of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation, we are made active members of the Christian Church, with all the strength and powers necessary to be effective members, on active service daily, true soldiers of Christ. The Holy Spirit came to us in confirmation with his gifts and graces to enable us to work for the whole Church, for the whole body of Christ. We are made soldiers to form an army that will work together for the protection of our nation and our freedom. No man is put into military uniform in order to look after his own interests. We too are not made soldiers of Christ in order to save our own souls only—we are soldiers in order to help our fellow-Christians and all men in their common fight against sin and Godlessness. We must then take an active part in the battles of the Church, against everything that impedes the practice of the Christian virtues.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today on this special feast of the Holy Spirit, we are reminded that, it is the Holy Spirit who helps us to know the Lord – and to know Him not just with our heads but with our hearts. The role of the Holy Spirit is to lead us to the complete truth, to lead us to Jesus who is the Truth. The Holy Spirit, takes from the Lord and tells it to us. The Spirit communicates with us about the Lord, leading us into a deeper communion with Him. We need the Holy Spirit if we are to come to know the Lord and, so, communicate the Lord to others in what we say and do. Because the Holy Spirit is so necessary to us in our Christian lives, the Lord is not slow to share the Spirit with us. Pentecost is not a once off event. The Lord continues to pour out the Holy Spirit on all those who ask for this gift. On this feast of Pentecost, we ask for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit on each of us, so that we, like the first disciples, will be able to communicate the Lord to each other today. We as individuals have a gift of tongues which all men can understand. It is the gift of love infused into us by the Holy Spirit. Love unites, love is a common language, by means of love we can speak to all nations. May the Risen Lord be with us and His Church always, and may the Holy Spirit continue to guide and strengthen us, inflame and encourage us that we may always be firm in our faith and actions, and do our best to reach out to others with exemplary and shining faith in God. May the Holy Spirit lead us and help us to serve God ever more courageously and may all of us be strengthened in all things, now and always, forevermore. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to receive the Spirit of God who comes to help us to communicate with each other about the Lord, to build communion in the Lord. Come, Holy Spirit and renew the face of the Earth, and come to bless and strengthen us, give us the courage and desire to continue to do God’s will, at all times. Amen🙏

PRAYER FOR PENTECOST

VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS

Come, Holy Spirit, Creator blest, and in our souls take up Thy rest; come with Thy grace and heavenly aid to fill the hearts which Thou hast made. O comforter, to Thee we cry, O heavenly gift of God Most High, O fount of life and fire of love, and sweet anointing from above.

Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known; Thou, finger of God’s hand we own; Thou, promise of the Father, Thou Who dost the tongue with power imbue. Kindle our sense from above, and make our hearts o’erflow with love; with patience firm and virtue high the weakness of our flesh supply. Far from us drive the foe we dread, and grant us Thy peace instead; so shall we not, with Thee for guide, turn from the path of life aside.

Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow the Father and the Son to know; and Thee, through endless times confessed, of both the eternal Spirit blest. Now to the Father and the Son, Who rose from death, be glory given, with Thou, O Holy Comforter, henceforth by all in earth and heaven. Amen🙏

THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

These Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are the primary effects of Pentecost for each and every one of us. Use them as an examination of your life and let God show you where you need to grow more deeply in the strength of the Holy Spirit.

FEAR OF THE LORD: With this gift the Christian becomes keenly aware of anything that may hurt his/her relationship with God. There is a holy “fear” of hurting this relationship and grace is given to avoid these things at all cost.

WISDOM: With this gift the Christian is given a special grace to “ponder divine realities” in his/her speculative reason. We are able to see the big picture and know how best to be an instrument of peace and harmony in our world.

UNDERSTANDING: This is the ability to have a supernatural assurance of the matters of faith. Life makes sense. We can make sense of the deeper parts of revelation, make sense of suffering and understand those things that tempt us to doubt. With this gift we come to see how everything in life can work for good in accordance with God’s plan.

KNOWLEDGE: With this gift the Christian knows, more in the practical intellect, what God’s will is in this or that situation. We know how to live, how to discern God’s will and what decision to make in our daily life. It also enables us to learn from our past mistakes.

COUNSEL: With this gift the Christian sees him/herself as a link in a chain which makes up the entire Church. God uses each one of us to help and support one another on our journey. We know what to say and how to act so as to do our part to build up one another.

FORTITUDE: Simply put, it is a firmness of mind and spirit to do good and avoid evil. It’s a sort of Christian courage. The Gospel will call all of us to a radical life of love. Fortitude gives us the strength we need to follow through.

PIETY: This gift enables us to first reverence and love God, but also to see the dignity of one another and reverence each other as children of God.

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT PETER CELESTINE, POPE; SAINT PUDENTIANA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR AND SAINT YVES OF BRITTANY (IVO OF KERMARTIN), PRIEST AND LAWYER ~ FEAST DAY: MAY 19TH: As we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost today, we also celebrate the Memorial of Saint Peter Celestine, Pope; Saint Pudentiana, Virgin and Martyr and Saint Yves of Brittany (Saint Ivo of Kermartin), Priest and Lawyer. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for justice, peace and love in our world. We pray for all lawyers and those in authority. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from terminal diseases and for the safety and well-being of the poor and the needy all over the world. We continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world🙏

SAINT PETER CELESTINE, POPE: St. Peter (1221- 1296) was born Pietro Angelerio in about 1221, also known as Pietro da Morrone, Peter of Morrone, and Pope Celestine V. He was the eleventh of the twelve children of a poor Italian farmer in Apulia, in the Neapolitan province of Moline. His parents, Angelo Angelerio and Maria Leone were very virtuous, and charitable to the poor to the uttermost of their abilities. As a child, Peter had visions of our Blessed Lady, Angels and Saints. His heavenly visitors encouraged him in his prayers and chided him when he fell into any fault. After his father’s death, his mother, though only a poor widow, seeing his extraordinary inclination to piety provided him with a literary education, she sent him to school, feeling sure that he would one day be a Saint. He retired into the desert when he was hardly an adolescent. His virtues soon drew disciples around him. This was the origin of the branch of the Benedictine order known as the Celestines. He became a Benedictine monk at the age of seventeen and was eventually ordained priest at Rome. His love of solitude led him first into the wilderness of Monte Morone in the Abruzzi, whence his surname, and later into the wilder recesses of Mt. Majella. He was strongly influenced by the life of John the Baptist, and took him as his model in his religious life. His hair-cloth was roughened with knots, he wore a chain of iron encompassing his emaciated frame, and he fasted every day except for on Sunday. Each year he kept four Lents, passing three of them on bread and water only, and he consecrated the entire day and a great part of the night to prayer and labour. At twenty years of age he left the schools, and retired to a solitary mountain of Apulia, where he made himself a little cell under ground, but so small that he could scarce stand or lie down in it. Here he lived three years in great austerities, during which he was often assailed by violent temptations and assaulted by evil spirits; but these he overcame by the help of such practices and austerities as the grace of God suggested to him. He was consoled by the visits of Angels. After this his seclusion was invaded by disciples who refused to be sent away; and the rule of life which he gave them formed the foundation of the Celestines, a branch of the Order of Saint Benedict. Angels assisted in the church which St. Peter built; unseen bells rang peals of surpassing sweetness, and heavenly music filled the sanctuary when he offered the Holy Sacrifice; he had consented to be ordained, to find in the Holy Eucharist assistance against temptation.

Suddenly the poor anchorite found himself torn from his loved solitude, having been named by acclamation to the Papal throne, which had remained vacant for twenty-seven months. Resistance was of no avail. He took the name of Celestine, to remind him of the heaven he was leaving and for which he sighed. He was seventy-two years old. He was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States for five months from July 5th to December 13, 1294. St. Peter judged himself unfit for the office, and summoning the cardinals to his presence, he solemnly resigned his trust. During the remaining three years of his life he worked many and great miracles. On the day after his abdication, his blessing after Mass healed a lame man. Saint Peter left the palace, desiring seclusion, but was brought back by the papal guards, for his successor feared a schism; crowds had followed Saint Peter. Lest he be prevailed upon to take back his office, he was put under surveillance at Anagni. Content, he remarked: I desired nothing but a cell, and a cell they have given me. And there he enjoyed his former loving intimacy with the Saints and Angels, and sang the Divine praises almost continually. At length, on Pentecost Sunday he told his guards he would die within the week, and immediately fell ill. He received the Last Sacraments, and the following Saturday, as he finished the concluding verse of Lauds, Let every spirit bless the Lord! he closed his eyes to this world and opened them to the vision of God. He died on May 19,1296 and was Canonized May 5, 1313 by Pope Clement V. He’s the Patron Saint of Aquila, Italy; bookbinders; Papal resignations, Urbino, Molise, Sant’Angelo Limosano.

Saint Peter Celestine, Pope ~ Pray for us🙏

SAINT PUDENTIANA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR: St. Pudentiana of Rome was Virgin, Martyr, Friend to the Apostles. She was the sister of St. Praxedes, and daughter of Pudens a Roman senator, who was converted to the faith by the apostles SS. Peter and Paul. They cared for Christians and buried their bodies during the persecutions of Marcus Antoninus. A traditional Christian saint and martyress of the 2nd century who refused to worship the Roman Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Antoninus Pius as deities. She gave away her wealth to the poor, aided the burials of Christians, and consecrated herself wholly to Christ and died in the year 160 when she was sixteen. Her church in Rome is esteemed the most ancient that is known in the world. It was in the first ages called the church of the Pastor, and is said to have been the palace of Pudens, in which St. Peter lodged and celebrated the divine mysteries.

According to an ancient tradition, St. Peter was the guest of the senator Pudens during his stay in Rome. Pudens had two daughters, Pudentiana and Praxedes, virgins who dedicated themselves wholly to acts of charity. After the death of their parents, Pudentiana and her sister Praxedes distributed their patrimony to the poor. The fact that Puden’s entire household of some 96 persons were baptized by Pope Pius I (d. 154) is ascribed to their zealous activities. When Christian services were forbidden by the Emperor Antoninus Pius, Pius I celebrated Mass in their home. The saints were buried next to their father in the catacomb of St. Priscilla. One of Rome’s most ancient stational churches is dedicated to St. Pudentiana. Despite being in the Tridentine Missal and having a church dedicated to her in Rome, she was removed from the Roman Martyrology, 2001. Her uncertain status is the result of not being listed in the earliest martyrologies.

St. Pudentiana of Rome was Virgin, Martyr ~ Pray for us🙏

SAINT YVES OF BRITTANY, PRIEST AND LAWYER: St. Yves also known as Ives or Ivo of Kermartin (1253–1303) worked hard for justice both as a civil and canon lawyer, often working without charge for the poor. He worked to help the less fortunate, building hospitals, orphanages, and helping widows and the poor. St. Yves was born to a noble family at Kermartin, near Tréguier, Brittany, France on October 17, 1253. He was the son of Helori, lord of Kermartin, and Azo du Kenquis. The lessons his pious mother instilled in the heart of the boy through Christian training, preserved him amid the grave dangers to which he was exposed during his student years at Paris and Orleans. In 1267 at the age of 14, St. Yves was sent by his landowning father to Paris to receive a higher education, he went to the University of Paris, where he graduated in civil law. He went to Orléans in 1277 to study canon law and at the end of ten years he had gained distinction in Philosophy, Theology, and Canon Law, as well as Civil Law. He went on to practice law for many years in both the civil and ecclesiastical courts. On his return to Brittany he was appointed a diocesan judge, first to the Bishop of Rennes and later to the Bishop of Treguier. In this capacity, he carried out his duties with equity, incorruptibility, and concern for the poor and lowly. St. Yve’s fame quickly spread and he became known as “the poor man’s advocate.” He pleaded for the poor in other courts, going so far as pay their expenses and even visiting them in prison while they awaited trials; his constant concern was to obtain justice for all. Accordingly, he constantly tried to reconcile quarreling parties and have them arrive at an amicable agreement without incurring the cost of unnecessary lawsuits. St. Yves also practiced a life of asceticism; he wore a hairshirt under his clothing, fasted regularly, and became a Franciscan Tertiary. These spiritual disciplines aided him in his practice of virtue in the courtroom: he fought the State in court on behalf of the rights of the Church, and became a diocesan judge who was unable to be tempted by bribes. St. Ivo eventually resigned from practicing law and joined the priesthood.

In 1284, St. Yves became a priest and having been ordained he was appointed to the parish of Tredrez in 1285 and eight years later to Louannee, where he died. From 1287 onward he devoted himself to parish work. But he made his legal knowledge ever available to any of his parishioners who needed it. He lived frugally and unassumingly, instructed the people in both spiritual and temporal matters, and preached the Word of God with power. He is noted as being a great preacher and arbitor. He built a hospital with his own money, providing for the sick poor. He is known as a miracle worker, with an instance of feeding hundreds from a single loaf of bread. Saint Yves of Brittany’s labors and his strict life sapped all his energy. He was hardly fifty years old when he felt his end nearing. Fortified with the last sacraments, he commended his soul to the hands of his Creator and died with a smile on May 19, 1303, this “attorney who was a holy man” appeared before the Ultimate Judge to receive his reward. St. Yves died at Louannee, May 19, 1303 and was buried in Tréguier. He was canonized in 1347 by Pope Clement VI. He’s the Patron Saint of abandoned people; advocates; attorneys; bailiffs; barristers; Brittany; canon lawyers; canonists; judges; jurists; lawyers; notaries; orphans.

PRAYER: God, You taught Your Church to observe all the heavenly commandments in the love of God. Help us to practice works of charity in imitation of Your Priest, St. Yves, and merit to be numbered among the blessed in Your Kingdom. Amen🙏

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF MAY: MONTH OF OUR LADY: In addition to the myriad feast days honoring Our Lady under her many titles and virtues, the entire month of May is especially given to her praise. In the words of Pope Paul VI, May is “a month which the piety of the faithful has long dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God … For this is the month during which Christians, in their churches and their homes, offer the Virgin Mother more fervent and loving acts of homage and veneration; and it is the month in which a greater abundance of God’s merciful gifts comes down to us from our Mother’s throne.”

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF MAY – FOR THE FORMATION OF RELIGIOUS AND SEMINARIANS: We pray that religious women and men, and seminarians, grow in their own vocations through their human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, leading them to be credible witnesses to the Gospel.🙏

https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024

PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:

Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen🙏

During this Easter season, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏

On this special feast day, as we continue to celebrate our risen Lord, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for the Clergy and religious as they serve in the Lord’s Vineyard. We also pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to remember our beloved, we pray for the repose of their gentle souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life, you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil, and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen🙏

Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this season of Easter, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for our children and children all over the world, we pray for their health, safety and well-being, we particularly pray for those who have no one to care for them and those who are terminally ill, we pray for God’s Divine healing upon them. Every life is a gift. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle soul of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. For all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy and all those who preach the Gospel. We pray for Vocation to the Priesthood and Religious life. We particularly pray for all Youths and all Seminarians, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. For the Church, for persecuted christians, for all the innocent who suffer violence due to political or religious unrest, for the conversion of sinners and Christians all over the world. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My glorious Lord, You promised to send the Holy Spirit upon us to lead us into all Truth and to reconcile us to the Father. You were faithful to that promise at Pentecost and now continuously bestow the Holy Spirit upon all who believe. Holy Spirit, please come upon me, especially by forgiving my sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and by filling me with Your sevenfold Gifts. Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I worship You and adore You with all my Heart. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary, Saint Peter Celestine, Saint Pudentiana and Saint Yves of Brittany ~ Pray for us🙏

Thanking God for the gift of the Holy Spirit on this special feast day and praying for justice, peace, love and unity in our families and our world and for God’s Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all. Have a blessed, safe, spirit-filled and grace-filled Pentecost Sunday and week ahead🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena 💖