NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B)
SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 11, 2024
NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION: REMINDER – The 2024 Novena for the Assumption of Mary into Heaven begins, Tuesday, August 6 and ends on August 15. The novena is a prayer that commemorates the death of Mary and her assumption into Heaven, which is celebrated on August 15. [Novena link below]
Greetings beloved family. Happy Sunday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time and Happy Feast of Saint Philomena, daughter of light!
May St. Philomena the Patron Saint of children, babies, infants, youth, students, test takers, Priests, lost causes, against infertility, sterility, virgins, desperate causes, impossible causes, forgotten causes, orphans, the poor, prisoners, the sick, mental illness, against barrenness, against bodily ills and, Children of Mary intercede for all. With special intention for the safety and well-being of our children and children all over the world, especially those beginning the new school year. We pray for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and for God’s guidance and protection upon them during this new school year and always. We also pray for all teachers and other workers. May God keep them all safe and well. Amen 🙏
May our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Philomena with all the Saints on this special feast day intercede for us all and our loved ones. Amen. Saint Philomena, Powerful with God ~ Pray for us 🙏
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube | August 11, 2024 |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 11, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |August 11, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 11, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 11, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteries VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |
Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |
Today’s Bible Readings: Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) | August 11, 2024
Reading 1, First Kings 19:4-8
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Reading 2, Ephesians 4:30-5:2
Gospel, John 6:41-51
NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION: REMINDER – The 2024 Novena for the Assumption of Mary into Heaven begins, Tuesday, August 6 and ends on August 15. The novena is a prayer that commemorates the death of Mary and her assumption into Heaven, which is celebrated on August 15. Novena link below: https://www.virgosacrata.com/novena-to-our-lady-of-the-assumption.html
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS
Bible Readings for today, Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) | Memorial of Saint Philomena, Virgin and Martyr and Saint Clare, Virgin | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ John 6:41–51
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven”
“The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
Today’s Gospel reading according to St. John is the continuation of the discourse on the Bread of Life which we have begun last Sunday, when the Lord told them that He is the Living Bread from Heaven, the Bread of Life, through Whom God wanted to give us all the assurance, nourishment and promise of eternal life, that all who worthily partake of His Body and Blood, all shall receive the fullness of His grace and love, and receive the promise of eternal life. The Jewish people and many among those who have heard Him openly grumbled and doubted Him because He told them that He is the Bread from Heaven, the Bread of Life that God would give to His people, comparing Himself to the manna, the heavenly bread that their ancestors had received and consumed, and how this Bread of Life is far better than all that manna in the past. The Lord reiterated again that He is the Bread of Life, and this is a precursor and premonition of what would soon happen, when the Lord Himself offered His Body and His Blood at the moment when He accomplished and perfected His mission through His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross. By His willing acceptance and shouldering of all of our many sins and wickedness, our faults and mistakes, God through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, had taken up upon Himself, as the Paschal Lamb, the Sacrificial Victim to be offered on the Altar of the Cross for the forgiveness of all of our sins. Through His offering of this most perfect and worthy of offerings, He Who is also our Eternal High Priest, had created for all of us the New and Eternal Covenant, the one Covenant through which God reconciled us all to Himself and restored us to the state of grace.
Jesus declares in the Gospel reading that nobody can come to Him unless drawn by the Father. To come to Jesus is the first step on the way to faith. We cannot come to Jesus on our own; we need God’s help. The good news is that God the Father is always drawing us to His Son. When Jesus says to us, ‘Come’, we are not just left to our own devices at that point. God the Father will be working in our lives helping us to come to His Son; He will draw us to Jesus. There is always more going on in our relationship with Jesus than just our own human efforts. That should give us great encouragement because we know from our experience that our own efforts can fail us in the area of our faith as in other areas. Our coming to Jesus, our growing in our relationship with him, is not all down to us. God the Father is at work in our lives moving us towards His Son, drawing us towards Jesus. There is a momentum within us that is from God, a momentum that will lead us to Jesus if we are in any way open to it. Jesus calls on us to come to Him with a view to our feeding on Him. Jesus speaks of Himself as the bread that comes down from heaven and calls on us to eat this bread. The Lord invites us to come to Him and to feed on His presence, and in particular to feed on His word. In the Jewish Scriptures bread is often a symbol of the word of God. We may be familiar with the quotation from the Jewish Scriptures, ‘we do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’. We need physical bread, but we also need the spiritual bread of God’s word. We come to Jesus to be nourished by His word. The Father draws us to His Son to be fed by His word. The food of His word will sustain us on our journey through life, just as, in the first reading, the baked scones sustained Elijah, until he reached his destination, the mountain of God. When we keep coming to Jesus and feeding on His word, that word will shape our lives. It empowers us to live the kind of life that Saint Paul puts before us in this today’s second reading, a life of love essentially, a life in which we love one another as Christ has loved us, forgive one another as readily as God forgives us. That, in essence, is our baptismal calling.
Our first reading this Sunday from the First Book of Kings of Israel and Judah details the moment when the prophet Elijah, who had been sent to minister to the people of God in the northern kingdom of Israel. At that time, Elijah had been persecuted and oppressed by the Israelites and their king, Ahab, and his wife, Queen Jezebel, both of whom had disobeyed God and persecuted His prophets. The latter in particular was very hostile against Elijah because of his role in leading to the deaths of four hundred and fifty priests of Baal, the false god promoted by Queen Jezebel, as Elijah showed everyone that God is truly the one and only True God against the false god Baal at Mount Carmel, where a contest was held between Elijah, the sole representative of God, and Baal’s four hundred and fifty priests. The Lord showed His power before His people, while Baal was impotent. Elijah was persecuted afterwards, and he had to flee into the desert. He expressed his frustrations and sufferings to the Lord there. But God reassured Elijah and strengthened him, giving him the courage and resolve to carry on with his mission despite the challenges and trials he had to face. He sent to Elijah an Angel bearing food and drink for him to consume and to be strengthened in his body. Through the food that he received, he was empowered, and making the journey of forty days and forty nights, he eventually went all the way to the Mountain of God, Mount Horeb or Mount Sinai, where the Israelites once established a Covenant with God at the time of their Exodus, and where God revealed Himself to all of them. It was there that God would appear to Elijah as well, reassuring him and strengthening his resolve to continue to minister to the stubborn and rebellious Israelites.
In our second reading this Sunday from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus, we heard of the reminders with St. Paul told the people of God of the great grace and love which all of them had received through the Lord, by the grace of His love, of the loving Father the Creator, the presence of the Son in this world in our midst, and by the sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit in all of us, who have received the gift of the Spirit of God from the Father Himself through His Son. That is why all of us as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, each and every one of us should always strive to be ever faithful and committed to Him, and to be exemplary in all of our lives and actions. We should always be righteous and just in all of our dealings and attitudes in life. And as St. Paul himself mentioned to the Ephesians, that they all had to imitate the Lord’s own examples in loving us and in showing us His commitment to the Covenant which He had made with us and constantly renewed with us. God has always shown us all His patient and ever enduring love, His most generous love and kindness, His compassion and mercy which He has kindly extended to each one of us without exception. Even the greatest of sinners have access to God’s generous love and mercy, and He has always been patient in guiding and leading us all to Himself. He has given us all ample opportunities, moments and times for us to embrace Him and His loving kindness, His mercy and forgiveness, and for us to repent from our sins and change our ways in life. But that is up to us to choose, to make a stand and be faithful to the Lord in all of our lives.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures on this Sunday, we are all called to remember God’s providence and love for each and every one of us, in how He has constantly reached out to us with generous love, kindness and compassion at all times. He has provided us through His various means, helped us all when we have difficulties and challenges, in His own unique and mysterious ways. Essentially, He never abandoned us and has always wanted us all to be truly blessed and provided for, at all times. Ultimately, He gave to us the ultimate gift in His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, through Whom God has saved all of us and gathered us all once again, giving to us all the gift of the Living Bread from Heaven. Therefore, recognising this fact and reality that we are truly blessed to have been loved in such a manner by the Lord, our most loving God and Father, let us all strive to live our lives worthily for Him, to love Him first and foremost in all things and distance ourselves from any forms of sin or corruptions that can prevent us from coming towards the Lord and His loving Presence. Let us also realise that while God’s love and mercy have been extended to us freely and generously, we need to embrace His love and mercy, and act upon them so that we can be truly reconciled and reunited with Him. Let us all therefore commit ourselves anew to the Lord in the manner that our holy predecessors had done, especially in their faith and dedication. From the story of Saint Philomena and St. Clare’s examples and life we can clearly see how God was always with those who are faithful to Him, and how each one of us should live our lives in the manner that the Saints had done, in being committed to God in all things we say and do. Each and every one of us should do whatever we can to glorify God by our lives and to remain faithful to Him, and to the Covenant which He had generously made with us all. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to be open and responsive to the Lord’s presence among us and may God be with us always and may He empower us to live ever more devoutly in His presence, and continue to walk faithfully in the path that Our Lord has shown us, and let us all continue to inspire one another to do the same, to be ever faithful at every moments of our lives. Amen.🙏
SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT PHILOMENA, VIRGIN & MARTYR; SAINT CLARE, VIRGIN; SAINT SUSANNA, VIRGIN & MARTYR AND SAINT TIBURTIUS, MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 11TH
Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Philomena, Virgin and Martyr; Saint Clare, Virgin; Saint Susanna, Virgin and Martyr and Saint Tiburtius, Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and Saints Philomena, Clare, Susanna and Turbitius on this feast day, we humbly pray for the safety and well-being of our children and Youths all over world, we pray for those seeking for the fruit of the womb and those facing impossible causes. We also pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are sick with eye diseases and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏
SAINT PHILOMENA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR: Philomena – means “daughter of light”. St. Philomena (291- 304) Wonder Worker, Virgin and Martyr is a fascinating saint. “To Philomena, nothing is refused .” St. Philomena, Powerful with God! St. Philomena was a Greek Princess who lived on the Island of Corfu during the third to fourth century. St. Philomena would have been forgotten to history if not for a miraculous vision that identified her with a tomb discovered over 1,500 years later. This and other extraordinary events surrounding St. Philomena have given her a particular reputation for miracles. In fact, the Blessed Virgin Mary reportedly said in a vision, “To Philomena, nothing is refused.” St. Philomena was the daughter of a king in Greece who, with his wife, had converted to Christianity. St. Philomena was born on January 10, 291 at Corfu, Greece and died on August 10, 304 at the age of 13 in Rome, Italy. At the age of about 13 she took a vow of consecrated virginity. When the Emperor Diocletian threatened to make war on her father, he went with his family to Rome to ask for peace. The Emperor fell in love with the young Philomena and, when she refused to be his wife, he subjected her to a series of torments: scourging, from whose effects two angels cured her; drowning with an anchor attached to her, but two angels cut the rope and raised her to the river bank; being shot with arrows, but on the first occasion her wounds were healed, on the second the arrows turned aside, and on the third, they returned and killed six of the archers, and several of the others became Christians. Finally the Emperor had her decapitated, which occurred on a Friday at three in the afternoon, as with the death of Jesus. The two anchors, three arrows, the palm and the ivy leaf on the tiles found in the tomb were interpreted as symbols of her martyrdom. Saint Philomena’s remains were discovered on May 24-25 1802, during the quest for the graves of Roman martyrs in the Catacomb of Priscilla, a tomb was discovered and opened; as it contained a glass vessel it was assumed to be the grave of a martyr. The view, then erroneously entertained in Rome, that the presence of such vessels (supposed to have contained the martyr’s blood) in a grave was a symbol of martyrdom, has been rejected in practice since the investigations of De Rossi (cf. Leclercq in “Dict. d.archéol. chrét. et de liturg.”, s.v. Ampoules de sang). The remains found in the above-mentioned tomb were shown to be those of a young maiden, and, as the name Filumena was discovered on the earthenware slabs closing the grave, it was assumed that they were those of a virgin martyr named Philumena.
On 8 June, 1805, the relics were translated to the church of Mungano, Diocese of Nola (near Naples), and enshrined under one of its altars. In 1827 Leo XII presented the church with the three earthenware tiles, with the inscription, which may be seen in the church even today. On the basis of alleged revelations to a nun in Naples, and of an entirely fanciful and indefensible explanation of the allegorical paintings, which were found on the slabs beside the inscription, a canon of the church in Mugnano, named Di Lucia, composed a purely fictitious and romantic account of the supposed martyrdom of St. Philomena, who is not mentioned in any of the ancient sources. In consequence of the wonderful favours received in answer to prayer before the relics of the Saint at Mugnano, devotion to them spread rapidly, and, after instituting investigations into the question, Gregory XVI appointed a special feast to be held on 9 September, “in honorem s. Philumenae virginis et martyris” (cf. the lessons of this feast in the Roman Breviary). The earthenware plates were fixed in front of the grave as follows: PAX TECUM FILUMENA. These tiles enclosing the tomb bore an inscription, Pax Tecum Filumena, which is, “Peace be with you, Philomena”. The plates were evidently inserted in the wrong order, and the inscription should doubtless read PAX TECUM FILUMENA. The letters are painted on the plates with red paint, and the inscription belongs to the primitive class of epigraphical memorials in the Catacomb of Priscilla, thus, dating from about the middle or second half of the second century. The disarrangement of the inscription proves that it must have been completed before the plates were put into position, although in the numerous other examples of this kind in the same catacomb the inscription was added only after the grave had been closed. Consequently, since the disarrangement of the plates can scarcely be explained as arising from an error, Marucchi seems justified in concluding that the inscription and plates originally belonged to an earlier grave, and were later employed (now in the wrong order) to close another. Apart from the letters, the plates contain three arrows, either as adecoration or a punctuation, a leaf as decoration, two anchors, and a palm as the well-known Christian symbols. Neither these signs nor the glass vessel discovered in the grave can be regarded as a proof of martyrdom. St. Philomena was Canonized on January 30, 1837, liturically canonized in an act of the ordinary Papal Magisterium, Vatican City by Pope Gregory XVI.
“God will never refuse her anything that she asks for us ” ~ St. John Vianney. St. John Vianney, a holy priest of the 19th century, developed a personal relationship with St. Philomena and frequently invoked her miraculous intercession. Whenever he needed something done, he turned to St. Philomena to intercede for him. Out of this relationship St. Vianney composed his own litany of St. Philomena that he prayed and encouraged others to do so as well. While no one is ever guaranteed a miracle, St. Philomena will certainly intercede for that person and make God’s will known to them, sometimes in a miraculous fashion. As with all prayer, the key is to trust in God and his divine providence.May our efforts to retrace some of the glories which surround the name of the youthful martyr of the Catacombs increase the fervor of those devoted to her. May they urge others to spread wider still veneration for her virtues of constancy and heroism, by which she obtained such favor with God, and merited so many benedictions for those who invoke her! St. Philomena! Pray for us. St. Philomena is the Patron Saint of children, babies, infants, youth, students, test takers, priests, lost causes, againt infertility, sterility, virgins, desperate causes, impossible causes, forgotten causes, orphans, the poor, prisoners, the sick, mental illness, against barrenness, against bodily ills, Children of Mary, The Universal Living Rosary Association, Sibonga, Cebu, Pulupandan, Negros Occidental.
PRAYER TO SAINT PHILOMENA FOR A FAVOR (KNOWN TO BE A VERY POWERFUL PRAYER): O faithful virgin and glorious martyr, Saint Philomena, who works so many miracles on behalf of the poor and sorrowful, have pity on me. Thou knowest the multitude and diversity of my needs. Behold me at thy feet, full of misery, but full of hope. I entreat thy charity O great Saint. Graciously hear me and obtain from God a favourable answer to the request which I now humbly lay before you (here specify your petition). I am firmly conviced that through the merits, through the scorn, the sufferings and the death thou didst endure, united to the merits of the Passion and Death of Jesus thy Spouse, I shall obtain what I ask of thee and the joy of my heart I will bless God, who is admirable in His saints. Amen 🙏
St. Philomena, powerful with God, pray for us!🙏
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ST. PHILOMENA CHAPLET: This chaplet consists of 3 white beads and 13 red beads. On the medal say the Apostles Creed to ask for the grace of faith.
On each of the white beads say an Our Father in honor of the 3 Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity in thanksgiving for all favors obtained through her intercession.
On each of the red beads, which are 13 in number to represent the 13 years that St. Philomena spent on earth, say the following prayer:
PRAYER: Hail, O holy St. Philomena, whom I acknowledge, after Mary, as my advocate with the Divine Spouse, intercede for me now and at the hour of my death. St, Philomena, beloved daughter of Jesus and Mary, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Amen 🙏
Concluding Prayer: Hail, O illustrious St. Philomena, who shed so courageously your blood for Christ! I bless the Lord for all the graces He has bestowed upon thee during thy life, and especially at thy death. I praise and glorify Him for the honor and power with which He has crowned thee, and I beg thee to obtain for me from God the graces I ask through thy intercession. Amen.
Saint Philomena, beloved daughter of Jesus and Mary, pray for us who have recourse to you! Amen🙏
SAINT CLARE, VIRGIN: St. Clare (1194–1253) was born on July 16, 1194, as Chiara Offreduccio, in Assisi, Italy, to an aristocratic family, the beautiful eldest daughter of Favorino Sciffi, a wealthy Count of Sasso-Rosso and his wife Ortolana. Her father was a wealthy representative of an ancient Roman family and her mother was a very devout woman belonging to the noble family of Fiumi. From childhood St. Clare was pious after the example of her mother, and as she grew up her longing for God increased. Before her birth, St. Clare’s mother received a sign that her daughter would be a bright light of God in the world. As a child she was already very strongly drawn to the things of God, praying fervently, devoutly visiting the Blessed Sacrament, and manifesting a tender love towards the poor. When she was eighteen she heard St. Francis of Assisi preach a Lenten mission in the local church, in the town square and she knew at once that God wanted her to consecrate herself to Him. St. Francis holy example kindled her desire to renounce the world and follow Christ. She secretly begged St. Francis to help her live as he did, in simplicity according to the Gospel. St. Francis agreed. On Palm Sunday, Clare attended High Mass in all her finery for the final time. There she received a mystical experience which confirmed her desire to renounce the world and follow Christ after the example of St. Francis. That same night she secretly fled her father’s house, along with two companions, to a chapel, Portiuncula, where St. Francis prayed awaited, awaiting her with his friars. On March 18, 1212, she received the penitential habit, exchanging her fine clothes for a rough tunic and veil, and had her hair cut off. St. Francis placed St. Clare for a time with Benedictine nuns in the convent, because she could not stay with the brothers and also to escape the wrath of her family. She was soon joined by her younger sister, Agnes, and other young women whom St. Francis inspired. St. Clare and her sister had to resist much pressure from their family to return home. She persevered in her resolution, in spite of the opposition of her friends and relatives.
St. Francis permanently housed the women, with St. Clare as abbess at age 22, in the Church of San Damiano outside Assisi. Soon after, her mother and several other ladies, some of high nobility, united themselves to her. This became the first foundation of the Poor Clare nuns or the Second Order of St. Francis. She wrote their Rule of Life, the first set of monastic guidelines known to have been written by a woman. St. Clare was the first woman to practice the life of entire poverty as taught by St. Francis. Placed by him at the head of a few companions in the small convent of San Damiano, she governed her community for forty-two years in prayer, penance, and fasting until her death. Their Rule included austerities hitherto unknown in monasteries of women. They slept on the ground, kept perpetual abstinence and made poverty the basis of their lives. Together with other mortifications, their fast was perpetual. They walked barefoot around the town begging for alms, wearing sackcloth, and living without any possessions, completely dependent for their food on what was given to them. But the emphasis of their lives was, and still is, contemplation. Such was the spirit of poverty of St. Clare that when, after her profession, she fell heiress to the large fortune of her father, she gave all of it to the poor. She would accept no revenues for her monastery. Within a few years St. Clare founded a number of other monasteries and her Order spread to Germany and Bohemia. Many young noble women left all they had to take on the poor habit of Clare and the order grew rapidly, with houses being founded all over Italy, all of whom took St. Clare as their model and inspiration. St. Clare’s reputation for holiness was such that the Pope himself came to her deathbed in 1253 to give her absolution, and wanted to canonize her immediately on her death, but was advised by his cardinals to wait. According to legend, when the army of Frederick II was devastating the valley of Spoleto some of the soldiers placed a ladder against the convent wall. St. Clare caused herself to be carried to a window, and, holding the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament in sight of the enemies, she prostrated herself before the Eucharistic God. Her prayer was heard, and the enemies, struck with a sudden panic, fled in terror. St. Claire died in absolute tranquility on August 11, 1253, saying to one of the brothers at her side “Dear brother, ever since through His servant Francis I have known the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, I have never in my whole life found any pain or sickness that could trouble me.” She was canonized in 1255, two years after her death by Pope Alexander IV. St. Clare was designated as the Patron Saint of television in 1958 by Pope Pius XII, because when St. Clare was very ill, she could not attend mass and was reportedly able to see and hear it on the wall in her room. She’s the Patron Saint of Embroiderers; eye disease; eyes; gilders; goldsmiths; gold workers; good weather; laundry workers; needle workers; Santa Clara Indian Pueblo; telegraphs; telephones; television; television writers.
PRAYER: God, in Your mercy You led St. Clare to embrace poverty. Through her intercession help us to follow Christ in the spirit of poverty and come to see Your face in the heavenly Kingdom. Amen 🙏
SAINT SUSANNA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR: St. Susanna also known as Saint Susanna of Rome (280-295) was a Christian martyr of the Diocletianic Persecution. She was born in 280 AD, Rome, Italy, daughter of Saint Gabinus of Rome and a niece of Bishop Caius of Rome. She was raised in strict Christian piety and in her youth dedicated herself to God. Her family was related to Emperor Diocletian, who heard the reports of her virtue and beauty. Brutal Emperor Diocletian, known for large-scale persecutions of Christians, pegged secret Catholic Susanna as a possible wife for his son-in-law. Having decided to give St. Susanna in marriage to his co-emperor Maximian, Diocletian sent his own relative, the dignitary Claudius, to Susanna’s father, Gabinus, and then his own brother Maximus. Both of them, together with the wife of Claudius Prepedigna and her sons, Alexander and Cythius, accepted Baptism after they spoke to the pious family. The Emperor was enraged when St. Susanna refused, due to her vow to remain celibate as well as her distaste for marrying into a family with bloodlust for Christians. To add insult to injury, for converting two of Diocletian’s close relatives to Christianity.
Having learned that the entire family had been converted to Christianity, Diocletian sent them into exile. Soon, those who had accepted Baptist were taken and burned at Ostia, not far from Rome, and their ashes were thrown into the sea. They took the holy virgin Susanna to the palace, and the empress publicly tried to persuade her to give herself to Maximian. But the empress, secretly a Christian, supported St. Susanna in her intention to preserve her virginity for the sake of the Lord. She explained to the emperor about the virgin’s unwillingness to enter into marriage with a pagan. Diocletian gave permission to Maximian to defile the holy virgin, but an angel defended her. Macedonius began to urge Susanna to offer sacrifice to the idols. “I offer myself in sacrifice to my Lord,” she answered. Macedonius, who could prevail upon her neither with promises nor menaces, had Susanna cruelly scourged and then beheaded in her own house. During her martyrdom, she gave thanks to God that He had thought her worthy to suffer and die for His sake. The empress secretly buried the body of the saint. The room where the murder occurred was consecrated into a church by Bishop Caius. In 296, the father of St. Susanna, St. Gavinius, accepted a martyr’s end, as did St. Caius. St. Susanna was martyred in 295 AD, Rome, Italy for living her Faith in the face of death. She’s the Patron Saint of Martyrs. Her feast day is August 11th.
Saint Susanna, Virgin and Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏
SAINT TIBURTIUS, MARTYR: St. Tiburtius, (died 286A.D) was a Christian Martyr. During the persecution of Diocletian, he was thrown into the flames. Armed with the sign of The Cross, the Martyr walked full of confidence on the burning coal. He was then led out of the City and beheaded on The Lavicanian Way in 286 A.D. St. Tiburtius, a son of the Roman prefect Chromatius, received holy baptism at the same time as his father, and not only endeavored to lead a Christian life, but also to bring others to the knowledge of the true faith. One day, while he was walking through the street, a boy fell from the roof of a house to the pavement, and was so injured that it was thought that every moment would be his last. Tiburtius going towards him, made the sign of the cross over him, and commanded him, in the name of Jesus Christ, to rise, and to abandon heathenism. The boy immediately arose, became a Christian, and persuaded many who had witnessed the miracle to do likewise. At another time Tiburtius went to a youth named Torquatus, who, although baptized and calling himself a Christian, did not conduct himself according to the dictates of the church. His dress was too luxurious; he spent too much time in idleness, gaming, dancing, and other amusements; he was unrestrained and licentious in his conversation and conduct. He was seldom at prayer, but frequently in dangerous company. Tiburtius exhorted him most earnestly to change his unchristian behavior. Torquatus feigned a determination to follow his advice, but secretly went to the judge Fabian, and revealed to him that Tiburtius was a Christian.
This he did in revenge for the reproofs which Tiburtius had given him. But, that he might not be known as the accuser, he requested to be arraigned with Tiburtius. When this had taken place, the judge asked Torquatus who he was. “I am a Christian,” was his reply, “and this man Tiburtius has converted me to the true faith.” But Tiburtius said: “I have never recognized you as a Christian; for, your life has not been that of a Christian. To dress luxuriously, not to observe the fast days, to be indifferent to your prayers, to pass the day in idleness, to associate with the other sex, to be licentious in your words, are not the characteristics of a Christian. Christ does not recognize such as His followers.” Fabian would not listen to these reproofs, but, having the ground strewn with hot coals, he said to the saint: “You have your choice either to throw incense over these coals, and thus offer to the gods, or to walk barefoot over them.” St. Tiburtius, without a moment’s hesitation, took off his shoes, and courageously stepping upon the coals, walked up and down over them, without a sign of pain. Addressing the judge, he said: “See and know, that the God of the Christians is the only God, whom all creatures obey. Your live coals seem to me but lovely flowers.” The judge, highly incensed, exclaimed: “I knew long since that your Christ instructed his followers in magic. I shall, however, pay no attention to it.” The holy martyr rebuked this blasphemy, and as Fabian saw that the heathens began to admire the God of the Christians, he ordered him to be beheaded, thus bestowing upon him the crown of martyrdom.
Saint Tiburtius, Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF AUGUST:
MONTH OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY: August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary! The Church dedicates the month of August to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is a dogma of the Catholic faith that Mary is the Immaculate Conception; that is, in preparation for the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity in her womb, she was conceived without the corruption of sin through the foreseen and infinite merits of her Son, Jesus Christ. Over the centuries, as saints and theologians reflected on how Mary pondered and treasured the sacred events from the life of Christ in her holy heart, as attested in Scripture, her pure heart was recognized as something to be imitated. Devotion to Our Lady’s purity of heart began to flower—so much so that in the 17th century, St. John Eudes promoted it alongside the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The devotion rose to a new level after the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, when Mary revealed an image of her Immaculate Heart to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco.
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST – FOR POLITICAL LEADERS: We pray that political leaders be at the service of their own people, working for integral human development and for the common good, especially caring for the poor and those who have lost their jobs.
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 Ordinary Time, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, Nigeria, 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 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🙏
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. We pray for all mothers, wives, those going through challenges in their marriages, Victims of verbal and spousal abuse, we pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. Every life is a gift. 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:
Lord, You have revealed to us the deepest mysteries of life. You have revealed Your love and compassion, and You have revealed the way to eternal life. Please give me the gift of faith so that I will believe all that You have revealed. Please especially deepen my faith in the Gift of the Most Holy Eucharist. 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 Philomena, powerful with God; Saint Clare; Saint Susanna and Saint Tiburtius ~ 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 Sunday and fruitful month of August and week 🙏
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖