Year: 2024

NINETEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 13, 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 and Happy Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time.

On this feast day, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray 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 school year and always. We also pray for all teachers and other workers. And we continue to pray for peace, love and unity in our family and our world. May God keep us all safe and well. Amen 🙏

We continue to pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and 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 & the Holy Spirit forever & ever. Amen🙏

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube | August 13, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 13, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |August 13, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 13, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 13, 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: Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Reading 1, Ezekiel 2:8-3:4
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131
Gospel, Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

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

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT PONTIAN, POPE AND SAINT HIPPOLYTUS, PRIEST,  MARTYRS; SAINT CASSIAN OF IMOLA, BISHOP; SAINT RADEGUNDE, QUEEN OF FRANCE; SAINT JOHN BERCHMANS, SEMINARIAN AND BLESSED MICHAEL McGIVNEY, PRIEST ~ FEAST DAY – AUGUST 13TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Pontian, Pope and Saint Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs; Saint Cassian of Imola, Bishop; Saint Radegunde, Queen of France and Saint John Berchmans, Seminarian and Blessed Michael McGivney. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for all Altar Servers and Seminarians, may God’s guidance and blessings be upon them as they serve Him and we continue to pray for the safety and well-being of our children, students, youths, teachers and staff all over the world as they begin the new school year. We  pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are 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 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 PONTIAN, POPE AND SAINT HIPPOLYTUS, PRIEST, MARTYRS: St. Pontian became Pope in the year 230. He was elected Pope in 230 to 235. Shortly afterwards, the Roman emperor began persecuting Christians. Five years later, after succeeding Pope Urban I, he was exiled by the Emperor Maximus to the mines of the Italian island of Sardinia, which was known for its harsh conditions during the period of Christian persecution. Before his arrest, Pope Pontian decided to resign from his papal office, he stepped down from his role as pope so that the Christian community could select another leader in his absence. He bore his suffering and persecution patiently for Christ and attained the crown of martyrdom for the faith in that same year.

Saint Hippolytus was a learned priest and well-respected theologian in the early third century. He was one of the most important writers and thinkers in the Church before the fourth century. St. Hippolytus was born about 170, he was already a priest and a personage of note when Origen heard him preach at Rome in 202, he was renowned for his eloquence. He became overzealous, however, and spoke out against several popes for being too lax with people who strayed from the faith, or for not denouncing a certain heresy forcefully enough. He thought the faithful should be an undefiled body of people. After becoming involved in unfortunate controversies and even regarded as a kind of antipope, because he was elected as a rival pope. St. Hippolytus returned to the fold and continued to defend the Church against all her enemies. But in 217 he rebelled against the Church when Callistus became Pope. He, too, was exiled in 235 to the Sardinian mines, where he met Pope Pontian. Pope Pontian helped Hippolytus reconcile with the Church before he died, and Hippolytus, too, died as a martyr. St. Hippolytus’ writings were important, during the first part of his life he produced the Scriptural writings that constitute the best part of his works (he wrote the earliest commentary on Scripture, that of the Book Daniel), and defended the faith. About 215 he wrote the “Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus” (for which he is probably best known), which contains the earliest known ritual of ordinations and is the equivalent of a Roman Ritual. “A Refutation of All Heresies”and the “Song of Songs”.

Both men labored in the Sardinian mines and finally gave their lives for the faith, they died there due to exhaustion about year 236. The bodies of both men were retrieved and returned to Rome for burial and veneration as martyrs for the faith. Relics of both saints rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. The Saints are Patron Saint of Montaldo Scarampi, Italy (St. Pontian) and prison guards (St. Hippolytus).

PRAYER: Lord, may the outstanding constancy of Your Martyrs increase our love for You and fill our hearts with ever greater firmness of faith. Amen. Sts. Pontian and Hippolytus, you were bitter rivals who reconciled before your exile and death—pray for us! 🙏

SAINT CASSIAN OF IMOLA, BISHOP: St. Cassian of Imola (4th c.) was the Bishop of Brescia near Milan, Italy. When a wave of persecution erupted under the Roman Emperor, St. Cassian fled to Imola, Italy, where he found work as a schoolmaster teaching children how to read and write. He was a disciplined and effective educator. In addition to instructing his students in the Christian faith, he also taught them a form of shorthand that allowed them to write as fast as they could speak. A city official discovered that St. Cassian was a Christian and denounced him to the government authorities. St. Cassian was arrested and ordered to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods, which he refused. As punishment the local judge ordered that he be stripped, bound, and tied to a stake. He was then turned over to his pagan students, numbering about 200, to be tortured to death. His students used their iron styli (writing instruments) to mercilessly carve into his skin and slowly stab him to death. St. Cassian died from the many wounds inflicted all over his body. St. Cassian of Imola is the Patron Saint of students, school teachers, shorthand writers, court reporters, stenographers, and parish clerks. His feast day is August 13th.

Saint Cassian of Imola, Bishop ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT RADEGUNDE, QUEEN OF FRANCE: St. Radegunde (520-587) was a sixth century Frankish princess, queen of the Merovingian king Chlotar I at Poitiers and her life was renowned for miracles and virtues. She left her husband to become a nun and later founded a monastery at Poitiers, Convent of Our Lady of Poitiers. She was one of the first of the Merovingian saints. Although St. Radegunde identified with the Romans, she was herself a member of a barbarian tribe, the Thurginians, who settled in eastern Germany around present-day Erfurt. St. Radegunde was born a pagan in 520, the daughter of King Berthar, one of the three kings of Thuringia (located in present day Germany). When she was a little girl her uncle, Hermanfrid, killed her father, King Berthar in battle, leaving St. Radegunde an orphan. Then the Franks conquered Thurginia and carried off 12-year-old Radegunde as a prize. In France St. Radegunde became a Christian, but she was still essentially a captive. At age 18 the king of the Franks, Clothaire, forced St. Radegunde to marry him. Although the king was nominally a Christian, it was probably a bigamous relationship since Clothaire had gone through at least five wives by this time, and it is unlikely that they had all died or that the church had granted him five annulments. St. Radegunde became one of King Clotaire six wives. She bore him no children. It was a wretched marriage. No matter how many wives he had Clothaire was always on the lookout for his next conquest. He was violent and beat St.  Radegunde, blaming her because they had no children. Clotaire was “a man of shocking character.” As queen, despite her rank, she displayed great humility. St. Radegunde spent her time doing charitable work with the poor and the captives. She ministered to lepers and founded a hospital for them.

The antagonism between the royal couple came to a head in 550 when King Clothaire murdered St. Radegunde’s brother, then they had been married for six years. After Clothaire had her brother assassinated, she turned to God, she ran away, took vows as a nun, and sent St. Germanus, the bishop of Paris, to convince Clothaire to leave her in peace. Clothaire, who had always complained that he felt he was married to a nun rather than a queen, was happy to let Radegunde go. He even sent parting gifts to her convent. St. Radegunde founded a double monastery in Poitiers called Holy Cross. As the name of her convent suggests, she had a deep devotion to the Holy Cross and longed to have a fragment of the True Cross to venerate in her church. In 569 the Byzantine Emperor Justin II sent her a relic of the Holy Cross set in a reliquary of gold studded with jewels. To commemorate the arrival of so important a relic Venantius wrote a poem, “Vexilla regis prodeunt,” (The banners of the King go forth). The poem was set to music and is one of the loveliest hymns in the repertoire of Gregorian chant. St. Radegund was extensively written about by the poet, Venantius Fortunatus, and the bishop, hagiographer, and historian, Gregory of Tours. 

Women looking for a secure, serene escape from the violence of their age flocked to Holy Cross; many of them were from noble families, and a significant number were royalty. St. Radegunde designed a routine of prayer, contemplation, study, silence, austerity and works of charity. When Clotaire decided to bring her back to court, St. Germanus interceded on her behalf, and the repentant Clotaire sent Germanus back to St. Radegunde to ask her forgiveness and prayers. After her death, Radegunde’s face shone “with a brightness surpassing the beauty of lilies and roses.”St. Radegund died on August 13, 587 (aged 66–67), Abbey of the Holy Cross, Poitiers, Aquitaine, Kingdom of the Franks. According to legend, not long after St. Radegunde died in 587, one of her servants was deep-sea fishing when a storm came up suddenly and giant waves swamped his boat. Before the poor man even had a chance to start bailing, his boat filled with water and sank. As the terrified fisherman went under, he invoked St. Radegunde. A moment later he and his boat bobbed to the surface, the storm vanished, the sky was clear and the sea was calm. It was said that St. Radegundes performed numerous miracles and that Christ appeared to her a year before her death on August 13, 587. She is the Patron Saint of several English churches and of Jesus College, Cambridge, which was founded on the site of the monastery of Saint Mary and Saint Radegunde.

Saint Radegunde, Queen of France ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT JOHN BERCHMANS, SEMINARIAN: St. John (1599 – 1621) was born in 1599 in Diest, Brabant, Belgium, the son of a shoemaker. At a very young age he wanted to become a priest. At the age of six he served as an altar boy with great enthusiasm and passion. The child would wake early each day and serve two to three masses. His love for the Church, Christ, and the Blessed Mother only intensified over time and his only goal was to do even the simplest or most difficult task with love and devotion to Christ. He studied for three years under a parish priest who prepared boys for the priesthood and after his mother’s death, he entered the newly-opened Jesuit College at Mechlin in 1615, and a year later joined their novitiate. And his father and 2 brothers entered religious life; his father later became a priest.  St. John was known for his purity, obedience, and charity toward others. Popular among his friends, family and church officials. John studied to be a priest and eventually in 1618 he went to Rome for further education, he journeyed to Rome on foot to continue his studies at the Roman College.

After studying Philosophy for three years and having just graduated from his Jesuit studies, St. John was selected by his superiors to take part in public philosophy debate. While returning to Rome from the debate he contracted a cough and fever which eventually killed him. As this model Jesuit Seminarian lay on what turned out to be his deathbed, he clasped his rosary, his crucifix, and his book of rules and said: “These are my three treasures; with these I shall gladly die.” The very next day, August 13, 1621, St. John passed on to his heavenly reward. He died from dysentery and fever at the age of 22. He had a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to Our Lady. He composed a Chaplet in honor of her Immaculate Conception. He also composed a poem called ‘To an Altar Boy’. So numerous are the miracles attributed to his intercession that his popularity became almost cult-like after his passing. He was  beatified on May 28, 1865 and canonized on January 15, 1888 by Pope Leo XIII. He’s the Patron Saint of Altar Servers; Altar boys; Jesuit scholastics; Seminarians and Students.

PRAYER: God, You inspired St. John Berchmans to strive for perfect charity and so attain Your Kingdom at the end of his pilgrimage on earth. Strengthen us through his intercession that we may advance rejoicing in the way of love. Amen 🙏

QUOTES OF SAINT JOHN BERCHMANS:
☆ “Our true worth does not consist in what human beings think of us. What we really are consists in what God knows us to be.” ☆ “If I do not become a saint when I am young, I shall never become one.” ☆ “To merit the protection of Mary, the smallest act of veneration would be enough, provided that it is performed with constancy.” ☆ “My penance is to live the common life… I will pay the greatest attention to the least inspiration of God.”

  TO AN ALTAR BOY / ALTAR SERVER
 
A Poem by St. John Berchmans

To be Christ’s page at the altar, To serve Him freely there. Where even the Angels falter, Bowed low in reverent prayer.

To touch the throne most holy, To hand the gifts for the feast, To see Him meekly, lowly, Descend at the word of the priest.

To hear man’s poor petition, To sound the silver bell, When He in sweet submission, Comes down with us to dwell.

No grander mission surely Could Saints or men enjoy; No heart should love more purely, Than yours my altar boy.

God bless you, lad, forever, And keep you in His care, And Guard you that you never Belie the robes you wear.

For white bespeaks untainted A heart both tried and true; And red tolls love the sainted, The holy martyrs knew.

Throughout life, then, endeavor God’s graces to employ; And be in heart forever A holy altar boy.

Saint John Berchmans, be my Patron!
 
BLESSED MICHAEL McGIVNEY, PRIEST: Bl. Michael McGivney was eldest son of an immigrant Irish family in Connecticut,  young Michael left school at 13 to work in a brass factory making spoons. At 16 he began studies for the priesthood in Quebec, but was obliged to leave to help support the family when his father died. Bl. Michael completed his education in Baltimore, Maryland, and was ordained for the diocese of Hartford in 1877. Assigned to St. Mary’s Parish in New Haven, Fr. McGivney was very active in parish and civic affairs, serving as director of public plays and fairs. He volunteered to become the guardian of Alfred Downes, a minor whose father had died leaving a large family in poverty. This situation as well as his own family’s circumstances and that of other immigrants impressed on Fr. McGivney the need for lay Catholic men to establish a mutual aid society to provide financial assistance for their families if the primary wage earner died. Protestant fraternal groups already provided this type of life insurance protection for their members.

In 1882, Fr. McGivney formed the Knights of Columbus among a small group of St. Mary’s parishioners to promote charity, unity, and fraternity, assisting widows and orphans. Because of the Knights’ emphasis on serving Church, community and family, the organization grew and did not remain strictly parish-based. Patriotism was added as a founding principle in 1900. Father McGivney died from pneumonia in 1890 and was buried in Thomaston, Connecticut. Later his body was moved back to St. Mary’s in New Haven where it remains today. He was beatified in 2020.

Blessed Michael McGivney, Priest ~ Pray for us 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

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

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones”

“The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus’ disciples ask Him, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ In response to their question after their debates and their struggles with each other to determine who among them was truly the greatest and the first among the disciples of the Lord, Jesus does not say the greatest are the most successful, the strongest, those who outdo others in skill and power. Rather, He took a child, one of the least significant in the culture of the time, and declared that children are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Those who, in Jesus’ time, had no status or power or influence or expertise or skill are the greatest in the kingdom of God. What makes them great in God’s kingdom is their openness to receive God’s presence in Jesus. Today we can still recognize that openness to the Lord in children. Jesus then goes on to call on His disciples and on all of us to become like little children, and declares that unless we do so we will not enter the kingdom of God. Children can be our teachers. As Jesus said, all of us ought to have the faith like that of little children because it is this kind of faith which is truly pure and genuine, not tainted and corrupted by the desires of the world, truly loving God and committing oneself to follow Him wholeheartedly instead of being so immersed and preoccupied by worldly matters and desires that we end up forgetting our true and most important mission in life as Christians, that is to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts and might, and to love one another in the same way as well. As adults we need to be as open to the Lord’s presence as children are. Then we will be great in the kingdom of God.

According to the Gospel reading today, the Lord then also reiterated this love which He has for each and every one of us. He told His disciples using the comparison with that of a shepherd and owner of the flock who would leave behind his ninety-nine safely accounted flock of sheep to seek for the one that had been lost to him. This is a representation and reminder to every one of us of just how beloved we are by the Lord and how precious we truly are to Him, that God will not let any one of us to be lost to Him. He will always show us His patient love and mercy, reaching out to us ever consistently and patiently to bring us out of the darkness into the light of His salvation and grace. That is why we all should heed His love and appreciate just how blessed all of us are to have been beloved in such a manner by our loving God, our Shepherd and Father.

Our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel is the continuation of the vision of the prophet Ezekiel which he received from God. In that vision, the prophet Ezekiel was tasked to speak to the people of Israel, the people of God, in order to remind them of the words that the Lord wanted to share with those people, the lamentations, the groaning and the woes which He had for them, for all of their stubbornness and unwillingness to listen to His words, despite everything that He had done for them. It was their own wickedness and disobedience, their refusal to follow the path that God has set before them which led them to their then predicament and hardships, as they were enduring exile and sufferings far away from the lands that they had been uprooted from, the lands of their ancestors. Yet, God still cared for them and loved them nonetheless, and He reached out to them through His many prophets and messengers with this specifically in mind. God loved His people, each and every one of them, and He sent them prophets like Ezekiel and many others so that they might recognise their errors and wickedness, and embrace once again the path of God’s righteousness and virtues. And not only that, but He even sent us all, His most beloved Son, His only Begotten One, Jesus Christ, Son of God, the Divine Word Incarnate to manifest to us His ever enduring and present love, and as our loving and Good Shepherd, He wants us all to be found and gathered from this world, each and every one of us, the lost sheep of the Lord’s flock.

As we reflect on the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded that each and every one of us should be willing to listen to God, to heed His words and the calling which He had made to us in each and every moments of our lives, as He has constantly done so, in reaching out to us and calling on us to return to Him and to embrace His love and grace once again. It is by our disobedience that we have fallen into sin and therefore been sundered from the fullness of God’s grace and love, and therefore that is why we have to wander and suffer in this world, as consequences of our rebelliousness and disobedience. But God truly did not wish for our destruction and damnation, and He truly wants each and every one of us to be reconciled and reunited with Him, and that is why He has always provided us with the means, help and guidance in order to do so, and we should heed what He has told and reminded us of. As we reflect on the great examples and inspiration shown by the Saints and Holy men and women, particularly Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus and all the other Saints we celebrate today, let us all as Christians continue to strive to be faithful and committed to God, rejecting the evils and wickedness of this world, and follow Him in all of the ways of our lives. Let us all be willing to work with one another, overcoming our differences and seek forgiveness for one another just as Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus had shown us. Each and every one of us as Christians should be great role models and examples for our fellow brethren in everything that we say and do, in our every efforts and endeavours in our lives. May the Lord continue to help and guide us in our journey of faith in life, and may He continue to strengthen and empower us so that in everything that we do, we will always continue to glorify the Lord by our every actions, words and deeds in life. May God in His infinite grace and mercy,  grant us the grace  and the resources, we need to live as He is calling us to live and desires us to live. May He bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen🙏

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 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. 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:

Jesus, my Good Shepherd, Your love and compassion are incredible. You are a God of the utmost mercy. Please open my eyes to see You as You are, and dispel all fear from my heart. Please forgive me of my sin, lift me up, and carry me back to Your fold. 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 Pontian and Saint Hippolytus; Saint Cassian; Saint Radegunde; Saint John Berchmans and Blessed Michael McGivney ~ 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 month of August and week 🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

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💖

EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 10, 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 and Happy Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time!

On this special feast day, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for justice, peace and unity in our families and our divided and conflicted world. We 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 | August 10, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 10, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |August 10, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 10, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 10, 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: Saturday, August 10, 2024
Reading 1, Second Corinthians 9:6-10
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 112:1-2, 5-6, 7-8, 9
Gospel, John 12:24-26

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

SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST OF SAINT LAWRENCE, DEACON AND MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY- AUGUST 10TH:Today, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon, and Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Lawrence on this feast day, we humbly pray for our children and children all over the world, we particularly pray for schoolchildren and students who are beginning a new school year, we pray for their safety and well-being, for wisdom and understanding. We also pray for all teachers and other workers. May God keep them all safe and well. We pray for all Deacons and Seminarians, 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. We also pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. And we continue to pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love, and unity in our families and our world.🙏

SAINT LAWRENCE, DEACON, AND MARTYR: St. Lawrence, also known as St. Lawrence of Rome (d. 258 A.D.) was likely a Spaniard by birth who lived in Rome while Christianity was outlawed under pain of death. He was born on December 13, 225 AD, and died on August 10, 258 AD at the age of 32. In 257, when St. Sixtus became Pope, and he ordained St. Lawrence deacon, though still young, was appointed by Pope St. Sixtus II was archdeacon and chief over the seven deacons of Rome and held the sacred duty of tending to the Church’s wealth and distributing alms to the poor. After Pope St. Sixtus II was martyred by beheading, along with the six other deacons, in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman Emperor Valerian ordered in 258, St. Lawrence was left as the highest-ranking clergy in Rome. He was the last of the seven deacons of Rome to die for his faith in Christ. This great saint literally gave up everything, including his very life, so as to say “Yes” to God.  As a deacon in the Cathedral Church in Rome, he was entrusted with the task of distributing alms to the indigent people in need. In August of the year 258, the Emperor issued an edict stating that all clergy were to be put to death. After the pope was killed, they came for St. Lawrence and, before killing him, asked him to turn over all the riches of the Church. He asked for three days to gather those treasures, and during those three days, he distributed all he could to the poor.

Then, on the third day, on August 10th he presented himself before the prefect and brought with him not the material wealth of the Church but the true wealth. He brought the poor, crippled, blind and suffering and declared that the Church was truly rich and that the people with him were the Church’s true treasures. The prefect, in anger, sentenced Lawrence to death by fire, to which Lawrence freely submitted. St. Lawrence was ordered to be burned alive on a gridiron. He was bound to the metal grate and slowly roasted to death over hot coals. During his torture St.  Lawrence famously mocked his torturers by saying, “I am done on this side, turn me over.” St. Lawrence rejoiced in his gruesome martyrdom and to his last breath the holy deacon prayed for the conversion of the city of Rome, that the faith of Christ might thence spread throughout the world. Several senators, who had witnessed his execution, were converted to Christianity and gave decent burial to his body. From that time idolatry began to decline in Rome. His martyrdom occurred on August 10th in the year 258.

Before his death St. Lawrence remarked: “At last I am finished; you may now take from me and eat!” He then turned to God in prayer saying: “I thank You, O Lord; that I am permitted to enter Your portals.”

“Just as Christ laid down his life for us, so we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.’ My brethren, Lawrence understood this and, understanding, he acted on it. In his life he loved Christ; in his death he followed in his footsteps.”
 – St. Augustine, in a sermon on the feast of Saint Lawrence

St. Lawrence is venerated as one of the patrons of Rome, along with Sts. Peter and Paul. He’s the Patron Saint of Deacons; Seminarians; schoolchildren; students; the poor; cooks; firefighters; workers; librarians; archives; archivists; armories; armourers; brewers; butchers; Ceylon; comedians; comediennes; comics; confectioners; cutlers; fire; glaziers; laundry workers; libraries; lumbago; paupers; restauranteurs; Rome; Sri Lanka; stained glass workers; tanners; vine growers; vintners; wine makers and the poor. His feast day is August 10th.

Saint Lawrence’s Quote: “Sheltered under the name of Jesus Christ, I do not fear these pains, for they do not last long.”

PRAYER: O God, giver of that ardor of love for you by which Saint Lawrence was outstandingly faithful in service and glorious in martyrdom, grant that we may love what he loved and put into practice what he taught. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever… Amen🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Readings for today, Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr | USCCB https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ John 12:24-26

“The Father will honor whoever serves me”

“Jesus said to His disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.”

In today’s Gospel reading, the Lord Jesus speaks to His disciples using a simple parable of comparing a grain of wheat that ought to fall to the ground and ‘die’ first so that it might bear plenty of fruits as the seed in the wheat would then germinate and grow into a new wheat plant that would bear many new wheat crops, and hence, be truly fruitful. Jesus is addressing us as His potential followers and servants, and He is declaring that we need to die to ourselves if we are to become fully alive with the life of God. We have to die to ourselves in the sense of dying to our self-centred selves, that tendency in us to live for ourselves alone. Jesus refers to Himself as the wheat grain which falls to the ground and dies and in dying yields a rich harvest. The rich harvest that came from His death and resurrection was the community of believers, the church. Jesus’ self-giving love, even though it led Him to death on a cross, was life-giving for Himself and for all humanity. He did not try to preserve His life at all costs; He was prepared to empty Himself out of love for others, and in doing so, He gained life for Himself and others. Jesus goes on to state that this pattern of life through death applies equally to His followers. If we love our lives above all else, if our primary goal in life is to preserve and protect ourselves, then we risk losing ourselves. We fail to become our true selves, the self that is the image of the Lord. If, like Jesus, we are willing to lose ourselves, to give of ourselves, in the service of the Lord and his people, then we will become alive with the life of God and our presence will be life giving for others.

In our first reading today, Saint Paul declares, ‘God loves a cheerful giver’ and then states that if we become cheerful givers, there is no limit to the blessings which God can send us. It is not enough to be a giver, St. Paul says, but we need to be cheerful givers. A cheerful giver is someone who gives willingly, gladly. This is the way Jesus gave. He gave with the joyful freedom of the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul in today’s reading, assures us that when we give in this way, there is no limit to the blessings which God can send us. Giving cheerfully and willingly opens us up to receive God’s blessings. In giving in this way, in the Spirit of the Lord, we discover that we end up receiving far more than we gave. This is reflected in the image Jesus uses in the Gospel reading of the grain that dies, but in dying yields a rich harvest. There is a certain dying to ourselves when we give cheerfully. We are not looking for anything for ourselves, such as sympathy or appreciation. When we die to ourselves in this ways, our life yields a rich harvest, both for ourselves and for others. When there is no selfish concern in our giving, the Lord can enrich us with His blessings and greatly bless others through our giving. We are called to share in the Lord’s self-giving love not grudgingly or as if under compulsion but willing and gladly, in response to the Lord’s abundant love of us. The church and the world need ‘cheerful givers’. That is our calling.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today on this special feast day of St. Lawrence, we are all called to be generous in giving and committing our lives to God’s will, and reminded by the examples shown by Holy men and women, Saints and Martyrs, like St. Lawrence, Holy Martyr and Deacon. Let us all therefore discern how we can be better disciples of the Lord, in being more proactive in living our faith and in being more committed to the works of charity and the many other efforts and outreach of the Church to our community and to all around us who are in need and in which we are in the perfect position to help them. Let us all not ignore their plight and need, and let us be moved to action, and be committed to walk in the same path that the saints, particularly that of St. Lawrence has shown us. May the Lord be with us all, and may He continue to guide us on our journey of life. May God bless our every good work and endeavour so that we may always glorify Him by our every action and that we may be inspiration for one another just as the Saints like St. Lawrence had done for us. We pray on this feast of St Lawrence that, may God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to be as generous and as cheerful in our giving as St. Lawrence, Holy servant of God and courageous martyr of the Faith was. Amen 🙏

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 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. 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 sacrificial Lord, You gave Your precious life away to all out of love. The total self-giving of Your life resulted in the salvation of those who will accept this glorious gift. Help me to not only open myself to this freely given gift of Yours but to also imitate Your selfless life by giving myself in service of You and others. Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr, pray for us. 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 Lawrence, Deacon, and Martyr ~ 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 month of August and relaxing weekend 🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 9, 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 and Happy Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time!

On this special feast day, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for justice, peace and unity in our families and our divided and conflicted world. We 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 | August 9, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 9, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |August 9, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 9, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 9, 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: Friday August 9, 2024
Reading 1, Nahum 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7
Responsorial Psalm, Deuteronomy 32:35-36, 39, 41
Gospel, Matthew 16:24-28

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

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS (SAINT EDITH STEIN), VIRGIN AND MARTYR AND SAINT ROMANUS, MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY – AUGUST 9TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, (St. Edith Stein), Virgin and Martyr and Saint Romanus, Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We also 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 TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS (ST. EDITH STEIN), VIRGIN AND MARTYR: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as St. Edith Stein (1891-1942) was converted from Judaism to Catholicism in the course of her work as a philosopher, and later entered the Carmelite Order. She died in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz in 1942. St. Teresa was born Edith Stein to Jewish parents in Breslau, Poland on October 12, 1891 – a date that coincided with her family’s celebration of Yom Kippur, the Jewish “day of atonement.” Edith Stein was the youngest child of a large Jewish family. Edith’s father died when she was just two years old, and she gave up the practice of her Jewish faith as an adolescent about the age of 14. As a young woman with profound intellectual gifts, Edith gravitated toward the study of philosophy and became a pupil of the renowned professor Edmund Husserl in 1913. Through her studies, the non-religious Edith met several Christians whose intellectual and spiritual lives she admired. After earning her degree with the highest honors from Gottingen University in 1915, she served as a nurse in an Austrian field hospital during World War I. She returned to academic work in 1916, earning her doctorate after writing a highly-regarded thesis on the phenomenon of empathy. She remained interested in the idea of religious commitment, but had not yet made such a commitment herself.

In 1921, while visiting friends, Edith spent an entire night reading the autobiography of the 16th century Carmelite nun St. Teresa of Avila. “When I had finished the book,” she later recalled, “I said to myself: This is the truth.” She was baptized into the Catholic Church on the first day of January, 1922. Edith intended to join the Carmelites immediately after her conversion, but would ultimately have to wait another 11 years before taking this step. Instead, she taught at a Dominican school, and gave numerous public lectures on women’s issues. She spent 1931 writing a study of St. Thomas Aquinas, and took a university teaching position in 1932. In 1933, the rise of Nazism, combined with Edith’s Jewish ethnicity, put an end to her teaching career. After a painful parting with her mother, who did not understand her Christian conversion, she entered a Carmelite convent at Cologne in 1934, taking the name “Teresa Benedicta of the Cross” as a symbol of her acceptance of suffering. “I felt,” she wrote, “that those who understood the Cross of Christ should take upon themselves on everybody’s behalf.” She saw it as her vocation “to intercede with God for everyone,” but she prayed especially for the Jews of Germany whose tragic fate was becoming clear. There she completed a synthesis of Thomist Philosophy and modern thought entitled, Finite and Eternal Being.

Four years later, after living in the Cologne Carmel (1934-1938), because of the ramification of politics in Germany, Teresa was sent to Echt, Holland, Netherlands There she wrote Science of the Cross, the life of St. John of the Cross from a phenomenological perspective. “I ask the Lord to accept my life and my death,” she wrote in 1939, “so that the Lord will be accepted by His people and that His kingdom may come in glory, for the salvation of Germany and the peace of the world.” After completing her final work, the study of St. John of the Cross entitled “The Science of the Cross,” St. Teresa Benedicta was arrested along with her sister Rosa (who had also become a Catholic), and the members of her religious community, on August 7, 1942. The arrests came in retaliation against a protest letter by the Dutch Bishops, decrying the Nazi treatment of Jews. St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross died in the concentration camp at Auschwitz on August 9, 1942. She was killed in the gas chambers of the camp. St. Teresa was beatified in 1987 at the Cologne cathedral by Pope John Paul II and canonized on October 11, 1998, by the same Pontiff and proclaimed her a co-patroness of Europe the next year.

PRAYER: God of our fathers, You led St. Teresa Benedicta, Your Martyr, to acknowledge Your Crucified Son and to intimate Him even in death. Grant, through her intercession, that all people may come to know Christ the Savior and through Him attain Your eternal vision. Amen 🙏

SAINT ROMANUS, MARTYR: St. Romanus was as a soldier in the legion of emperor Valerian in Rome, at the time of the arraignment and interrogation of Saint Lawrence who had been imprisoned for his refusal to surrender the treasury of the Roman Church to the Empire. St. Romanus was marveled at St. Lawrence virtuous courage and heroic patience during his persecution. Seeing the joy and constancy and the absolute silence of that holy martyr during Lawrence’s first torments, St. Romanus could not understand how a creature of flesh and blood could be thus tormented without opening his mouth to complain. St. Romanus was so inspired that he was moved to embrace the Faith, he approached the holy Martyr, St. Lawrence and asked to be received into the Faith and at that very moment. Addressing himself to Saint Lawrence, still on the rack, he asked to become a Christian.

St. Lawrence was untied and imprisoned, and later was able to respond to the pressing request of the soldier, Romanus who brought him in prison the water for his baptism. St. Lawrence gave the necessary instructions to St. Romanus and baptized him in the prison. This brave Roman soldier then publicly proclaimed his conversion to Christianity to his fellow-soldiers, and he was immediately arrested and convicted. St. Romanus was summoned before the tribunal, for everyone soon learned of his conversion. He said fearlessly and joyfully, there as he had said elsewhere, I am a Christian! He was condemned and immediately achieved the crown of martyrdom by being beheaded on August 9, 258, the day before the execution of St. Lawrence. The body of Saint Romanus was buried by a priest in a cavern on the road to Tiburtina outside the walls of Rome, but his remains were translated to Lucca, where they are kept under the high altar of a beautiful church which bears his name.

PRAYER: Almighty and ever-living God, graciously pour out Your Spirit upon us. Let our hearts be filled with that true love which enabled Your holy Martyr Romanus to overcome all bodily torments. Amen 🙏
 

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

Bible Readings for today, Friday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 16:24-28

“What can one give in exchange for one’s life?”

“Jesus said to His disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each according to his conduct. Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

In our Gospel reading today from the Gospel of St. Matthew, Jesus declares that if anyone wants to become His followers they must be willing to deny themselves and take up their crosses and follow Him. First of all, it was a reminder from the Lord to His disciples and ultimately also to all of us that being a follower of His is not going to be an easy thing, unlike what some or even many of His disciples that time might have thought. Back then, it was commonly thought that the Lord, as the Messiah or Saviour, would have brought about the glorious restoration of the Kingdom of Israel, and many among the Lord’s disciples might have thought of Him as the mighty conquering King Who would liberate Israel, and therefore they would gain good and wonderful lives from being the trusted followers of His. Jesus says, ‘anyone who wants to save His life will lose it; but anyone who loses His life for my sake will find it’. Another way of expressing that is to say, ‘if we seek ourselves only, we will lose ourselves, whereas if we reach beyond ourselves towards God and towards His Son Jesus we will find our true selves’. If we look to ourselves alone and our own needs and preferences, we risk losing ourselves, whereas if we look towards the Lord, which will always mean looking towards others, we will find life in this world and eternal life in the next. Jesus expressed this fundamental paradox of His teaching in another way when He said, ‘give and it will be given to you’. In other words, it is in giving that we receive. Our own experience of life teaches us the truth contained in this paradox. It is when we look beyond ourselves to others, to the Lord present in others, that we experience the Lord’s own joy, the Lord’s own life, which is a foretaste of the joy and life of the kingdom of heaven.

Self-denial is not greatly in vogue or common in our present world. You are more likely to hear talk of self-fulfilment. In calling for self-denial Jesus is not trying to extinguish all joy or fulfilment in life. The self we are to deny is what we might call the false self, a way of life that is self-centred and self-absorbed, in which everything revolves around myself. This is the self that wants to be at the centre of everything and is constantly seeking its own satisfaction and gratification. Jesus declares that if we are to follow Him, we must lose this false self. The loss of this false self will be painful; denying our self in this sense will entail a way of the cross. Yet, Jesus declares that this saying ‘no’ to our false self is the way to true life, to discovering our true self, ‘if anyone loses his life for my sake, he will find it’. Our true self, our best self, is the self that is open to the Lord’s love, that allows itself to be constantly transformed by that love and so, as a result, becomes a loving person, a self that puts the interests of others before one’s own. This is life in the true and full sense that Jesus promises to all who follow Him and allow themselves to be led by Him. The call to renounce ourselves may sound very negative to modern ears. Yet, the Lord’s call is a call to fullness of life. Our self-denial is in the service of that fullness of life which He desires for us all.  

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Nahum, we heard of the Lord’s words proclaiming the downfall and destruction of Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire, which at the time of the prophet Nahum’s ministry, was still a great and powerful Empire, which had conquered the northern half of the once united kingdom of Israel, and brought many of its people into exile, those who were among God’s people. In their great triumph and hubris, they often blasphemed against God, and thought that their power would last forever. But as the Lord spoke it clearly through the prophet Nahum, that the days of Assyria and its glory were numbered, and true enough, not long after these words were spoken by the prophet Nahum, Assyria was defeated and destroyed, and Nineveh, its glorious capital was razed. It is an important reminder for us that all the glory and power of this world are ultimately illusory and passing in nature, and none of them will last forever, no matter what. If we seek worldly glory, pleasures, fame and satisfaction, we will likely end up disappointed, to see that whatever our desires are for this world, we will never be fully satisfied and we will never be truly happy. Each and every one of us are called to reorientate our lives and regain our true focus, that we no longer spend so much time and attention on worldly matters, and instead we should seek what is more important in life, that is nothing else than the Lord Himself, and how our lives are called to be sanctified and holy, to glorify the Lord by our every actions, words and deeds. Each and every one of us should be ever more focused and centred on the Lord.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scripture today, we are all reminded of the impermanence of worldly things, of all the worldly glory, fame and greatness, of all the things in this world that will not last forever. The Lord alone is the One Who will give us lasting peace, joy and happiness, the true treasure of our lives. If we seek the glory and power of this world, then sooner than later we will realise that there is nothing in this world that can truly give us true happiness and satisfaction, one that is lasting and permanent. If we seek something of this world, we will realise that it can only satisfy us to a certain extent, and as we may often realise, that we cannot be truly and fully satisfied by what we seek in this world. As we reflect on the lives of the Saints and Holy men and women, particularly the life and martyrdom of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as St. Edith Stein, who we celebrate today, that we may often have to suffer through the challenges and trials in this world, but we must also remember that all the things in this world are ultimately impermanent, and all things, including our sufferings and trials will pass. It is the Lord alone Who is always ever constant and will be there for us to the very end, and He will lead us all into the ultimate triumph and glory with Him. We must keep up our hope and faith in the Lord, and do our very best so that we will continue to persevere through whatever challenges and trials we may encounter. May the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us in our journey of faith and life, and help us to persevere through whatever we may face going forward in our respective lives. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and be with us all. May He empower each one of us to be ever more committed and faithful disciples of His, in all things, and may He continue to strengthen us with the resolve to live our lives ever with the commitment as good and devout Christians, now and always. Amen 🙏

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 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. 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:

Most glorious God, Your will is perfect and is the one and only source of fulfillment in life. Please purify my soul of all desires pertaining only to this world. May my one and only desire in life be the fulfillment of Your holy will so that all I have will only be used for Your glory. 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 Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, (St. Edith Stein) and Saint Romanus ~ 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 month of August and relaxing weekend 🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 8, 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 and Happy Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time!

On this special feast day, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for justice, peace and unity in our families and our divided and conflicted world. We 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 from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 8, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube | August 8, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |August 8, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 8, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 8, 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: Thursday August 8, 2024
Reading 1, Jeremiah 31:31-34
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19
Gospel, Matthew 16:13-23

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

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT DOMINIC, PRIEST; SAINT MARY MACKILLOP, RELIGIOUS (SOLEMNITY); SAINTS CYRIACUS, LARGUS AND SMARAGDUS, AND THEIR COMPANIONS, MARTYRS AND THE FOURTEEN HOLY HELPERS ~ FEAST DAY – AUGUST 8TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest; Saint Mary MacKillop, Religious (Solemnity); Saints Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus, and Their Companions, Martyrs and the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for all Scientists, Astronomers and those falsely accused. We pray for the poor and needy, for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We also pray 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 DOMINIC, PRIEST: St. Dominic de Guzman (1170–1221) was born in 1170 at Caleruega, Spain to a family of noble lineage. St. Dominic was the son of Felix Guzman and Joanna of Aza, members of the nobility. His mother would eventually be beatified by the Church, as would his brother Manes who became a Dominican. The family’s oldest son Antonio also became a priest. His mother, Blessed Jane of Aza, prayed at the church of St. Dominic Silos to conceive a male child, her first two sons being given to the priesthood. In answer to her prayer, she dreamed that a dog leaped from her womb carrying a torch in its mouth which set the world ablaze. At his baptism, his godmother beheld a star shining from his forehead. As a child St. Dominic showed signs of great sanctity and intelligence, and he was also given to the Church for the priesthood. St. Dominic received his early education from his uncle, who was a priest, before entering the University of Palencia where he studied for ten years. In one notable incident from this period, he sold his entire collection of rare books to provide for the relief of the poor in the city. After his ordination to the priesthood, St. Dominic was asked by Bishop Diego of Osma to participate in local church reforms. He spent nine years in Osma, pursuing a life of intense prayer, before being called to accompany the bishop on a piece of business for King Alfonso IX of Castile in 1203. While traveling in France with the bishop, Dominic observed the bad effects of the Albigensian heresy, which had taken hold in southern France during the preceding century. The sect revived an earlier heresy, Manicheanism, which condemned the material world as an evil realm not created by God. Dreading the spread of heresy, Dominic began to think about founding a religious order to promote the truth. In 1204 he and Bishop Diego were sent by Pope Innocent III to assist in the effort against the Albigensians, which eventually involved both military force and theological persuasion.

In France, Dominic engaged in doctrinal debates and set up a convent whose rule would eventually become a template for the life of female Dominicans. He continued his preaching mission from 1208 to 1215, during the intensification of the military effort against the Albigensians. In 1214, Dominic’s extreme physical asceticism caused him to fall into a coma, during which the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to him and instructed him to promote the prayer of the Rosary. Its focus on the incarnation and life of Christ directly countered the Albigensian attitude towards matter as evil. During that same year, St. Dominic returned to Tolouse and obtained the bishop’s approval of his plan for an order dedicated to preaching. He and a group of followers gained local recognition as a religious congregation, and St. Dominic accompanied Tolouse’s bishop to Rome for an ecumenical council in 1215. The council stressed the Church’s need for better preaching, but also set up a barrier to the institution of new religious orders. St. Dominic, however, obtained papal approval for his plan in 1216, and was named as the Pope’s chief theologian. The Order of Preachers expanded in Europe with papal help in 1218. St. Dominic, the founder spent the last several years of his life building up the order and continuing his preaching missions, during which he is said to have converted some 100,000 people. St. Dominic was innovative in meeting the needs of his time to defend the Church against her enemies.To aid his mission, Our Lady appeared to him and gave him a new devotion—the Holy Rosary. St. Dominic is attributed the origin and spread of the Holy Rosary. After several weeks of illness, St. Dominic died in Italy on August 6, 1221. He was canonized in 1234 by Pope Gregory IX. St. Dominic is the patron saint of scientists and astronomers; falsely accused people.

Saint Dominic’s Quotes: “Arm yourself with prayer rather than a sword; wear humility rather than fine clothes.” ” One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, Our Lady will save the world.”

PRAYER: God, let St. Dominic help Your Church by his merits and teaching. May he who was an outstanding preacher of truth become a most generous intercessor for us. Amen 🙏

SOLEMNITY OF SAINT MARY MACKILLOP, RELIGIOUS: St. Mary MacKillop (1842-1909) was an Australian religious sister who became the first native born Australian saint, as St Mary of the Cross. St. Mary was born in Melbourne in 1842, to parents who had emigrated from Scotland, St. Mary and her 9 siblings were homeschooled by their Scottish father. St. Mary grew up in a family that faced constant financial struggles. At 14, she worked to provide for her family and as a young woman, she was drawn to religious life but could not find an existing order of Sisters that met her needs. In 1860, she met Fr. Julian Woods, who encouraged her to help educate the poor. He became her spiritual director. In 1867, she became a nun. Together with Fr. Woods they founded a new community of women—the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, also known as the Josephite Sisters whose charism is teaching, charity, total poverty and trusting in Divine Providence. Its members were to staff schools, especially for poor children, as well as orphanages, and do other works of charity. St. Mary established schools and places of refuge for the working class and poor across Australia and New Zealand. As the congregation grew, so did St. Mary MacKillop’s problems. Throughout the years, she had many challenges with priests and Bishops but always prayed for God’s will to be done. Miracles continue to occur through her intercession. Her priest-friend proved unreliable in many ways and his responsibilities for the direction of the Sisters were removed. Meanwhile, St. Mary had the support of some local bishops as she and her Sisters went about their work. But the bishop in South Australia, aging and relying on others for advice, briefly excommunicated St. Mary—charging her with disobedience—and dispensed 50 of her Sisters from their vows. In truth, the bishop’s quarrel was about power and who had authority over whom. He ultimately rescinded his order of excommunication.

St. Mary insisted that her congregation should be governed by an elected mother general answerable to Rome, not to the local bishop. There also were disputes about whether or not the congregation could own property. In the end, Rome proved to be St. Mary’s best source of support. After a long wait official approval of the congregation—and how it was to be governed—came from Pope Leo XIII. Despite her struggles with Church authorities, St. Mary MacKillop and her Sisters were able to offer social services that few, if any, government agencies in Australia could. They served Protestants and Catholics alike. They worked among the aborigines. They taught in schools and orphanages and served unmarried mothers. The lack of money was a constant worry. But the Sisters who begged from door to door were bolstered by faith and by the conviction that their struggles were opportunities to grow closer to God. By the time Mary was approaching the end of her life, the congregation was thriving. She died on August 8, 1909 at the age of 67. Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1995. On October 17, 2010, when Pope Benedict XVI canonized her, she became Australia’s first saint. She’s the Patron Saint of Australia, Brisbane, Knights of the South. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has approved a request from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference that the liturgical observance of St Mary MacKillop on 8th August be raised to the level of a Solemnity. By having her feast day celebrated as the highest liturgical rank, the Church in Australia acknowledges that the story of and devotion to Mary MacKillop has a prominent place in the Catholic community and beyond.

PRAYER: O God, source of all goodness, who have shown us in Saint Mary a woman of faith living by the power of the Cross, teach us, we pray, by her example to live the gospel in changing times and to respect and defend the human dignity of all in our land. Amen 🙏

SAINTS CYRIACUS, LARGUS AND SMARAGDUS, MARTYRS: Saint Cyriacus (also known as Cyriac) was born of a noble patrician family. He embraced the Christian religion and gave all his wealth to the poor. He was ordained a deacon at Rome, under Pope Marcellinus. Saint Cyriacus is venerated as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. In the persecution of Dioclesian, in 303, he was crowned with a glorious martyrdom in that city. With him suffered also Largus and Smaragdus, and twenty others, among whom are named Crescentianus, Sergius, Secondus, Alban, Victorianus, Faustinus, Felix, Sylvanus, and four women, Memmia, Juliana, Cyriacides, and Donata.

According to legend, together with Sisinius, Largus and Smaragdus, Cyriac languished a long time in prison. Among the miracles that Cyriac worked was that of freeing through his prayer Arthemia, the daughter of Emperor Diocletian, from an evil spirit. Thereupon he was sent to the Persian king Sapor and performed a similar miracle in favor of his daughter Jobias. But after baptizing the king and 430 of his entourage, he returned to Rome. Upon orders from Maximian the Emperor, he was arrested, chained, and dragged to prison. Four days later he was taken from confinement, drenched with seething pitch, and tortured on the rack; in company with Smaragdus and twenty other Christians he finally was beheaded on the Via Salaria near the gardens of Sallust.” Their bodies were first buried near the place of their execution on the Salarian way; but were soon after translated into a farm of the devout lady Lucina, on the Ostian road, on this eighth day of August, as is recorded in the ancient Liberian Calendar, and others.

Saints Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus, and Their Companions, Martyrs ~ Pray for us 🙏

THE FOURTEEN HOLY HELPERS: The Fourteen Holy Helpers are a group of saints venerated together in Roman Catholicism because their intercession is believed to be particularly effective, especially against various diseases. This group of Nothelfer (“helpers in need”) originated in the 14th century at first in the Rhineland, largely as a result of the epidemic (probably of bubonic plague) that became known as the Black Death or black Plague which devastated Europe from 1346 to 1349. Among its symptoms were the black tongue, a parched throat, violent headache, fever, and boils on the abdomen. The victims were attacked without warning, robbing them of their reason, and killed within a few hours; many died without the last Sacraments. No one was immune, and the disease wreaked havoc in villages and family circles. The epidemic appeared incurable. The pious turned to Heaven, begging the intervention of the saints, praying to be spared or cured. Each of these fourteen saints had been efficacious in interceding in some aspect for the stricken during the Black Plague.

The Fourteen “Auxiliary Saints”  are invoked because they have been efficacious in assisting in trials and sufferings. Each saint has a separate feast or memorial day, and the group was collectively venerated on August 8. The dates are the traditional feast days; not all the saints are on the General Roman Calendar. They are: SAINT BLAISE: (also Blase and Blasius) (February 3), bishop and martyr. He is invoked against diseases of the throat. Blessing of the throats takes place on his feast day. SAINT GEORGE (April 23) soldier-martyr. Invoked for protection for domestic animals and against herpetic diseases. Also patron of soldiers, England, Portugal, Germany, Aragon, Genoa and Venice. SAINT ACATHIUS (also Acacius) (May 8), martyr. Invoked against headaches and at the time of death’s agony. SAINT ERASMUS (also St. Elmo) (June 2), bishop and martyr. He is invoked against diseases of the stomach and intestine, protection for domestic animals and patron of sailors. SAINT VITUS (also St. Guy) (June 15), martyr. Invoked in epilepsy, chorea (“St. Vitus’ dance”), lethargy, and the bites of poisonous or mad animals and against storms. Also protection for domestic animals. Patron of dancer and actors. SAINT MARGARET OF ANTIOCH (July 20), virgin and martyr. Invoked against backache. Patron for women in childbirth. SAINT CHRISTOPHER (also Christophorus) (July 25), martyr. Invoked against the plague and sudden death. He is the patron of travelers, especially motorists, and is also invoked in storms. SAINT PANTALEON (July 27), bishop and martyr. Invoked against consumption, protection for domestic animals and patron of physicians and midwives. SAINT CYRIACUS (also Cyriac) (August 8), deacon and martyr. Invoked against diseases of the eye and diabolical possession. Also interceded for those in temptation, especially at the time of death. SAINT GILES (also Aegidius) (September 1), hermit and abbot. Invoked against the plague, panic, epilepsy, madness, and nightmares and for a good confession. Patron of cripples, beggars, and breastfeeding mothers. SAINT EUSTACE (also Eustachius, Eustathius) (September 20), martyr. Invoked against fire — temporal and eternal. Patron of hunters. Patron in all kinds of difficulties, and invoked in family troubles. SAINT DENIS (also Dionysius) (October 9), bishop and martyr. Invoked against diabolical possession and headaches. SAINT CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA (November 25), virgin and martyr. Invoked against diseases of the tongue, protection against a sudden and unprovided death. Patroness of Christian philosophers, of maidens, preachers, wheelwrights and mechanics. She is also invoked by students, orators, and barristers as “the wise counselor.” SAINT BARBARA (December 4), virgin and martyr. Invoked against fever and sudden death. Patron of builders, artillerymen and miners. Also invoked against lightning, fire and sudden death.

PRAYER TO THE FOURTEEN HOLY HELPERS (By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church): Great princes of Heaven, Holy Helpers, who sacrificed to God all your earthly possessions, wealth, preferment and even life and who now are crowned in Heaven in the secure enjoyment of eternal bliss and glory; have compassion on me, a poor sinner in this vale of tears and obtain for me from God, for Whom you gave up all things and Who loves you as His servants, the strength to bear patiently all the trials of this life, to overcome all temptations and to persevere in God’s service to the end, that one day I too may be received into your company, to praise and glorify Him, the supreme Lord, Whose Beatific Vision you enjoy and Whom you praise and glorify forever. Amen 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Readings for today, Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 16:13-23

“You are Peter, I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven”

“Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus addresses St. Peter in two very contrasting ways. He initially addresses Peter as the Rock, ‘You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church’. However, within the space of a few verses, Jesus then addresses St. Peter as Satan, ‘Get behind me Satan! You are an obstacle in my path’. Having addressed Peter as the rock on which He can build, Jesus then identifies him as a stumbling stone, an obstacle on Jesus’ path, because he was not thinking in God’s way. The fact that St. Peter could be a stumbling stone did not mean that he ceased to be the rock. According to the Gospel, the Lord told His disciples about Who He was, as He asked them who they think that He truly was. It was there that St. Peter spoke truthfully and courageously that the Lord Jesus was indeed the Holy One of God, the Messiah and Son of God that has come into this world to bring about its salvation. He was therefore chosen by the Lord Who knew the great faith which St. Peter had in Him, the great love and commitment that he would make, that he was entrusted with the governance and leadership of the Church that God was establishing in this world, to lead the other Apostles and disciples as the Lord’s Vicar, the very first Pope and Supreme Pontiff, whose successor now is Pope Francis, our current Pope.

St. Peter shows great insight into Jesus, when he confesses Him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is the insight of faith. Jesus tells St. Peter that his insight is a graced insight. It is given to him by God. Faith, including the insight that faith gives rise to, is not just a human quality. It is a gift from God. It is because of St. Peter’s faith that Jesus declares him to be the rock on which He will build His church. St. Peter will have a foundational role in Jesus’ church. Jesus gives him a special authority, symbolized by the keys, and then identifies this authority as a teaching authority. The task of binding and losing refers to St. Peter’s authoritative role in interpreting the teaching of Jesus for the community of believes. We have here a very exalted portrait of St. Peter as a man of deep faith which equips him for a teaching role in the church. Yet, this teacher immediately shows himself to be a slow learner. Jesus began to teach his disciples about the need for Him to go to Jerusalem where He would suffer and die. St. Peter would have none of this talk; he rebuked Jesus for it. St. Peter’s faith in Jesus did not embrace the cross. The Son of the living God could not suffer and be put to death – be crucified. Because of St. Peter’s resistance to this suffering and vulnerable dimension of Jesus’ identity, Jesus now addresses him as an obstacle, a stumbling stone, an agent of Satan. The rock becomes a stumbling stone to trip Jesus up. Within one short reading, we see the best of St. Peter and the worst of St. Peter. He clearly had a lot of growing in faith to do. We are all people of faith. Yet we all need to grow in faith as well. We can never become complacent about our faith; we are always on a journey. God may have begun a good work in us, but He has yet to bring it to completion. St. Peter, like every human being, was complex. He was a mixture of wheat and weeds, to use an image from one of Jesus’ parables. In spite of his failings, Jesus appointed Peter as the rock, the focal point, of the new community he came to form. The Lord keeps faith in us even after we have failed Him. The Lord can work powerfully in and through flawed human beings. What He does ask of us is that we keep striving for God’s way, as against a merely human way. Like St. Peter we can all have our bad moments when it comes to our relationship with Jesus and the living out of that relationship. Yet, the Lord continues to invest in us, as He continued to invest in St. Peter. We are not defined by our failures. They do not block the Lord from continuing His good work in our lives of bringing us to an ever deeper relationship with Himself.

In our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord reassured His people, those remnants of the Israelites in the southern kingdom of Judah that He would establish a new Covenant with each and every one of them, and that He still cared for them and loved them regardless of everything that He told them would happen to them. At that time, the people of Judah had been living through a hard time, pressed on all sides by their many enemies and subjugated by the Babylonians. The prophet Jeremiah had been sent as the final prophet God sent to the land and people of Judah to tell them of their coming destruction and conquest by the Babylonians, to tell them the consequences of their wickedness and sins. That was why the prophet Jeremiah often spoke of the coming ruin of Jerusalem and Judah, the downfall of the Temple of Jerusalem, all of which drew the ire of those who refused to accept the truth of God’s words. Many among the people still thought that they did nothing wrong, and that their ways of disobeying God’s Law and commandments were not an issue. But God made it clear that while He loved each one of them, He did not condone all the wickedness and evil deeds that they had committed, and their sins had been the ones that judged and condemned them to their fate. That was why their cities would be destroyed and thrown down, all because of their hubris and sins in worshipping pagan idols and gods instead of the Lord their God, Who has cared for all of them all the while. But God still loved His people nonetheless and desired their repentance and reunion with Him. That was why He still sent them prophets and messengers, one after another, all the way to the prophet Jeremiah himself, to help remind His people of the errors of their ways, so that they hopefully might be touched in their hearts and return once again towards God. God’s love and compassionate mercy have always been generously shown to us, but we have to embrace His love and mercy, and do what is necessary so that we may receive the fullness of His love and kindness, and be forgiven from our many sins that had separated us all from His love and grace. God reminded us all that we have been made partakers of this new Covenant He has established with us, and we ought to honour our part in it.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded of the Covenant which God had made with each and every one of us. He has established this most wonderful Covenant as the sign and proof of His ever enduring and wonderful love for us, which He has repeatedly shown us, again and again despite our constant rebelliousness and disobedience against Him. God has always been loving towards us and He desires for us to come back to Him with the desire to be healed and to be forgiven from our many sins and wickedness. He has always called on us to respond to His call, as He embraced us all and bringing us close to Him, giving us all His Beloved Son to reassure us all of His love and salvation, and establishing His Church to gather each and every one of us, and bringing us out of the darkness and into the light. Therefore, as we reflect on the lives and examples of the Saints, particularly St. Dominic, who we celebrate today, let us therefore do our part to be good and worthy disciples and followers of the Lord, following in the footsteps of St. Dominic and the other disciples of the Lord, our holy predecessors. Let us all continue to be grateful to the Lord for His ever generous and enduring love for us, and continue to do our part so that in each and every actions we take in life, we will continue to live worthily as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, in His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, helping our fellow brothers and sisters to come towards the Lord and His salvation. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to look to the Holy Spirit to give us the wisdom to make the right judgement in following the Lord. May God bless us all and be His Church always, and may He empower each and every one of us in our every good efforts and deeds, now and forevermore. Amen. 🙏

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 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. 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 suffering Lord, You faced the evil You endured with the utmost courage and love. You never gave in to fear but pressed on, fulfilling the Father’s will. Give me the grace I need to share in Your strength so as to overcome all that tempts me to fear. I love You, my Lord. May I rely upon You for all things. 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 Dominic; Saint Mary MacKillop; Saints Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus, and Their Companions and the Fourteen Holy Helpers ~ 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 month of August and week🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 7, 2024

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION: REMINDER – The 2024 Novena for the Assumption of Mary into Heaven begins, Tuesday, August 6 and end 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 and Happy Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time!

On this special feast day, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for justice, peace and unity in our families and our divided and conflicted world. We 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 from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 7, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube | August 7, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |August 7, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 7, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 7, 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: Wednesday, August 7, 2024
Reading 1, Jeremiah 31:1-7
Responsorial Psalm, Jeremiah 31:10, 11-12, 13
Gospel, Matthew 15:21-28

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION: REMINDER – The 2024 Novena for the Assumption of Mary into Heaven is scheduled to begins, Tuesday, August 6 and end 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

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT SIXTUS II, POPE AND MARTYR,  AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS AND SAINT CAJETAN, PRIEST ~ FEAST DAY – AUGUST 7TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Sixtus II, Pope and Martyr, and Companions, Felicissimus and Agapitus, Martyrs and Saint Cajetan, Priest. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the unemployed and those seeking for jobs and livelihood, may God grant them their heart’s desires and provide for the families and individuals who are enduring economic hardship. May God supply their needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We also pray 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 SIXTUS II, POPE AND MARTYR,  AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS: Pope Sixtus II (Xystus) who died in 258 A.D. was elected to the Roman See in 257. He was Bishop of Rome from August 31, 257 until his death on August 6, 258. He was a good and peace-loving Pontiff. He helped mend the relationship between Rome and the Eastern and African churches over the problem of the rebaptism of converted heretics, a controversy which threatened schism. St. Sixtus II, being a peaceful man, restored friendly relations and maintained unity. However, he served as Holy Father for only one year due to the persecution of Christians by Roman Emperor Valerian. As a result, Pope St. Sixtus II was suppressed and forbidden to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He continued to worship in secret in defiance to the unjust law, and while offering Mass in a cemetery chapel he was ambushed and beheaded by Roman soldiers on August 6, 258, at the cemetery of the Praetextatus in virtue of the recent edict of Valerian prescribing death for the leaders of the Christians. During the persecution of Christians by the Emperor Valerian, St. Sixtus was  martyred along with Saints Felicissimus, Agapitus, and four other deacons. Saint Lawrence, archdeacon of Sixtus, was also martyred there three days later. Pope Sixtus II was one of the first victims of the persecution under the Emperor Valerian. Pope Sixtus reigned for twelve months. His feast day is August 7th.

PRAYER: Almighty God, you gave St. Sixtus and his companions the grace to lay down their lives for your word and as a witness to Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit, help us to be quick to believe and unwavering in the profession of our Faith. Amen 🙏

SAINT CAJETAN, PRIEST: St. Cajetan (1480-1547) was born Gaetano dei Conti di Thiene on October 6, 1480. He was the son of an Italian nobleman. Under the care of his pious mother he grew up in the tenderest sentiments of virtue. He became a lawyer, worked for a Pope and became a Priest. Entering the ecclesiastical state, he went to Rome, hoping to lead an obscure life, but Pope Julius II forced upon him the office of protonotary opostolic. Upon the death of this Pope, he resigned and returned to Vicenza, his native city. Both in Rome and Vicenza, the Saint devoted himself as a member of pious confraternities to promoting the glory of God and the salvation of souls. After a while he went to Venice and took up his abode in the hospital of that city. Having returned to Rome, he formed the idea of founding a society in which the members would endeavour to live like the Apostles of Old. Some of his companions were John Peter Caraffa, Pope Paul IV, Paul Consiglieri and Boniface de Colle. This began the Order of Regular Clerics, now known as Theatines. This Order was approved by Pope Clement VII in 1524. As Cofounded of the Theatine order, he became an important figure of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. With the future Pope Paul IV, St. Cajetan founded the first congregation of Clerks Regular, a new form of institute which corresponded with the needs of the time. Trust in God was its principal rule; its members were forbidden to ask for alms and depended entirely on the spontaneous charity of the faithful. Such was Cajetan’s zeal in seeking the salvation of souls that he came to be called “the hunter of souls.”

During the sack of Rome by the Constable de Bourbon, St Cajetan was treated cruelly. In 1530, he succeeded Caraffa as General of the Order and filled the office for three years. In spite of his numerous occupations the St. Cajetan spent many hours of the day (about 8 hours daily) in prayer and was often favored with extraordinary ecstasies. Worn out by labors, he died in at Naples, on August 7, 1547, and was canonized in 1671 by Pope Clement X. St. Cajetan is the Patron Saint of Job Seekers; Unemployed, Bankers, Workers.

PRAYER: God, who endowed the Priest Saint Cajetan with the grace of imitating the apostolic way of life, grant us, through his example and intercession, to trust in you at all times and to seek unceasingly your Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever… Amen. May we not rest until the labour is completed. Amen. Saint Cajetan, pray for us.🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

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

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 15: 21-28

” O woman, great is your faith!”

“At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.”

In today’s Gospel reading, our Lord Jesus Christ had an unusual interaction with a pagan Syro-Phoenician woman who had come to seek His help with regards to her very sick daughter. The Syro-Phoenician region was outside the lands where the Israelites lived in, and at that time, that region was also not where the descendants of the Israelites lived in, and therefore the Syro-Phoenician woman in the reckoning of the Jews would be considered as an outsider and a pagan. And for many among the Jews, the Syro-Phoenician like the other Gentiles were considered unworthy and unclean, and it was often taboo for a Jew like the Lord Jesus Himself to mingle and interact with the non-Jews like the Syro-Phoenician woman. Not only that, but the Jews at that time also had a rather exclusive and elitist view of themselves as God’s chosen people, and looking down on others who did not believe in God as they did. The meeting between Jesus and the pagan woman is unusual in that Jesus seems to be much colder towards her than is usually the case in His dealings with people who approach Him for help. He seems to go out of His way to avoid responding to her plea, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’; ‘it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house dogs’, where the ‘children’ are the people of Israel and the ‘house dogs’ are the pagans. The Gospel reading puts before us a pagan woman of tenacious faith. The initial response of Jesus to her desperate cry for help was one of silence. When the woman persisted with her request and Jesus addresses her directly for the first time, He seems to dismiss her request in a rather harsh fashion. Just as the woman was not put off by Jesus’ silence, she is not put off by His seemingly harsh refusal. She takes Jesus’ image of feeding the children rather than the house-dogs, the people of Israel rather than the pagans, and turns it to her own advantage. Eventually Jesus acknowledges her persistent and humble faith and grants her request. The Gospel reading suggests that as far as Jesus was concerned the time had not yet come to bring the Gospel to pagans; it would come later, after His death and resurrection. Yet, this woman succeeded in bringing forward that timetable by her persistent faith in the face of the Lord’s great reluctance. Jesus spoke at one point of a faith that can move mountains. This woman’s faith certainly moved Jesus. This pagan woman encourages all of us to remain faithful, even when the grounds for faithfulness seem to be very weak. She inspires us to keep seeking the Lord, even when the Lord appears to be silent, unresponsive and distant. The Lord’s seeming unresponsiveness can be an opportunity for us to keep giving expression to our faith, just as it was for the pegan woman in today’s Gospel reading.

In our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, God would restore His people, the Israelites once again, to be His blessed and beloved people, restored and empowered, saved and liberated from their troubles just as He had done for them many times previously. These words of the Lord which He spoke to His people, the remnants of the Israelites living in the kingdom of Judah, would indeed come true in the upcoming decades. And these came after the Lord has spoken of all the misfortunes, destructions and hardships that they all would have to encounter in their path, as they had disobeyed Him and disregarded His Law, His commandments and precepts, and thus, they would have to endure the consequences of their actions. This showed us all that God truly loves each and every one of His people, but He does not condone their actions. As a loving Creator and Father to His people, as their Lord, Master and King, God has always cared for them all as He has constantly shown throughout history and as recorded in the Old Testament, but at the same time, as a just and holy God, as mentioned, He does not condone their sinfulness, wicked actions and deeds that are contrary to the way and the teachings which He had passed on to them. He does not want any one of them to be swayed into the wicked path in life, into the path of darkness from which there could be no escape or hope. That was why God chastised His people, punishing them and correcting them but with the ultimate intent of leading them all towards Himself and restoring them to the state of grace together with Him. God does not desire our destruction, as it was us who have willingly chosen to reject His salvation and grace. God remembers the Covenant which He had made and established with His people, and through Jeremiah, He wanted to remind them with all of that, that while He abhorred their sins and wickedness, but He still wanted them all to return to Him and to repent from their many sins and evils before it was too late for them. That is why, it is also a very important reminder for all of us that we should not take God’s love, compassion and mercy for granted. God has always been very patient with us, but at the same time, we must realise that if we continue to resist Him and refuse His love and kindness, it may come to pass that it ends up too late for us to accept God’s favour, love and mercy, and when it is too late for us, it is by all those sins and wickedness that we shall be judged by, and we shall be condemned by all those wicked and evil attitudes which we have carried out in our lives.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded of the love of God which He generously ever poured down upon us, showing us His mercy, love and compassion, just as we have often been reminded of. At the same time, we are also reminded to seek the Lord and His mercy, His forgiveness and love, just as how the Syro-Phoenician woman had done in our Gospel reading today, that our sincere and strong desire to seek the Lord, to find His love, mercy and compassion shall liberate us from the bondage of our wickedness and sins, and deliver us into a renewed life blessed and strengthen by God and His grace. God has always loved and been kind to us, and He has also always been full of mercy and forgiveness for us, but we have to be cooperative with Him, allowing Him to come to us, to transform our lives for the better. Therefore, let us all remind ourselves that we all should have strong and genuine faith in the Lord, devoting our time and effort to follow Him wholeheartedly. Let us all continue to follow in the good examples and in the footsteps of our holy predecessors, particularly like that of the Saints we celebrate today, Pope St. Sixtus II and St. Cajetan. Let us all continue to walk in the path which the Lord has shown us, and continue to show our love for God and for our fellow brethren, in all and every one of our actions, words and deeds in life, now and always. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace and empower us to have sufficient faith and trust in the Lord to enable Him work through us always, now and forevermore. Amen🙏

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 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. 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 Saving Lord, You are truly the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of God. You and You alone deserve all honor, glory and praise. As I come to know You as You are, please fill me with a deep trust and unwavering faith in You. May I persevere through all things and never cease to put all my hope in You. 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 Sixtus II & Companions and Saint Cajetan ~ 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 month of August and week🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 6, 2024

FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION: REMINDER – The 2024 Novena for the Assumption of Mary into Heaven begins today, Tuesday, August 6 and end 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 and Happy Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord!

On this special feast day, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for justice, peace and unity in our families and our divided and conflicted world. We 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 | August 6, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 6, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |August 6, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 6, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 6, 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: Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Tuesday, August 6, 2024
Reading 1, Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 97:1-2, 5-6, 9
Reading 2, Second Peter 1:16-19
Gospel, Mark 9:2-10

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION: REMINDER – The 2024 Novena for the Assumption of Mary into Heaven is scheduled to begin today, Tuesday, August 6 and end 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

SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD | MEMORIAL OF SAINT MARIA FRANCESCA RUBATTO, RELIGIOUS ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 6TH: Today is the celebration of the Feast of the Transfiguration when we recall Christ’s divinity showing forth on Mount Tabor. On this day, we also celebrate the Memorial of Saint Maria Francesca Rubatto, Religious. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary on this special feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ, we humbly 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. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We also pray for those going through difficulties especially during these challenging times, for the poor and the needy. And we continue to pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world.🙏

FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD: The Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord takes place on August 6th, an event mentioned in all three synoptic Gospels.The Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord is when we recall Christ’s divinity showing forth on Mount Tabor. We celebrate the occasion on which Christ, as He was beginning to teach His disciples that He must die and rise again, revealed Himself in shining splendor to Peter, James, and John. Moses and Elijah were present, and are taken to signify that the Law and the Prophets testify that Jesus is the promised Messiah. God the Father also proclaimed Him as such, saying, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” (Matthew 17:5). Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record that the voice of God was heard, confirming Jesus as His son (Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:6, Luke 9:35). Peter and John make specific reference to the event in their writings, as confirming Jesus’ divinity and His status as the Messiah (2 Peter 1:17, John 1:14). This event foreshadowed the glorious Resurrection and Ascension of Christ that would occur after His death on the Cross. This is the beginning of a 40 day before until the Feast of the Holy Cross. The Transfiguration anticipates the glory of heaven, where we shall see God face to face. Through grace, we already share in the divine promise of eternal life. “The purpose of the Transfiguration was to encourage and strengthen the Apostles who were depressed by their Master’s prediction of His own Passion and Death. The Apostles were made to understand that His redeeming work has two phases: The Cross, and glory—that we shall be glorified with Him only if we first suffer with Him.”

This feast in the West was observed after the ninth century by some monastic orders, and became widespread in the West in the 11th century. In 1457 Pope Callistus III ordered its general observance in the Roman calendar to commemorate the victory over Islam in Belgrade. Before that, the feast day was mainly celebrated only in the Syrian, Byzantine, and Coptic rites. In his address before the Angelus on August 6, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI described how the events of the transfiguration display Christ as the “full manifestation of God’s light.” This light, which shines forth from Christ both at the transfiguration and after His resurrection, is ultimately triumphant over “the power of the darkness of evil.” The Pope stressed that the feast of the Transfiguration is an important opportunity for believers to look to Christ as “the light of the world,” and to experience the kind of conversion which the Bible frequently describes as an emergence from darkness to light. “In our time too,” Pope Benedict said, “we urgently need to emerge from the darkness of evil, to experience the joy of the children of light!” Patron Saint of pork butchers; Borgomasino, Italy.

PRAYER: O God, who in the glorious Transfiguration of your Only Begotten Son confirmed the mysteries of faith by the witness of the Fathers and wonderfully prefigured our full adoption to sonship, grant, we pray, to your servants, that, listening to the voice of your beloved Son, we may merit to become co-heirs with him. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever… Amen🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

Bible Readings for today, Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ Mark 9:2–10

“This is my beloved Son”

“Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them. As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.”

In today’s Gospel reading, on the mount of transfiguration, the disciples had a memorable experience. They saw Jesus as they had never seen Him before, transfigured, His clothes dazzling white. Today’s feast recalls a moment in the life of Jesus when He appeared radiant to His disciples on a mountain. Jesus went up that mountain to pray and His prayerful communion with the Father left Him radiant; in the words of the Gospel reading, ‘He was transfigured: His face shone like the sun’. Perhaps at the heart of this transforming experience for Jesus was the sense that He had in prayer of God’s unconditional love for Him, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved’ was the message from God that the disciples heard. If we could grasp with our hearts God’s unconditional love for us, we too would be transfigured. Bathed in the light of God’s love from which nothing can separate us, we would be radiant. That is how we could think of heaven, as an experience of God’s unconditional love, which transforms us, bringing all that is good in us to perfection.

The transfiguration scene in the Gospels comes immediately after Jesus had spoken of Himself of the Son of Man who must undergo great suffering and be killed. Jesus and the disciples had just set out on the journey to Jerusalem, the city where Jesus would be crucified; it was the beginning of the way of the cross, the way to the cross. Shortly after they began that journey, three of the disciples have an extraordinary vision of Jesus in which they saw him not as the suffering Son of Man but as the glorious Son of God. They were, in a sense, given a glimpse of what lay beyond the crucifixion and death of Jesus, a glimpse of the resurrection. Sometimes on our own faith journey, our own way of the cross even, we too can be given a glimpse of the resurrection. It might take the form of a consolation that we experience in prayer, or an act of love and kindness that someone shows us, or just a sense of the Lord’s presence as we go about our daily tasks, perhaps His presence in nature. We are journeying ultimately towards the Lord, journeying towards resurrection, but the risen Lord is also journeying with us, and every so often he will make his presence felt if we are alert and awake to him, if, in the words of the Gospel reading, we try to listen to Him.

In the Gospel reading, St. Peter is enchanted by the vision of the glorious Jesus, flanked by Moses and Elijah, and he wants to prolong this experience for as long as possible, ‘Master, it is wonderful for us to be here’. Peter struggled to learn that there could be no glory without the cross. The voice from the cloud called on Peter, and on James and John, to listen to Jesus, the beloved Son of God, especially when He spoke of Himself as the suffering Son of Man. It took a long time for Peter and the other disciples to understand that God was as present in the darkness of Calvary as he was in the wonderful light of the transfiguration and resurrection. Hopefully we have all known transfiguration moments when, with Peter, we say, ‘It is wonderful for us to be here’. We will certainly have known Calvary moments when such a sentiment would have been very far from our lips. The Lord is equally present to us in both of those very different experiences. In both our moments of darkness and of light, God says to us, ‘this is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to Him’, because the Lord speaks as powerfully to us in the darkness as in the light. The Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible says of the heavenly Jerusalem, the eternal city, ‘The city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light’. As God invited the disciples on the mountain to see Jesus more deeply, He invites us to see each other more deeply, to relate to each other in a way that acknowledges the wonder of our being. We can fail to appreciate what is all around us. God calls us to cherish and celebrate the wonder of life all around us, as the disciples celebrated the wonder of Jesus on the mountain, at Mount Tabor.

Our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Daniel, gives an account of the heavenly vision that Daniel received regarding two figures, One was named as the One of Great Age, while the other One was named as the Son of Man. This vision of Heaven and all of God’s glory clearly indicated and revealed to all of us of the true nature of the Messiah or the Saviour that had been long awaited by the people of God. This is so, because in the heavenly vision of Daniel, he saw not just God in all of His majesty, glory and power, but he also witnessed and saw the Son of God, the One Who would be sent into the world to be the One through Whom God would fulfil and exercise His plan to save all of His beloved ones, in Jesus Christ, His Son, Our Lord and Saviour. Daniel saw how the One of Great Age, Who is the Father, granting dominion, power and authority to the Son of Man, His beloved and begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Son of God, to be the One to establish anew the Eternal and New Covenant with each and every one of us, and to bring forth unto us the long-awaited salvation and liberation from all the tyranny and dominion of sin and evil. Kingship and dominion have been granted to Him, the One to be born as the Son and Heir of David, so that God might indeed fulfil the promises He made to David, how the House of David and his throne would last forever. This is because Christ Himself, Who has embraced our humanity and being born into this world, is to become its King and Master, the Lord over all universe and Creation, to reign over us all forevermore.

In our second reading from St. Peter the Apostle in his Epistle, he who wrote about the experience of the Transfiguration, in which he himself and the other two of the Apostles, St. James and St. John, personally experienced at Mount Tabor. He spoke of the experiences that they had, when their Lord and Master was transformed before their very own eyes, revealing His divinity and power, that He was not just mere man like any others, or like any other prophets and servants of God in the past, but that He is a Being far greater than any others, even as compared to Moses and Elijah who had also made an appearance at the moment of the Transfiguration. Jesus Christ, the Transfigured Lord and Messiah, was indeed not just a mere Man, but also God Himself in the flesh. This is exactly what our Christian faith truly believes in, in the central tenet of belief in the person of Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Saviour, He Who is both Son of God and Son of Man, having two distinct, unique and yet inseparable natures united in His one Person, with two Natures, both Divine and Human, being distinct and yet inseparably united in a perfect union of love in the Person of Jesus, the Transfigured Lord and Messiah. The Transfiguration of the Lord is therefore a revelation of Who the Lord Jesus truly is, and what His agenda and will is for us, what His ministry and works entailed for us, in all that He would do for the sake of our salvation and liberation from the tyranny of sin and death. And at the same time, His glorious Transfiguration is also a premonition and prefigurement of what will happen to us at the end of days, if we remain truly faithful to Him and stay on His path.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures on this special Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, let us all remind ourselves and one another this day, that as we rejoice and celebrate the glorious memory of the Transfiguration of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, let us all commit ourselves once again anew in the path that the Lord has shown us, and obey Him, in all that He has told us and taught us to do in our lives. Let us all turn away from the wickedness of the world and from all the allures of sin and evil, and obey the Lord ever more wholeheartedly from now on. Let us all walk down this path of faith from now on, together with Christ, Who is journeying and walking with us, leading us down this path of faith, calling upon us to trust in Him. There will be hardships, challenges and trials likely facing us in our journey forward, but we must always remain firm in faith, reminding ourselves ever always, of the glory and true joy of our future Transfigured selves, in the hope and light of the Resurrection. One day, with the Lord, we shall no longer suffer anymore, and everything will be all good and right again just as the Lord has always intended for us. In the meantime, let us all be exemplary, inspirational and great role models of our Christian faith and living in all of our words, actions and deeds, in our every interactions and efforts, good works and endeavours for the greater glory of God. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace and may the Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, Who has been Transfigured in glory at Mount Tabor, continue to shine His light upon us and help us in our journey and dedication towards Him, now and always, that we too may be the shining beacons of His light and truth, in every occasions and opportunities. Amen 🙏

SAINT OF THE DAY: SAINT MARIA FRANCESCA RUBATTO, RELIGIOUS: On this special Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Maria Francesca Rubatto. St. Maria Francesca Rubatto  (1844– 1904) is the religious name for Anna Maria Rubatto, an Italian Roman Catholic nun. She was the founder of the Capuchin Sisters of Mother Rubatto. Most of her work was done in Uruguay where she died at the age of 59 in 1904. She was canonized by Pope Francis on May 15, 2022, and is Uruguay’s first canonized saint. St. Maria Francesca of Jesus Rubatto was born on St. Valentine’s day, February 14, 1844, Carmagnola, Italy, one of eight children from an Italian family. St. Maria Francesca was only four years old when her father died, and when she was a teenager, Anna Maria received an offer of what would have been a comfortable marriage to a local notary. She turned him down, however, because as a child, she had made a vow of virginity and was determined to keep it. When she was 19, her mother also died and Anna Maria, now alone, moved about 18 miles south to the city of Turin. There she befriended an Italian noblewoman named Marianna Scoffone, who recognized the girl’s goodness and soon became her patroness. Though Anna Maria had received little formal education, she was nonetheless an intellectually gifted individual and, with the support of Scoffone, began to teach catechism to the children in the local parishes. She also visited the sick in the Cottolengo Hospital and generally tended to the needs of the suffering and neglected in Turin.

Anna Maria remained with Scoffone for the next 19 years until the latter died in 1882. Now 38 years old, Anna Maria’s next vocation would make itself known in a rather unusual way. One morning after Mass at the Capuchin church in Loano, Italy, Anna Maria was startled by a cry from a nearby convent that was under construction. A stone had fallen on the head of a young worker and, because of her experience helping with the sick, Anna Maria was able to clean the wound and tend to the young man and gave him money so that he could recover from his injury. The sisters of the convent took notice of Maria for this act of charity and desired that she join their community. As it happened, the religious sisters who were to live in the building were looking for a spiritual guide and leader. They discerned that the incident with the young man was the sign they were looking for and a Capuchin priest convinced Anna Maria to enter their community. A year later she did and took the name Sister Maria Francesca of Jesus. The local bishop, Bishop Filippo Allegro, soon made her the superior of the order, which became known as the Institute of the Capuchin Sisters of Mother Rubatto. Under her leadership, the congregation grew, both in Italy and in the New World. St. Maria Francesca had a desire to serve in the overseas missions, and in 1892 left Italy and crossed the Atlantic Ocean to South America. They established a mission in Montevideo, Uruguay, as well as in Argentina and deep within the rain forests of Brazil. In all, Mother Rubatto crossed the Atlantic seven times in order to support her sisters in both Europe and South America and was responsible for opening 18 Capuchin houses in 20 years. Mother Maria Francesca Rubatto died of natural causes in Uruguay on August 6, 1904, Montevideo, Uruguay. She is buried in Montevideo where she had given so much of herself to the poor. St. Maria Francesca Rubatto was canonized on May 15, 2022, Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City by Pope Francis. Her feast day is August 6th.

Saint Maria Francesca Rubatto, Religious ~ 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 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. 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 transfigured Lord, You are glorious beyond imagination, and You revealed a small glimpse of this glory to Your disciples to help them trust You more fully. May I also trust in You more completely, knowing that all You have spoken to me is true. Please remove any doubt and fear in my life so that nothing keeps me from embracing Your holy will. 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 and St. Maria Francesca Rubatto ~ 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 month of August and week🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 5, 2024

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION: REMINDER – The 2024 Novena for the Assumption of Mary into Heaven is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, August 6 and end 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 and Happy Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time! 

On this special feast day, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for justice, peace and unity in our families and our divided and conflicted world. We 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 | August 5, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 5, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |August 5, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 5, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 5, 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: Monday, August 5, 2024
Reading 1, Jeremiah 28:1-17
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 119:29, 43, 79, 80, 95, 102
Gospel, Matthew 14:13-21

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION: REMINDER – The 2024 Novena for the Assumption of Mary into Heaven is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, August 6 and end 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 – https://www.virgosacrata.com/novena-to-our-lady-of-the-assumption.html]

SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST OF THE  DEDICATION OF THE BASILICA OF SAINT MARY MAJOR; SAINT EMYGDIUS, BISHOP AND MARTYR AND SAINT OSWALD, KING AND MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY – AUGUST 5TH: Today, we celebrate the Feast of the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Dedication of The Church of Our Lady of The Snow), we also celebrate the Memorial of Saint Emygdius, Bishop and Martyr and Saint Oswald, King and Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast of Our Lady of the Snow, we humbly 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. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray against earthquakes and other calamities. We also pray for those going through difficulties especially during these challenging times, for the poor and the needy. And we continue to pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world.🙏

FEAST OF THE  DEDICATION OF THE BASILICA OF SAINT MARY MAJOR: Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major previously known as Dedicatio Sanctae Mariae ad Nives (Dedication of The Church of Our Lady of The Snow). This is one of the four great Papal Major Basilicas, and the greatest of all the Marian churches and basilicas dedicated to Mary, the Blessed Mother of God. It Commemorates the Dedication of the restored Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, by Pope Sixtus III, just after The First Council of Ephesus. This Major Basilica, located on the summit of The Esquiline Hill, in Rome, Italy, is called the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Latin: Sancta Mariae Majoris) because it is the largest Church in Rome that is Dedicated to The Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast commemorates the miracle of the snowfall that occurred during the night of August 4-5 in the year 358 on the site where the basilica now stands. According to tradition, the miracle, which inspired the construction of the papal Marian basilica, involved a miraculous snowfall in Rome on August 5 in the year 358. The name came from the ancient legend that during the pontificate of Liberius, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in a dream to two wealthy childless faithful Roman Christians, patrician John and his wife as well as to Pope Liberius (352-366), asking that a church be built in her honor on the site where snow would fall on the night of August 4-5. The couple had no heirs, they prayed to know how their fortune should be used for God. Our Lady answered them in a dream and asked that a church be built in her honor. As a result, they vowed to give all their possessions to the Virgin Mary, and prayed that she would show them how to dispense of their treasures. She also appeared in a dream to the Holy Father with the same request. Then, on the night of August 5, 358, in the middle of the hot Roman summer, snow fell on the summit of the city’s Esquiline hill. All of Rome proclaimed it a miracle, and a basilica was built on the spot according to the outline of the pattern of snow in obedience to a vision of Mary the couple had that night. Pope Liberius traced the outlines of the church in the snow and the first basilica was built on that site. It was completed about a century later by Pope Sixtus III (432-440), after the Council of Ephesus in 431 during which Mary was declared to be the Mother of God. Sixtus III enlarged and consecrated it under the title of the Virgin Mary about the year 435. The principal facade was added in 1741 by Benedict XIV. It bears the title of St.Mary Major, or the Greater, because it is in dignity, if not in antiquity, the first church in Rome among those dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. Saint Mary Major is one of only four Basilicas that, today, hold the Title of Major Basilica. The other three Basilicas are Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter’s and Saint Paul-outside-the-Walls.

The church, the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major), is the largest church in the world, and one of the first, dedicated to Our Lady. Among the four major papal basilicas in Rome, St. Mary Major is the only one that maintained its original structure. Mosaics dating back to the 5th century can be seen in the central nave of the basilica, which also houses the relic of the Holy Crib from the birth of Christ. From the fact that the holy crib of Bethlehem is preserved in this church, it also bears the title of Sancta Maria ad Praesepe (at the Crib). St. Mary Major is one of the three patriarchal churches in which the Pope officiates on certain occasions, and in which there is an altar reserved only for him, St. Peter’s and St. John Lateran being the others. The Church universal commemorates the consecration of the four great Roman basilicas. By means of these feasts the Church seeks to link all Christians with the Holy See. In honor of the special day, a shower of white flowers is dropped from the ceiling of the Basilica, now known as Saint Mary Major, to commemorate the “Miracle of the Snow” in 358. This great celebration of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major should serve as a moment for us all to recall the role of the Blessed Mother of God, Mary, in the history of our salvation. Through her, we have received the Saviour of the world, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

PRAYER: Forgive the sins of your people. May we who cannot please You by our unaided efforts attain salvation through the intercession of the Mother of Your Son. Amen 🙏

SAINT EMYGDIUS, BISHOP AND MARTYR: St. Emygdius, also called Emidius, lived in the 3rd and 4th century and he was a pagan of Trier, Germany, who became a Christian bishop in Ascoli Piceno in Italy. Tradition states that he was killed during the persecution of Diocletian. He converted many people to Christianity with his displays of miracles. His legend states that he was a pagan of Trier who became a Christian. He traveled to Rome and cured the paralytic daughter of his host Gratianus, who had let him stay with him at his house on Tiber Island. Gratianus’ family then converted to Christianity. St. Emygdius also cured a blind man. The people of Rome believed him to be the son of Apollo and carried him off by force to the Temple of Aesculapius on the island in the Tiber, where he cured many of the sick. St. Emygdius declared himself a Christian, however, and tore down the pagan altars and smashed into pieces a statue of Aesculapius. He also converted many to Christianity; this enraged the prefect of the city. Because of a number of miracles performed including curing the sick, Pope St. Marcellus I or Pope Marcellinus made him a bishop and sent him to Ascoli Piceno. On his way to Ascoli, St. Emydgius made more conversions, and performed a miracle where he made water gush out of a mountain after striking a cliff.

When St. Emygdius arrived, Polymius, the local governor, attempted to convince St. Emygdius to worship Jupiter and the goddess Angaria, the patroness of Ascoli. Polymius also offered him the hand of his daughter Polisia in marriage. Instead St. Emygdius baptized her as a Christian in the waters of the Tronto, along with many others. Enraged, Polymius decapitated him on the spot now occupied by the Sant’Emidio Red Temple, as well as his followers Eupolus (Euplus), Germanus, and Valentius (Valentinus). St. Emygdius stood up, simply carried his own head to a spot on a mountain where he and his followers had constructed an oratory (the site of the present-day Sant’Emidio alla Grotte). After Emygdius’ martyrdom, his followers attacked Polymius’ palace and pulled it down. St. Emygdius’ relics are in Ascoli, where he suffered martyrdom with Eupolus, Germanus, and Valentius. The translation of his relics from the catacomb of Sant’Emidio alla Grotte to the crypt of the cathedral happened probably around the year 1000 under Bernardo II, bishop of Ascoli Piceno. St. Emygdius is considered to have protected Ascoli from other dangers. A dazzling vision of St. Emygdius is said to have deterred Alaric I from destroying Ascoli in 409. The troops of Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor passed through the region in 1038 carrying the plague; Bernardo I, bishop of Ascoli, invoked St. Emydgius’ aid and the plague stopped. When, in 1703, Ascoli Piceno was spared destruction during an earthquake, people put it down to the hand of Saint Emygdius. He has ever since been invoked against the effects of earthquakes. During World War II, on October 3, 1943, St. Emygdius is said to have protected the city against German movements against the Italian partisans. He is a Patron Saint against earthquakes.

Saint Emygdius, Bishop and Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT OSWALD, KING AND MARTYR: St. Oswald, the holy Martyr and King was born in the year 604, being the son of the pagan King Aethelfrith of Bernicia. In 616, following on the death of his father who was defeated and killed by Raedwald, he was forced to flee with his six brothers and sister St. Ebba to exile in Scotland, where they were received with honor by King Donald Brecc. There he received the faith of Christ and was baptized on the holy island of Iona. When his uncle, King St. Edwin of Northumbria, was killed in battle against pagan King Penda of Mercia and Welsh King Cadwallon in 633, Oswald assembled an army and in 634 defeated a superior force under Cadwallon, who was killed in a battle near Hexham, and Oswald became King of Northumbria.

St. Oswald attributed his victory to a vision he had had of St. Columba promising him victory and to a huge cross he had erected the night before the battle. The cross was said to have survived for over a century, and St. Bede reported that small pieces of the cross were immersed in water and the water used to heal both cattle and humans of illness. St. Bede the Venerable commemorates his deeds. He brought St. Aidan to his kingdom to preach Christianity, gave him the island of Lindisfarne for his see, and acted as his interpreter. He built churches and monasteries, brought in monks from Scotland to bring his people back to Christianity, and was known for his personal piety and charity. He married Cyneburga, daughter of Cynegils, first Christian king of Wessex, and died a few years later, on August 5, while fighting against the superior forces of Penda at Maserfield. He was only thirty-seven at his death. St Oswald was celebrated for his heroism, his generosity and his piety.

Saint Oswald, the holy Martyr and King ~ Pray for us 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

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

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 14:13-21

“The feeding of the five thousand; They all ate as much as they wanted”

“When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, He withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” He said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over– twelve wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus planned to go away with His disciples to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. However, a crowd of people got there ahead of them, wanting to be in the presence of Jesus. Far from getting upset or annoyed, He had compassion on the crowd and began to heal their sick. The needs of others always come first for Jesus; His own plans will always come second to their needs. The Lord is always there for each one of us. When we come before Him, we are never disturbing Him. He lives to serve us just as much today as during His public ministry. As the day wore on, Jesus disciples recognized that people were getting hungry. The obvious solution to this problem for the disciples was to send the crowds away to buy food in the neighbouring villages. However, Jesus saw a different solution to their need for food; He would feed them Himself, with the help of the disciples. The disciples brought the little food the crowd had to Jesus and, in some mysterious way we don’t understand, Jesus fed the crowd so that everyone was satisfied. Having served the crowd by healing their sick, He now served them by feeding them, satisfying their hunger. The actions of Jesus over the bread – taking, blessing, breaking, giving – remind us of what Jesus would go on to do at the last supper and of what happens at every Mass. At every Mass, Jesus in His compassion continues to feed us, not with bread and fish, but with Himself, the Bread of Life. If the Lord is always there for us, He is there for us in a very special way at every Eucharist. He then sends us out from Mass to feed others with His presence, as the disciples fed the crowd with the food Jesus provided. Today’s Gospel reading suggests that the Lord will always encourage us to take on some service of others, even when we may feel that our resources are inadequate. If we are generous with those few resources, the Lord will then work with them and through them in ways that will surprise us. The Lord can work wonders through the very ordinary and sometimes unpromising looking resources and gifts that we possess. We have to do our bit, like the disciples in the Gospel reading, but the Lord always does much more. Yet, if we are not willing to do the little we can with what we have, the Lord’s own capacity for ministry to others is curtailed. The Lord needs our resources, small and inadequate as they may seem, to continue His good work among us and in the world.

Our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah talks about the moment when there was a confrontation between Jeremiah and one called Hananiah before the king of Judah, Zedekiah, who also happened to be the last king of Judah before its destruction. Hananiah was a false prophet because he was not sent by God and did not speak according to whatever He has willed and desired, but instead presented his own thoughts and false ideas to the king and people of Judah. There were also others like him, the other false prophets who had led Judah and its people astray ever further from God, even as the Lord had constantly reminded His people through Jeremiah and many of his predecessors. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of God’s truth, telling them how Judah’s days were numbered and the kingdom would soon be destroyed by the Babylonians, the city and the Temple, the House of God would soon be destroyed as well. On the other hand, Hananiah spoke to the king and to the people of Judah the message that they wanted to hear, the message of false comfort and consolation as he spoke of how the yoke of Babylon would be destroyed and that the kingdom and people of Judah would be freed from their enemies. Hananiah and the other false prophets were pandering to try to gain favours with the king and the people by telling them whatever they wanted to listen to, all the good things and happy things which were indeed nice to be listened to, but which could not be further from the truth. According to historical and Scriptural evidences, they were also aligned with many within the kingdom of Judah then who were trying to align the kingdom with the forces of the Egyptians, hoping that their politics and alliances would be able to regain Judah its independence and freedom from Babylon. Unfortunately, it was exactly this which led to the ultimate downfall and destruction of Judah, just as Jeremiah had told the people.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, on this feast of the dedication of the basilica of Saint Mary Major (Our Lady of the Snows), we are all reminded that we are all God’s children, and His mother is also our mother. All of us should follow the examples that our Lord Himself and His blessed Mother have shown us, and refrain ourselves from continuing to live in the state of sin and disobedience against God. The Lord and His mother Mary have called us all to leave behind our past wickedness and sins, and come once again into the loving embrace and His saving grace, and through Mary’s help we truly can make this a reality. We are told of the story of God’s enduring love and kindness for each and every one of us, while at the same time He also wants us to turn away from all sorts of wickedness and evils, all the sins which we have committed in our respective lives. We must not easily be swayed and tempted by all the temptations and falsehoods present all around us in this world, which many of our predecessors had been tempted by, and led to them falling into the path of wickedness of sin, distancing themselves from God’s grace and love. We are all reminded that God has always loved each and every one of us, and He desired for all of us to be reunited and reconciled fully with Him, and that was why, He has reached out to us through His loving Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and also His Blessed Mother, Mary, whom we commemorate today. Let us all therefore first remind ourselves of God’s great love, and consider just how fortunate we are to have been loved in such a manner by the Lord. And then, let us all continue to propagate and showcase this great love of God in our world today, by living our own lives worthily in the path that God has shown and taught us. May the Lord, our most loving God and Master, be with us always, and may His blessed Mother Mary, our Patroness and Protectress, our blessed mother and gentle guide, continue to help us and intercede for us sinners. May the Lord be with us all His Church and faithful ones, may we all be strengthened and encouraged to live our lives with ever greater faith from now on. And may God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to remain steadfast in our faith, even in our weakness, may our Mother, Holy Blessed Virgin Mary, Holy Mother of God, pray for us your children, we who are sinners and unworthy, now and always. Amen.🙏

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, 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. 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. 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:

Most generous Lord, You pour forth Your grace and mercy in superabundance. As I receive all that You bestow, please fill my heart with generosity so that I will never hesitate to offer Your mercy to others. Please use me as Your instrument, dear Lord, so that, through me, You may abundantly feed others. 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, Our Lady of the Snow; Saint Emygdius and Saint Oswald ~ 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 month of August and week🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖