FIFTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: JULY 17, 2024

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time!

On this special feast day, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we humbly pray for justice, peace and unity in our families and our divided and conflicted world. We continue to pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to 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 & the Holy Spirit forever & ever. Amen🙏

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube | July 17, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 17, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |July 17, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 17, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 17, 2024 |

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

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

NOVENA TO THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS | https://novenaprayer.com/novena-to-the-precious-blood-of-jesus/ (When to begin: Any time – The whole month of July)

Today’s Bible Readings: Wednesday July 17, 2024
Reading 1, Isaiah 10:5-7, 13-16
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 94:5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 14-15
Gospel, Matthew 11:25-27

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT ALEXIUS OF ROME, CONFESSOR AND THE BLESSED CARMELITE MARTYRS OF COMPIEGNE ~ FEAST DAY: JULY 17TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Alexius of Rome, Confessor and the Blessed Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases, we pray for God’s divine healing upon them. We pray for those going through difficulties during these challenging times, for the poor and the needy, for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏 

SAINT ALEXIUS OF ROME, CONFESSOR: St. Alexius of Rome or Alexius of Edessa (or Alexis) is known as the “Man of God.” St. Alexius was a native of Rome, the son of Euphemianus, a wealthy Christian Roman of the senatorial class. He was born in Rome in the fourth century, was the only son of his parents pre-eminent among the Roman nobles for both their virtue and their great wealth. They were particularly noted for their almsgiving; three tables were prepared every day for all who came for assistance — pilgrims, the poor and the sick. Their son, St. Alexius fruit of their prayers, lived in poverty and service to the poor, despite wealthy upbringing and worldly opportunity. His parents arranged a marriage for him, but he had a divine calling to a higher vocation. St. Alexis was married with splendid feasting to a noble young lady of the imperial family, but on his wedding night, by God’s special inspiration, with permission from his fiance, he secretly fled Rome to Edessa in Syria to live in poverty and obscurity as a holy ascetic where he could serve God alone. He gave away all that he had brought with him, disguised himself as a beggar, unrecognized by all, he was content thereafter to live by alms at the gate of Our Lady’s church in that city. His family, in the deepest grief, could not fathom the mystery of his disappearance, and would have been consoled if God had taken him instead through death. It came to pass that the servants of Saint Alexius, whom his father had sent in search of him, arrived in Edessa, and seeing him among the poor at the gate of Our Lady’s church, gave him alms, not recognizing him. Whereupon the man of God, rejoicing, said, I thank You, Lord, who have called me and granted that I should receive for Your Name’s name’s sake an alms from my own slaves. Deign to fulfill in me the work You have begun. St. Alexius lived in this way for seventeen years.

After seventeen years spent at the portico or gateway of the church of Our Lady, a miraculous icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary (later this image was called Madonna of St Alexius) singled him out as a “Man of God”. His sanctity was miraculously confirmed by the Blessed Virgin, speaking through Her image to an officer of the church. When the fame of his sanctity spread in Edessa, once more he sought obscurity by flight, he moved back to Rome so that he could continue his hidden life. On his way to Tarsus contrary winds drove his ship to Rome. There no one recognized him, in this pale and tattered mendicant, the heir of Rome’s noblest house, not even his sorrowing parents, who had vainly sent throughout the world in search of him. From his own father’s charity St. Alexius begged a miserable shelter in his palace, he lived as a beggar under the very staircase of his father’s palace, with the leavings of his table as food, his true identity completely unknown to anyone. He lived in this way for another seventeen years bearing patiently the mockery and ill usage of his own servants, and witnessing daily the still inconsolable grief of his spouse and parents. He was befriended by other Christians, shared his alms with the poor, and taught catechism to children. At last, when death had ended this cruel martyrdom, they learned too late after his death, in the year 404, who it was that they had unknowingly sheltered. His identity was revealed through a document that he secretly carried on his person. A voice was heard by all in attendance at the Pope’s Mass, saying: Seek the man of God, he will pray for Rome, and the Lord will be favorable to it; he will die Friday. All the city undertook in vain to find this unknown Saint. But God had commanded St. Alexius himself to write down his life story and sign it, in this way He Himself confirmed His servant’s sanctity, when he was found lifeless in his retreat, holding that document in his hand. The Pope read aloud what was written on the parchment of the Saint, and everywhere in Rome there was a single cry of admiration, impossible to describe. The house of St. Alexius’ father Euphemianus was later transformed into a church dedicated to Saint Alexius in his honor.

REFLECTION: St. Alexius faith and piety was attested to by the Blessed Virgin, who spoke through a holy painting, revealing him to be a “Man of God” to those who regarded him as a beggar. The life of Saint Alexius reminds us that appearances are not what is important to the Lord, but rather the holy fire burning within the heart and soul of the faithful. He’s the Patron Saint of beggars and pilgrims. St. Alexius’ feast day is July 17.

Saint Alexius of Rome, Confessor ~ Pray for us 🙏

THE BLESSED CARMELITE MARTYRS OF COMPIEGNE: The  Blessed Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne, Mother Teresa of St Augustine and Companions, sixteen of them were executed on July 17, 1794 during the French Revolution. They were guillotined at the Place du Trône Renversé (now called Place de la Nation), in Paris. When the revolution started in 1789, a group of twenty-one discalced Carmelites lived in a monastery in Compiegne France, founded in 1641. The monastery was ordered closed in 1790 by the Revolutionary government, and the nuns were disbanded. Sixteen of the nuns were accused of living in a religious community in 1794. The Sisters had refused to comply with the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, a law passed in 1790, which subordinated the Catholic Church to the revolutionary government, confiscated all Church land and banned religious orders. The Carmelites of Compiègne resisted the suppression of their monastery and so were arrested in June 1794 and imprisoned at the former Visitation convent of Compiègne, where they offered themselves daily for the peace of France and the Church.

On July 12, 1794, the Carmelites were taken to Paris and five days later were tried and convicted of treason and sentenced to death by guillotine on July 17th. Providentially, they were wearing their outlawed religious habits, since their only secular clothes were being washed on the day of the trial. The Sisters were then transported in tumbrels among a group of 40 condemned prisoners to the place of execution at the Place du Trône, Paris. On the journey, the Sisters chanted the combined Offices of Vespers and Compline. This included the Miserere, the penitential Psalm 50: “Have mercy on me, O God, in your kindness…” and concluded with the Salve Regina (“Hail Holy Queen”) and Veni Creator (“Come, Holy Spirit”). Eyewitness accounts report that the usually hostile crowds along the route were strangely silent. On reaching the place of execution, Mother Teresa intoned the Te Deum, and then the Veni Creator Spiritus. On reaching the scaffold, all the Sisters renewed the vows of their Baptism and religious profession and Sr Constance, the youngest and still a novice, joined in, thus making Profession before mounting the scaffold. Sr Constance was the first to die, after kneeling for the blessing of her Prioress, and kissing a small staute of Our Lady. As she approached the guillotine, she intoned Laudate Dominum Omnes Gentes(Psalm 117) : “O praise the Lord, all you nations; acclaim him all you peoples. Strong is his love for us; he is faithful for ever.” This was taken up by all the Sisters, who continued to sing, then as they individually went forth to give their lives for their Divine Bridegroom they kept singing “Praise the Lord, all you nations” in steadily diminishing chorus. They thus bore a unique collective witness to Christ, with a joy that no one could take from them! Usually executions were accompanied by shouting and cheers but there was only silence. Sr Constance waved aside the executioner and his two assistants and approached the guillotine unaided. It is likely that the executions continued in order of religious profession. We know that Mother Teresa was the last.  The 78 year old Sr Mary of Jesus Crucified was heard to say to the executioners “I forgive you, my friends. I forgive you with all that longing of heart with which I would that God forgive me!” The bodies of the Carmelites were buried in a Mass grave at Picpus Cemetery.

Many believe that the sacrifice of Mother Teresa of St Augustine and her community brought about the end of the ‘Reign of Terror’, which happened just 10 days later on July  27, 1794.  Their story has captured the popular imagination, inspiring a novella by Gertrud von le Fort, a play by Georges Bernanos and an opera by Francis Poulenc. They were beatified by Pope St Pius X on May 27, 1906. There is a British connection with the Compiègne Martyrs. The English Benedictine community of Cambrai were ejected from their monastery in 1792 and imprisoned at Compiègne. From June 1794, the Carmelites joined them, although they were detained separately. The Benedictine community testified to the holiness of the Compiègne sisters and believed that the Carmelites’ martyrdom saved their own lives. It may also be that their English nationality prevented them from being executed for treason. They remained in prison until April 1795, and were then banished to England, where they eventually settled at Stanbrook Abbey. Their only ‘possessions’ were the secular clothes of the Carmelites, which they wore.  The surviving pieces of cloth and one espadrille are now venerated at Stanbrook as relics.

PRAYER: God, You surround and protect us by the glorious confession of Your holy Martyrs. Help us to profit from their example and be supported by their prayers. Amen 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

Bible Readings for today, Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 11:25-27

“Although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike”

“At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

In today’s Gospel reading, the Lord in His prayer to His heavenly Father and in His words to the disciples before Him, told them all how God had revealed great things through His Son, Who had been sent from Heaven into this world, to be the One bearing God’s salvation, His love and truth to all of us. The love of God has indeed been made manifest and real in the flesh, tangible and approachable to each and every one of us through Christ, by which God has revealed His plans for us. In our Gospel reading, Jesus refers to ‘the learned and the clever’, by which is meant those religious experts who are so sure of their interpretation of God’s law as to reject Jesus’ revelation of God through His words and deeds. However, although the learned and the clever may be rejecting Jesus’ revelation of God, the ‘little ones’ are welcoming it. Those who are aware of their own poverty and need before God have come to recognize the intimate relationship between the Father and the Son. They have welcomed God’s coming to them through the words and deeds of Jesus. What is hidden to the learned and the clever is clear to the little ones. There is a sense in which we have to bend very low if we are to receive the revelation of God that Jesus came to give us. As Jesus says in the opening beatitude, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’. As Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, God often choses ‘what is foolish in the world to shame the wise… what is weak in the world to shame the strong’. There is a self-emptying that is needed on our part if God’s purpose for our lives is to come to pass.

In our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, the Lord spoke out against Assyria, the mighty Empire which was then preeminent and powerful in the region. The Assyrian Empire was referred to as the sword of the Lord’s anger as we must understand contextually how the Assyrians were the ones that crushed and conquered the alliance of the forces of the northern kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Aram-Damascus against the southern kingdom of Judah and its rulers, the House of David. The two kingdoms of Israel and Judah had long been locked in bitter struggles and wars with each other for many generations, and the Lord intervened to save and protect those who were faithful to Him. God showed His love and kindness, His faithfulness and commitment to the Covenant which He had made and established with His people in the kingdom of Judah, and especially with the House of David, the descendants and the rightful rulers over the people and kingdom of Israel. When the enemies of the Lord’s people plotted and sought to destroy those whom God loved and cared for, He sent the forces of the Assyrians and their king to destroy and crush those who plotted against them, and that was how both the kingdoms of Israel in the north and Aram-Damascus were destroyed. The people and the kingdom of Judah were spared from all the plotting of their enemies. But then, at the same occasion, the Assyrians themselves became proud and haughty, thinking that all their power and greatness, their achievements and glory were due to their own power and might, and at the time of the works and ministry of the prophet Isaiah, it was recorded that the Assyrians and their king, Sennacherib, brought up a vast army to Judah and Jerusalem to besiege the city of the people of God and conquer it, and at that time, King Sennacherib also uttered blasphemous words against God, at the height of his pride and ego, his ambition and haughtiness. Thus, God proclaimed His sentence and opposition against those Assyrians who had became proud and haughty, and disobeyed God’s will. He would remind them all who was truly in charge, and humiliated them and their King according to Scriptural records and traditions, by striking against King Sennacherib’s massive army with His Angel, and resulting in that army being completely wiped out. This certainly humiliated the king and all of the Assyrian hubris and ego, reminding them and everyone else, the One Who is truly in charge, that is the Lord, God and Master of all the whole Universe.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded that God has revealed His salvation to the nations and called on us all to follow Him and to embrace His path. He wants all of us to return to Him, to put our faith and trust once again in Him, not putting our trust and faith in the means and powers of the world, all of which will eventually fail us and will not be able to provide us in the manner that the Lord can do for us, He Who is the Lord and Master over all things, Who is the only One that can guarantee true and lasting happiness for us. All of us as Christians are the bearers of God’s truth, His Good News and love. We are reminded that we should always put God as the focus and emphasis of our lives, and we should not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by the temptations of our pride, ego, or by our hubris and ambitions, as all of those would easily sway us all down the wrong path, tempting us away from God’s righteousness, grace and virtues. All of us should instead be good and worthy disciples and followers of the Lord, and be great role models and inspirations for our fellow brothers and sisters in all the things we say and do. May the Lord, our loving God continue to be with us and guide us all just as He had done with His beloved people in the past. May He empower and strengthen us all so that we may remain strong and courageous in living our lives worthily and continue to persevere despite the many challenges facing our lives in this world. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to allow God to lead and guide us in every opportunities so that we may grow ever closer to Him, and continue to glorify Him through our lives, our words, actions and deeds, and may the good Lord bless us all and empower us in all the things that we do, all of our good works and efforts, now and always. Amen🙏

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF JULY:

THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS: The month of July is dedicated to the Precious Blood. The feast of the Precious Blood of our Lord was instituted in 1849 by Pius IX, but the devotion is as old as Christianity. The early Fathers say that the Church was born from the pierced side of Christ, and that the sacraments were brought forth through His Blood.

“The Precious Blood which we worship is the Blood which the Savior shed for us on Calvary and reassumed at His glorious Resurrection; it is the Blood which courses through the veins of His risen, glorified, living body at the right hand of God the Father in heaven; it is the Blood made present on our altars by the words of Consecration; it is the Blood which merited sanctifying grace for us and through it washes and beautifies our soul and inaugurates the beginning of eternal life in it.”

PRECIOUS BLOOD PRAYER: Almighty, and everlasting God, who hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world, and hast been pleased to be reconciled unto us by His Blood, grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate with solemn worship the price of our salvation, that the power thereof may here on earth keep us from all things hurtful, and the fruit of the same may gladden us for ever hereafter in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen 🙏🏾

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF JULY – FOR THE PASTORAL CARE OF THE SICK: We pray that the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick confer to those who receive it and their loved ones the power of the Lord and become ever more a visible sign of compassion and hope for all.

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 beķķen in vain. Now, Lord, come to our ajnid! 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 Ordinary Time, 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 🙏

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

PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this season of the Ordinary Time, 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 rejoicing Lord, You are attentive to the workings of grace in every human heart. As You see the Voice of the Father speaking to Your children, You rejoice at such a sight. Dear Lord, I pray that my own heart will be the cause of Your joy and Your praise of the Father in Heaven. Please speak to me and help me to believe with all my heart. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Precious Blood of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Most Blessed Mother Mary, Saint Alexius of Rome and the Blessed Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne ~ Pray for us🙏

Thanking God for the gift of this 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, grace-filled, and fruitful week🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖