We continue to celebrate and rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, today, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel. And we also celebrate the Memorial of Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Abbot; Saints Cletus and Marcellinus, Popes and Martyrs; and Saint Rafael Arnáiz Baron, Religious (Patron Saint of Diabetics and World Youth Day ).
Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick, we particularly pray for those suffering from diabetes and those who are terminally ill and dying. May God in His infinite grace and mercy grant them His divine healing and intervention. We also pray for the Church, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Clergy, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, for all youths and Christians all over the world.
OUR LADY OF GOOD COUNSEL is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, after a painting said to be miraculous, now found in the thirteenth century Augustinian church at Genazzano, near Rome, Italy. Over the centuries, devotions to Our Lady of Good Counsel grew among saints and Popes, to the extent that a reference to it was added to the Litany of Loreto and the devotion spread throughout the world.
On the Feast of St. Mark, April 25, 1467, at the close of a festival in Genazzano, Italy, a cloud descended upon an ancient 5th-century deteriorated church, dedicated to Our Lady of Good Counsel. When the cloud disappeared, the festive crowd found a small, fragile image of the Blessed Virgin and Child on a thin sheet of plaster. The painting is said to have hung in mid-air, suspended without support, floating, on a small ledge. This particular fresco is said to date to the time of the Apostles. It had long been venerated in Albania’s capital city, Scutari. Much of the church of Our Lady of Good Counsel was destroyed in World War II, but the image remained intact and in place. The miraculous image is still there today after more than 500 years. Countless miracles have been attributed to the prayerful intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Many pilgrims visit the church in Genazzano, and take part in the annual spring celebration, observed on April 25. Elsewhere in the world, the feast is celebrated April 26. Our Lady of Good Counsel is the Patron Saint of Albania, Missionary Sisters of Saint Peter Claver, Augustinian Province of Midwest US, Parañaque City, Philippines, Mother of Good Counsel Minor Seminary.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed are thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen🙏🏽
PRAYER: O Holy Virgin, to whose feet we are led by our anxious uncertainty in our search for and attainment of what is true and good, invoking you by the sweet title of Mother of Good Counsel, we beseech you to come to our assistance, when, along the road of this life, the darkness of error and of evil conspires towards our ruin by leading our minds and our hearts astray. O Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea, enlighten the doubtful and the erring, that they be not seduced by the false appearances of good; render them steadfast in the face of the hostile and corrupting influences of passion and of sin. O Mother of Good Counsel, obtain for us from your Divine Son a great love of virtue, and, in the hour of uncertainty and trial, the strength to embrace the way that leads to our salvation. If your hand sustains us, we shall walk unmolested along the path indicated to us by the life and words of Jesus, our Redeemer; and having followed freely and securely, even in the midst of this world’s strife, the Sun of Truth and Justice under your maternal Star, we shall come to the enjoyment of full and eternal peace with you in the haven of salvation ~ Amen🙏🏽
SAINT PASCHASIUS RADBERTUS, ABBOT: St. Paschasius was an orphan abandoned on the steps of the convent of Notre-Dame de Soissons, France, at the beginning of the 9th century. He was adopted and raised by the nuns there and sent to the monks of St. Peter’s, Soissons, for his education. He became very fond of the abbess, Theodrara. Theodrara was sister of St Adalard of Corbie (C 751-827) and St Wala of Corbie (c 755–836), two monks (and both abbots prior to Paschasius) whom he admired greatly. Interested in the Latin classics, Paschasius spent a few years in the world before becoming a monk at Corbie, where he excelled in sacred studies. In 822, he was sent to found New Corbie in Westphalia and brought fame to the Corbie schools. He served as Master of Novices and later as Abbot for seven years, although he never became a priest.
For some years the Saint retired to the Abbey of Saint-Riquier and ended his life at Corbie about 865. His most well-known and influential work is an exposition on the nature of the Eucharist written around 831, entitled De Corpore et Sanguine Domini. Among his prolific works are commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew and the Book of Lamentations, the forty-fourth Psalm, biographies of St. Adalhard of Corbie and his brother Wala, and what is regarded as the first scientific monograph on the Holy Eucharist.
PRAYER: Lord, amid the things of this world, let us be wholeheartedly committed to heavenly things in imitation of the example of evangelical perfection You have given us in St. Paschasius the Abbot. Amen 🙏🏽
SAINT CLETUS AND MARCELLINUS, POPES AND MARTYRS: St. Cletus (1st c.) and St. Marcellinus (3rd c.) were both Romans, popes, and martyrs who ruled the Holy See during the terrible persecution of Christians at the hands of the Roman Empire. Both served as Popes two centuries apart. SAINT CLETUS.was a convert and disciple of St. Peter the Apostle who became the third Bishop of Rome for twelve years from 76 to 89 A.D., under the reigns of Roman Emperors Vespasian and Titus. His name appears in the Roman Canon of the Mass. While SAINT MARCELLINUS was the twenty-ninth Bishop of Rome from 296 to 304 A.D. during the infamous persecution of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, on the eve of the legalization of Christianity across the Empire. What they share is that their pontificates occurred during times of great torture and persecution for professing Christians under Roman rule. Reflecting on the lives of Popes Cletus and Marcellinus puts into perspective the trials the faithful now are facing. Statues of these two Popes of the early Church sit on opposite corners of the portico ceiling of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. They share a feast day on April 26th.
PRAYER: Lord, hear the prayers of the martyrs Sts. Cletus and Marcellinus and give us courage to bear witness to your truth. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever…Amen 🙏🏽
SAINT RAFAEL ARNÁIZ, RELIGIOUS: St. Rafael was born in Burgos, Spain (April 9, 1911- April 26, 1938). He was a trappist monk and he is considered one of the greatest mystics of the twentieth century. He studied architecture in Madrid, but decided to cease his studies in favor of the religious life. This was often interrupted due to his struggle with diabetes and his being called for active service. But these never hindered his religious call and he did as best as he could to deal with his diabetes through his constant life of reflection and writing on spiritual subjects in his letters. Throughout 1937 and early 1938 his condition worsened and Rafael died from complications of diabetes on April 26, 1938. He was beatified on September 27, 1992 by Pope John Paul II and was canonized a saint of the Catholic Church by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009. St. Rafael Arnáiz is the Patron Saint of Diabetics and World Youth Day
“The angels and the saints rejoice at the sight of men on earth who struggle, suffer and labor for the love of Christ”. ~ Rafael Arnaiz Baron’s Quote
PRAYER: O God, you made Saint Rafael an outstanding disciple in the knowledge of Christ crucified. Helped by his example and prayers to love you above all things.
May our hearts be enlarged, so that we may run with inexpressible sweetness of love along the way of the cross and deserve to share the life and joy of the risen Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever… Amen🙏🏽