Author: Resa

TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 16, 2024

Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Monday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time!

Today, on this special feast day, we humbly pray for those seeking for the fruit of the womb, we pray for difficult marriages, for all widows and widowers, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. We pray for the poor and needy. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the gentle repose of the souls of our loved ones who recently passed away, we particularly pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and we continue to pray for the repose of 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 and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

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

We continue to pray for our children and children all over the world. With special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we pray for their safety and well-being, especially those beginning the new school year. May God grant them the courage to face new challenges and wisdom to make good choices. We pray for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and for God’s guidance and protection upon them during this school year and always. We pray for safe travels, to and from school. We also pray for all teachers, staff and parents, and guardians. May the good Lord provide for those in need. And we continue to pray for the Clergy, persecuted Christians, for peace, love, justice and unity in our families and our world. May God keep us all safe and well. Amen 🙏

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” ~ James 1:5

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | September 16, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | September 16, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes France” | September 16, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| September 16, 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, September 16, 2024
Reading 1, First Corinthians 11:17-26, 33
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 40:7-8, 8-9, 10, 17
Gospel, Luke 7:1-10

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT CORNELIUS, POPE AND CYPRIAN BISHOP, MARTYRS; SAINT NINIAN, BISHOP; SAINTS EUPHEMIA, LUCY AND GEMINIANUS; SAINT JUAN MACIAS (JOHN MASSIAS), RELIGIOUS AND BLESSED POPE VICTOR III ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 16TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs; Saint Ninian; Saints Euphemia, Lucy and Geminanus; St. Juan Macias (or John Massias) and Blessed Pope Victor III. 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 who are mentally and physically ill, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, 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…. Amen🙏

SAINT CORNELIUS, POPE AND CYPRIAN, BISHOP, MARTYRS: The Church commemorates the martyred saints Cornelius (c. 180-253) and Cyprian (210-258) on the same day, as their lives were intertwined during a critical period for Christianity: at the time of the persecutions of Decius, Cyprian and pope Cornelius were in favor of readmitting to communion the lapsi (“lapsed” meaning “slipped”), i.e. those who had in various ways denied Christ.

SAINT CORNELIUS, POPE: Pope St. Cornelius (d. 253 A.D.) was a Roman citizen and a holy priest who became the twenty-first successor to the chair of St. Peter, (251-253), following a fourteen-month vacancy when Pope St. Fabian was martyred by Roman Emperor Decius. When the Emperor temporarily left Rome, the persecution against the Christians subsided long enough for the Church to elect St. Cornelius as the new Roman Pontiff. During Pope St. Cornelius’ two year reign a great controversy arose as to what to do with Catholics who apostatized from the Christian faith under threat of death during the persecution. Many were being received back to the sacraments without any penance. In response to the scandal, some maintained that apostates could not be forgiven and could only be admitted back to the sacraments if they were re-baptized. Chief among them was a priest named Novatian, who, as a result of the scandal, caused a schism when he had himself consecrated as an anti-pope. In response, Pope St. Cornelius convened a synod of bishops to confirm his rightful authority as Pope. Novatian was excommunicated and his doctrine was condemned as heresy. Pope St. Cornelius proclaimed that the Church had the power and authority to forgive repentant apostasy, and that converted apostates could be readmitted to the sacraments after true contrition with adequate penance. Soon a new wave of persecution against the Christians broke out, on account of his successful preaching the pagans banished Pope St. Cornelius, he was driven into exile by the emperor Gallus to Centumcellae and martyred. St. Cyprian sent him a letter of condolence. At the time of Pope Cornelius there were at Rome forty-six priests, seven deacons, seven subdeacons, forty-two acolytes, fifty-two clerics and more than five hundred widows who were supported by the Church. With the help of St. Lucina, St. Cornelius transferred the remains of the princes of the apostles to places of greater honor. St. Cornelius died a Martyr, in 253. He’s the Patron Saint against ear ache; against epilepsy; fever; cattle; domestic animals. His feast day is celebrated on September 16th.

SAINT CYPRIAN, BISHOP: St. Cyprian of Carthage (190-258) is second in importance only to the great Saint Augustine as a figure and Father of the African church. He was a close friend of Pope Cornelius, and supported him both against the anti-pope Novatian and in his views concerning the re-admittance of apostates into the Church. Born Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus to wealthy pagans around the year 190 at Carthage in Africa, where his father was one of the principal senators. He was educated in the classics and in rhetoric. His proficiency in stud was such that he became public professor of Rhetoric in his native city, illustrious as a pagan rhetorician in Carthage. After a rather dissolute life, he was converted at the age of 56, through the influence of a priest named Caecilian, and was formed at his school. He embraced the true faith in the year 246, led a retired penitential life, gaining renown for his virtue and being raised to the priesthood, ordained a priest a year later, and consecrated bishop of that city two years after that. In 248, he was appointed to succeed Donatus as Bishop of Carthage and became a model pastor. He was an energetic shepherd of souls and a prolific writer. He defended the unity of the Church against schismatic movements in Africa and Italy, and greatly influenced the shaping of Church discipline relative to reinstating Christians who had apostatized. In a short span, St. Cyprian led his flock through a two-year persecution under Decius, defended the unity of the Church against two schismatical movements, was the soul of the city’s morale during a devastating plague. He fled during the Decian persecution but guided the Church by means of letters, kept up the spirits of his people by constant correspondence. In 258, this saintly man fell victim to a new persecution that erupted under Valerian. On September 14, 258, he was martyred by beheading during the persecutions of the emperor Valerian. He suffered martyrdom in the presence of his flock, after giving the executioner twenty-five pieces of gold.

St. Cyprian writings are of great importance, especially his treatise on The Unity of the Catholic Church, in which he argues that unity is grounded in the authority of the bishop, and among the bishops, in the primacy of the See of Rome.  In, “The Unity of the Catholic Church,” St. Cyprian writes, “You cannot have God for your Father if you do not have the Church for your mother…. God is one and Christ is one, and his Church is one; one is the faith, and one is the people cemented together by harmony into the strong unity of a body…. If we are the heirs of Christ, let us abide in the peace of Christ; if we are the sons of God, let us be lovers of peace.” St. Jerome says of him: “It is superfluous to speak of his greatness, for his works are more luminous than the sun.” Cyprian ranks as an important Church Father, one whose writings are universally respected and often read in the Divine Office. His principal works are: On the Unity of the Church; On Apostates; a collection of Letters; The Lord’s Prayer; On the Value of Patience. He’s the Patron Saint of Algeria; North Africa.

PRAYER: God, You gave people Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian as zealous Priests and courageous Martyrs. Through their intercession, let us be strengthened in faith and persistence so that we may work strenuously for the unity of the Church. Amen 🙏

SAINT NINIAN, BISHOP: The first apostle of Christianity in Scotland. He was born in Cumbria of Christian parents c. 360 and was educated in Rome. He became a priest and was consecrated a bishop, probably by Pope Siricius, after which he was sent to evangelize Scotland. He landed there in 397 at Whithorn near Solway Firth, where he built a stone cathedral called Candida Casa (‘White House’). He died c. 432 and was buried at Whithorn. The name of this early Christian missionary to Scotland lives on in New Scotland, where under his patronage, the Cathedral stands as a monument to the faith and courage of generations past.

SAINTS EUPHEMIA; LUCY AND GEMINIANUS, MARTYRS: These martyrs bore witness to Christ under Diocletian in the fourth century. Euphemia died at Chalcedon, and Lucy and Geminian in Rome. Veneration of St. Euphemia, a virgin of Chalcedon martyred under Diocletian, was condemned to the wild beasts. This happened in 307 A.D. Over her tomb was built the basilica in which assembled the Council of Chalcedon in 451. St. Euphemia was also venerated in the East and West, especially in Italy. At Rome, The Holy Martyrs Lucy, holy martyr of Syracuse, a noble lady, and Geminianus, were beheaded by order of Emperor Diocletian, about 300 A.D.

SAINT EUPHEMIA: On this day at Chalcedon, the virgin Euphemia was martyred under the emperor Diocletian and the proconsul Priscus. For faith in Our Lord she was subjected to tortures, imprisonment, blows, the torment of the wheel, fire, the crushing weight of stones, the teeth of beasts, scourging with rods, the cutting of sharp saws, burning pans, all of which she survived. But when she was again exposed to the beasts in the amphitheatre, praying to our Lord to receive her spirit, one of the animals having inflicted a bite on her sacred body, while the rest licked her feet, she yielded her unspotted soul to God.

SAINTS LUCY AND GEMINIANUS: At Rome, Lucy, a noble matron, and Geminian, were subjected to most grievous afflictions and a long time tortured, by the command of the emperor Diocletian. Finally, being put to the sword, they obtained the glorious victory of martyrdom. Saint Lucy was a wealthy Roman lady who was a widow of thirty-six years when the persecution of Diocletian (284-304) and Maximian (286-305) broke out in 303. Therefore she was seventy-five years old when her son Eutropus, who was darkened by idolatry, denounced her as a Christian and had her brought before Diocletian. St. Lucy boldly confessed her faith in Christ before the emperor, and reproved him for worshiping idols in vain. For this she was placed inside a cauldron of burning pitch, in which despite her feeble age she endured for three days. When Diocletian heard that she was still alive, he ordered her to be dragged around the city, with weights loaded on her body, while she was insulted by the populace.

When Lucy was paraded by the house of Geminianus, the statues of Roman gods in his home shattered miraculously and a dove made the sign of the Cross over the head of Geminianus. He followed Lucy, asking for instruction in the Christian faith as well as baptism. For this he too was brought before the emperor and imprisoned with Lucy, whom she instructed and took as her spiritual son. A priest named Protasius helped him with his request for baptism, and seventy-five people were converted to Christianity by the example of Geminianus. After three months in prison an Angel of the Lord conveyed Lucy and Geminianus to Taormina in Sicily and from there to Mendilas, where they converted many pagans to Christianity. And when persecution came to the faithful of that region, Lucy took refuge in the mountains, where she delivered her soul in peace to the Lord, while Geminianus accomplished his martyrdom by being beheaded. For Lucy,: In peace, O Christ, your servant Lucy passed, Entering into a place of peace. For Geminianus: Full of courage the Martyr Geminianus, Staunchly endured beheading by the sword.

SAINT JUAN MACIAS (JOHN MASSIAS), RELIGIOUS: St. Juan de Macias (1585-1645), Dominican lay brother at Lima, Peru, a friend of St. Martin de Porres. He was born in Ribera, Spain, to a noble family but orphaned at a young age. He went to Peru to work on a cattle ranch before entering the Dominicans at Lima as a lay brother, assigned as the porter. He was known for his austerities, miracles, and visions. St. Juan Macias was beatified with St. Martin de Porres in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and was canonized in 1975 by Pope Paul VI.

BLESSED POPE VICTOR III: He was elected in 1086 and described as a man of “unusual holiness” and he much preferred to remain the abbot of his beloved Monte Cassino monastery than become Pope. Reluctant and also gravely ill, Victor had a short and unremarkable Papacy. Victor is one of the few Popes to be buried outside of St. Peter’s basilica. His body is entombed in the chapter-house of Monte Cassino (where he did his greatest work), but it was briefly moved to Rome during World War II for safekeeping. Pope Victor III was beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1887.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY: At Rome, at a place on Via Flaminia, ten miles from the city, the holy martyrs Abundius, priest, and Abundantius, deacon, who the emperor Diocletian caused to be struck with the sword, together with Marcian, an illustrious man, and his son John, who they had raised from the dead. At Heraclea in Thrace, St. Sebastiana, martyr, under the emperor Domitian and the governor Sergius. Being brought to the faith of Christ by the blessed Apostle St. Paul, she was tormented in various ways and finally beheaded. At Cordova, the holy martyrs Rogellus and Servideus, who were decapitated after their hands and feet had been cut off. In Scotland, St. Ninian, bishop and confessor. In England, St. Editha, virgin, daughter of the English king Edgar, who was consecrated to God in a monastery from her tender years, where she may be said to have been ignorant of the world rather than to have forsaken it. And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins. May all the Saints on this feast day intercede for us all~ Amen🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Readings for today, Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091624.cfm

Gospel Reading ~ Luke 7:1-10

“Not even in Israel have I found such faith”

“When Jesus had finished all his words to the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die, and he was valuable to him. When he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and save the life of his slave. They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, “He deserves to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us.” And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed. For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him and, turning, said to the crowd following him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” When the messengers returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus was astonished at the faith of the Roman centurion, ‘I tell you not even in Israel have I found faith like this’. The centurion had just shown a trusting faith in the power of Jesus’ word to heal his servant from a distance, ‘Give the word and let my servant be cured’. The church has shared the astonishment of Jesus at the faith of this pagan because his act of faith has made its way into the text of the Mass. We say a version of the centurion’s words just before we receive the Lord in the Eucharist. Jesus sometimes found great faith in unexpected quarters and often failed to find faith where he had most expected to find it. In a sense, the faith of the centurion exemplifies the faith we are all called to have. He believed and trusted in the power of Jesus’ word, even when Jesus was not physically present to him. Jesus is not physically present to us either and, yet, like the centurion, we are asked to believe and trust in his word. The gospels show that, when it comes to Jesus, physical seeing is not always believing, whereas there can be believing in the absence of physical seeing, as was the case with the centurion. At the end of John’s gospel, Jesus declares blessed those who have not seen and yet believe, a beatitude that embraces us all. Jesus may not be physically present to us, but He is present to us in creation, in his Word, in the Sacraments, in the community of faith, deep within our own hearts, through the Holy Spirit. All these ways that the Lord is present to us is a sufficient basis for our faith, the kind of trusting faith displayed by the Roman centurion in today’s Gospel reading.

In our first reading today from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Corinth in which the Apostle spoke to them all about the moment of the Last Supper, which he himself had not attended or been present in, as he was then not yet a disciple of the Lord, but which the tradition of the Apostles and their witnessing of everything that had happened were passed down to the faithful, telling them all of everything that the Lord had said and done, and which He had commanded all of them to do, to commemorate His ultimate sacrifice on the Cross, and giving them the power and authority, through the Apostles and their successors, our bishops and priests, to offer the same sacrifice of Calvary and through union to that supreme moment of selfless love and sacrifice, giving to each and every one of us, the very Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord. That is what our Holy Eucharist is all about, and our firm belief that God Himself has given His own Body and Blood for us all to partake, He Who called Himself as the Bread of Life and as the Lamb of God, Who has willingly allowed Himself to be persecuted and led to the slaughter, and by Whose suffering and death had opened for us all the gates of Heaven and the path to eternal life. He Himself has said that whoever partake of His Body and Blood will not perish but have eternal life with them, and that His Body is real food and His Blood is real drink, and the Eucharist that we have received from the hands of our bishops and priests are the exact same Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord. This is our core tenet and faith in the transubstantiation of the bread and wine, that while both the bread and wine may still appear and seem to be bread and wine in appearance, in taste and senses, but we believe that what we partake is the Lord Himself.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded that the Lord has given us truly great grace and wonderful blessings through His Son, by which He has granted us all not just His love and kindness, manifested in the flesh and having become tangible and approachable to us, but He also gave us all none other than His own Most Precious Body and His Most Precious Blood, which He willingly and generously gave to us all from His Cross, as He laid there suffering and dying, nailed to the Cross, by which He would save and redeem each and every one of us. Through His love and ultimate sacrifice, all of us have received the assurance of salvation, and we should indeed respond to His love with our faith and trust. Let us all therefore be inspired by the great examples of our holy predecessors and do whatever we can so that our lives may truly be faithful to God, and that we may truly have faith in Him, believing wholeheartedly in Him and trusting in His guidance and help in all the things that we say and do in our respective lives. May all of us continue to walk faithfully in God’s Holy Presence, and do our very best so that we may always glorify Him by our exemplary lives, our every words, actions and deeds, now and always, forevermore. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to believe in Him, and serve the Lord with humility. May the Lord be with us always, may He bless our every efforts and endeavours and continue to strengthen us in our faith in Him and help us to love Him, now and in each and every moments of our lives. Amen.🙏

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER:

MONTH OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS:
September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as our Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa)! Since the 16th century, Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The Church dedicates the month of September to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15th.  Devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary dates from the twelfth century, when it made its appearance in monastic circles under the influence of St. Anselm and St. Bernard.

This devotion recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary’s spiritual martyrdom in virtue of her perfect union with the Passion of Christ. This was her role in salvation history and what merited her place as the spiritual Mother of all Christians. This is symbolized by a single sword, or seven swords, piercing Mary’s suffering heart, as foretold in Simeon’s prophecy. Traditionally the Church meditates on the “Seven Sorrows” of our Blessed Mother: the prophecy of Simeon; the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt; the loss of the Child Jesus for three days; the meeting of Mary and Jesus as He carried His cross; Jesus’ crucifixion and death; Jesus’ sacred body taken down from the cross; and Jesus’ burial. All the sorrows of Mary (the prophecy of Simeon, the three days’ loss, etc.) are merged in the supreme suffering at the Passion. In the Passion, Mary suffered a martyrdom of the heart because of Our Lord’s torments and the greatness of her love for Him. “She it was,” says Pope Pius XII, “who immune from all sin, personal or inherited, and ever more closely united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and motherly love. As a new Eve, she made this offering for all the children of Adam contaminated through his unhappy fall. Thus, she, who was the mother of our Head according to the flesh, became by a new title of sorrow and glory the spiritual mother of all His members.” The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa) is September 15th.

INVOCATIONS: Mary most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us. Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us 🙏🏾

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=762

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER – FOR THE CRY OF THE EARTH: We pray that each one of us will hear and take to heart the cry of the Earth and of victims of natural disasters and climactic change, and that all will undertake to personally care for the world in which we live.

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, and 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:

Saints of God, please offer to Jesus my humble request that I grow more in humility and faith. My precious Lord, I do bring this and all my prayers to You. As I do, I acknowledge that I am not worthy of Your Divine Mercy. But through the mediation of the saints in Heaven, if it be Your will that You bestow Your mercy upon me, then I humbly make this request of You through them. Mother Mary, I especially entrust all my prayers to Your holy intercession. 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 Blessed Mother Mary; Our Lady of Sorrows; Saints Cornelius and Cyprian; Saint Ninian; Saints Euphemia, Lucy and Geminanus and Blessed Pope Victor III ~ Pray for us 🙏

Thanking God for the gift of this day and praying for justice, peace, love, and unity in our families and our world and for God’s Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all. Have a blessed, safe, grace-filled and fruitful week and month of September!🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B)

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 15, 2024

[Not celebrated as a liturgical memorial this year since it falls on Sunday]

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | Novena link below

Greetings and blessings, beloved family. Happy Sunday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time [Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows]!

Today, on this special feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we humbly pray for those seeking for the fruit of the womb, we pray for difficult marriages, for all widows and widowers, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. We pray for the poor and needy. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the gentle repose of the souls of our loved ones who recently passed away, we particularly pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and we continue to pray for the repose of 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 and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

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

We continue to pray for our children and children all over the world. With special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we pray for their safety and well-being, especially those beginning the new school year. May God grant them the courage to face new challenges and wisdom to make good choices. We pray for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and for God’s guidance and protection upon them during this school year and always. We pray for safe travels, to and from school. We also pray for all teachers, staff and parents, and guardians. May the good Lord provide for those in need. And we continue to pray for the Clergy, persecuted Christians, for peace, love, justice and unity in our families and our world. May God keep us all safe and well. Amen 🙏

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” ~ James 1:5

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | September 15, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | September 15, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes France” | September 15, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| September 15, 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: Sunday September 15, 2024
Reading 1, Isaiah 50:4-9
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 116:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
Reading 2, James 2:14-18
Gospel, Mark 8:27-35

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/nine-day-prayer-for-life-novena-to-our-lady-of-sorrows-283

The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15.  This “Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows” devotion includes prayers honoring each of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as Mater Dolorosa, is a title given to our Blessed Mother and focuses on Mary’s profound suffering and grief during the seven painful events she endured during her life as the mother of Jesus. We thank God for granting us the grace to successfully complete the Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Readings for today, Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) | USCCB| https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel (USA) Mark 8:27–35

“You are the Christ.…the Son of Man must suffer greatly”

“Jesus and His disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to Him in reply, “You are the Christ.” Then He warned them not to tell anyone about Him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. At this He turned around and, looking at His disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” He summoned the crowd with His disciples and said to them, “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 and that of the Gospel will save it.”

In today’s Gospel reading, according to the Gospel of St. Mark, the Lord asked His disciples about who they thought He was, and the disciples uttered different answers, on whether He was a Prophet or Holy Man of God, but St. Peter courageously spoke the truth before everyone, stating that He was the Messiah, the Saviour Whom the Lord had promised, the Son of God Most High. Then, the Lord told them all that He would suffer and be persecuted just exactly as how the prophet Isaiah had predicted and prophesied that He would. This was met with the confusion and consternation from the disciples of the Lord, and a strong objection from St. Peter who tried to argue with the Lord and dissuade Him from carrying out such a mission. This was when the Lord rebuked Satan who had been tempting St. Peter and the other disciples, while He Himself also kept His courage and commitment, dedication and desire to save us all strong, to obey fully and wholeheartedly the will of His heavenly Father. This was one of Satan’s many attempts to distract, persuade and coerce the Lord from completing His mission, and to tempt Him much as he had once successfully tempted away Adam and Eve to disobey God and to fall into sin. But the Lord Jesus obeyed perfectly and completely, dedicating Himself wholly, willingly humbling and emptying Himself of all glory and power, to embrace each and every one of us so that we may receive through Him and from Him the promise of eternal life and salvation.

In the Gospel reading, the first question that Jesus asked His disciples was easy to answer. ‘Who do people say I am?’ The disciples knew what people were saying about Jesus; He was John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the prophets. The second question Jesus asked required more thought, ‘But you, who do you say I am?’ Peter answered Jesus’ question on behalf of the other disciples, ‘You are the Christ’, the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. Jesus did not dispute this title, but it was an ambiguous title that had different meanings for different people. When Jesus went on to speak of Himself as the Son of Man who was destined to suffer grievously and who would soon be put to death. St. Peter’s very negative reaction to what Jesus said showed that this wasn’t the kind of Messiah he had in mind. St. Peter was thinking of a glorious, triumphant, Messiah. Jesus’ subsequent rebuke of St. Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan!’, must have shaken St. Peter to the core. St. Peter wanted Jesus to be spared suffering and Jesus probably wanted to be spared of suffering too, which is why He experienced St. Peter’s negative reaction as a strong temptation that He had to firmly reject. Jesus knew that if it was to be true to His mission to reveal God’s love for all, He would have to travel the way of the cross. St. Peter had a lot to learn about who Jesus really was.

The question Jesus put to His disciples is addressed to us all, ‘Who do you say I am?’ It is one of those questions we never answer fully in this life. When it comes to Jesus we always have more to learn, more to see, and that will be so until that eternal moment beyond this earthly life when we will see Him face to face, and we will know Him as fully as He now knows us. It is clear from Jesus’ rebuke to Peter that if we are to really know who Jesus is we have to look upon the suffering Son of Man. When we look upon Jesus on the cross, what do we see? We see someone whose loving commitment to God and to all humanity was so complete that he was prepared to lose everything for it. We see someone who stood ready to lose His life for our sake and for the sake of the Gospel that He preached. It is above all on the cross that Jesus reveals Himself as someone who loves us with a love that is faithful even when we fail Him, a love that endures to the end and beyond into eternity. As Jesus hung from the cross there was an explosion of God’s love for all humanity, for each one of us. We can each say with Saint Paul in his letter to the Galatians, ‘I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me’. When Peter rebuked Jesus for suggesting that He would be a suffering Messiah, he hadn’t yet understood the depth of Jesus’ love for him and for all. Genuine human love has the power to draw us in. Jesus once said, ‘When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself’. We are drawn to Jesus on the cross not because we are fascinated by suffering but because we sense the power of God’s love drawing us. Saint Paul once wrote of Christ crucified as ‘the power of God and the wisdom of God’.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus goes on to say, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let them renounce themselves, take up their cross and follow me’. Jesus wasn’t talking about passively accepting the sufferings and losses that come our way in life. He was calling on us to commit ourselves in love to him and to each other, just as He has committed Himself in love to us, and to be true to that loving commitment even though it may mean the way of the cross, a dying to ourselves. It is a call to be His faithful disciple just as He has shown himself to be our faithful Shepherd. He is calling on us to keep choosing to serve Him in love by our loving service of others, especially those in greatest need, as St. James in the second reading reminds us. This will often mean denying ourselves and taking up the cross, in the sense of saying ‘no’ to our natural love of ease, comfort and convenience. Yet, this is the way of Jesus and He promises us that if we follow in His way we will save our lives. We will be fully alive in the here and now and we will inherit the fullness of life beyond death.

Our first reading this Sunday gives an accounts of the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which the prophecy of the Suffering Servant or the Suffering Messiah, as the prophet highlighted the prophecy from God on the coming Servant and Man of God Who would have to suffer grievously for the sake of everyone. This account is a reminder for all of us of the mission which the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Our Lord and Saviour, had to take up in order to save us all from eternal damnation and destruction. This prophecy of the prophet Isaiah would indeed be a strange prophecy to the Israelites and their descendants, as God did promise them the coming of His Saviour and salvation, but they could not comprehend why this Saviour must suffer and endure bitter challenges, oppressions and difficulties in doing so. But this is where we are reminded that as Christians, each and every one of us must not only have faith but we must also act and live our lives in the manner that is compatible and in accordance to the faith which we have in the Lord.

In our second reading this Sunday from the Epistle of St. James the Apostle, the famous phrase uttered by St. James the Apostle was highlighted to us, that is ‘faith without good works is dead’. This is an important tenet and part of our Christian faith and beliefs, as each and every one of us are reminded that if our faith is not made complete with real and authentic actions, good works and efforts in accordance to that faith, then our faith would not have existed or been genuine in the first place, and hence, we will be found wanting by the Lord on the Day of Judgment. This is actually misunderstood, some thinking that our Catholic faith and true belief in the Lord involved us gaining entry into Heaven and righteousness, justification and salvation through our good works and efforts. These who misunderstood this truth and reality failed to understand that we are ultimately still saved and justified by our faith in God, but such a faith cannot be devoid of true and genuine commitment to God. It is entirely possible for one to profess to have faith in God and yet, his or her faith may be empty and meaningless faith, namely a faith that is merely superficial and external, and does not translate into true and enduring relationship with God, or faith that is truly rooted in our strong and vibrant belief in God, in our genuine and loving relationship with Him. That is why each and every one of us are reminded by St. James the Apostle to live our lives and embody our faith most genuinely through our efforts, works and contributions in life, in each and every one of our words, actions and deeds, our various interactions with one another and our commitment to love and serve the Lord among other things. We should not be Christians who are merely paying lip service to our faith in the Lord. Instead, we should always aspire to love the Lord wholeheartedly, in each and every moments in our lives, remembering as always His love and kindness, His compassion and mercy towards us, particularly in how He has done so much for us, in enduring the worst of sufferings, oppressions, humiliations and pain for the sake of our salvation and for our reconciliation with Him.

As we reflect on the words of the Lord in the Sacred Scriptures this Sunday, we are all reminded to put our faith and trust in the Lord, and not to allow ourselves be easily swayed by the temptations of worldliness, and by the fears, uncertainties and doubts that we may have in our hearts and minds. Instead we have to continue to put our faith and trust in the Lord, and do our very best at all times so that our lives may truly be exemplary and be full of faith and righteousness, that in everything which we say and do, we will continue to proclaim the Lord and His truth, and that our lives may be truly sincere and worthy in all things, our faith truly vibrant, living and real, and not merely empty proclamations of faith and belief, but one that truly embody our love for God. Let us all therefore renew our efforts and convictions so that we can continue to walk ever more faithfully in God’s Holy Presence. If we have not truly devoted ourselves wholly and completely in the Lord’s path, let us all continue from now on, changing our paths and our commitments, so that we no longer merely obey His Law and commandments by external obligations and appearances. Instead, let us all commit ourselves anew and dedicate ourselves in each and every moments to follow the Lord ever more faithfully and wholeheartedly from now on. Let us no longer be idle in how we live our lives and faith, and let us all no longer be ignorant of our responsibilities and calling in life as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people in all the things we say and do, in every moments of our lives. May the Lord, our ever loving God and Father, our Creator and Master, continue to guide and strengthen us in our journey of faith through life. May He empower each and every one of us with the strength and courage to continue devoting ourselves to the Lord, in each and every moments of our lives.

As we commemorate this Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, let us all reflect first of all on everything that the Lord, our God and Saviour had done for our sake, in His ever enduring and wonderful love, in reaching out to us with love and in sacrificing Himself for our sake so that through Him we may have life and not perish. Then we also should remember the love that His mother Mary has shown us all, and how we have been entrusted to her as her own adopted children. She has always prayed and interceded for our sake, and wanted the best for us, ever reminding us to turn towards her Son and to be righteous and good at all times. Let us all therefore ask our beloved Mother Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, to continue to love us patiently and to not be sorrowful anymore, by our commitment and desire to repent from our sins and by our efforts to live our lives with faith from now on, making good use of all the opportunities given to us, in each and every moments to be exemplary in life and to inspire one another to follow the Lord and to be ever faithful always. In our reflection on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, what cross are we bearing in our lives? What discomforts are we enduring for the sake of the Gospel? Is it sickness in the family, repeated failure in business, disappointments from loved ones, heartaches from our children? Whatever cross God has deemed fit to place on our shoulders, we can be sure that if we bear these difficulties with Christ, they will become channels of strength and life for us. On this Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary, may God grant us the grace to trust in Him and carry our individual and collective crosses amid the storms and battles in our lives and follow Him. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to look to Our Lady of Sorrows as our inspiration and our support. May the Lord be with us always and may His blessed Mother, Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, our Mother, pray for us always. Amen.🙏

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 15TH [Our Lady of Sorrows
Not celebrated as a liturgical memorial this year since it falls on Sunday]

Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for those seeking for the fruit of the womb, we pray for difficult marriages, for all widows and widowers, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for the poor and needy. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, 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…. Amen🙏

OUR LADY OF SORROWS: The feast of Our Lady’s Sorrows (Our Lady’s Seven Sorrows or Mater Dolorosa – Mother of Sorrows) has its origin in Christian devotion which finds it fitting to associate her with the Passion of her Son.This feast is celebrated on the September 15, the day after the feast of the Holy Cross to show the close connection between Jesus’ Passion and Mary’s Sorrows. The title, Our Lady of Sorrows, given to our Blessed Mother focuses on her intense suffering and grief during the passion and death of our Lord. This feast dates back to the 11th and 12th centuries. Devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady has its roots in Sacred Scripture and in Christian piety, which always associates the Blessed Mother with her suffering Son and became widespread in the Church around the 14th century.

The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows commemorates the seven great sorrows which Mary lived in relation to Her Son, as they are recorded in the Gospels or through Tradition. Today we are invited to reflect on Mary’s deep suffering: As Mary stood at the foot of the Cross on which Jesus hung, the sword of sorrow Simeon had foretold pierced her soul. Jesus is ‘destined to be a sign that is rejected’ and, as for Mary, ‘a sword will pierce your own soul too’. It was revealed to St. Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373) that devotion to Our Lady’s Seven Sorrows would bring great graces. Mary, in a unique way, willingly suffered alongside her Divine Son as he gave his life to save the world, and she felt the bitterness of his passion as only a mother can. This devotion is especially remembered during September, the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows, and during the season of Lent.

Below are the seven sorrows of Mary:

1. At the prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35): “You yourself shall be pierced with a sword – so that the thoughts of many hearts may be laid bare.”
2. At the flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15): “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt.”
   3.Having lost the Holy Child Jesus at Jerusalem for three days (Luke 2:41-50): “You see that your father and I have been searching for you in sorrow.”
3. Mary meets Jesus on His way to Calvary (Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17)
4. Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (John 19:25-30): Standing at the foot of the Cross; “Near the cross of Jesus there stood His mother.”
5. The body of Jesus being taken from the Cross (Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-37)
6. At the burial of Jesus (Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:40-47)

Prior to the Second Vatican Council, there were two feasts devoted to the sorrows of Mary. The first feast was insitituted in Cologne in 1413 as an expiation for the sins of the iconoclast Hussites.  The second is attributed to the Servite order whose principal devotion are the Seven Sorrows.  It was institued in 1668, though the devotion had been in existence since 1239 – five years after the founding of the order. Today’s feast was introduced by the Servites in order to intensify devotion to Our Lady’s Sorrows. In 1817 Pius VII—suffering grievously in exile but finally liberated by Mary’s intercession—extended the feast to the universal Church. The feast was especially promoted by the Cistercians and the Servites, so much so that in the 14th and 15th centuries it was widely celebrated throughout the Catholic Church. In 1482 the feast was added to the Missal under the title of “Our Lady of Compassion.” Pope Benedict XIII added it to the Roman Calenda in 1727 on the Friday before Palm Sunday. In 1913, Pope Pius X fixed the date on September 15. The title “Our Lady of Sorrows” focuses on Mary’s intense suffering during the passion and death of Christ. ” The Seven Dolors,” the title by which it was celebrated in the 17th century, referred to the seven swords that pierced the Heart of Mary. This feast is dedicated to the spiritual martyrdom of Mary, Mother of God, and her compassion with the sufferings of her Divine Son, Jesus. In her suffering as co-redeemer, she reminds us of the tremendous evil of sin and shows us the way of true repentance. May the numerous tears of the Mother of God be conducive to our salvation; with which tears Thou, O God, art able to wash away the sins of the whole world. By offering her Son for us, she became our Mother and we became her children. Patron Saint of people named Dolores, Dolais, Deloris, Dolorita, Maria Dolorosa, Pia, and Pieta.

The Memorare: Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen 🙏

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.🙏

OTHER SAINTS OF THE DAY: SAINT NICOMEDES OF ROME, MARTYR ON THE VIA NOMENTANA AND ST CATHERINE OF GENOA, WIDOW – FEAST DAY~ SEPTEMBER 15TH

On this Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, we also celebrate the Memorial of Saint Nicomedes of Rome, Martyr of the Via Nomentana and Saint Catherine of Genoa, Widow.

SAINT NICOMEDES OF ROME, MARTYR ON THE VIA NOMENTANA: St. Nicomedes was an early Roman martyr of unknown era (approximately 71 A.D.). The Roman Martyrologium and the historical Martyrologies of Bede and his imitators place the feast on this date. The Gregorian Sacramentary contains under the same date the orations for his Mass . The name does not appear in the three oldest and most important manuscripts of the “Martyrologium Hieronymianum”, but was inserted in later recensions (“Martyrol. Hieronymianum”, ed. De Rossi-Duchesne, in Acta SS., Nov., II, 121). The saint is without doubt a martyr of the Roman Church. He was buried in a catacomb on the Via Nomentana near the gate of that name. Three seventh century Itineraries make explicit reference to his grave, and Pope Adrian I restored the church built over it (De Rossi, “Rome Sotterranea”, I, 178-79). A titular church of Rome, mentioned in the fifth century, was dedicated to him (titulus S. Nicomedis). Nothing is known of the circumstances of his death. The legend of the martyrdom of Sts. Nereus and Achilleus introduces him as a presbyter and places his death at the end of the first century. Other recensions of the martyrdom of St. Nicomedes ascribe the sentence of death to the Emperor Maximinianus (beginning of the fourth century). St. Nicomedes was buried not far from the walls of Rome on the Via Nomentana, and the pious faithful built a “cemetery basilica” above his tomb.

Saint Nicomedes of Rome, Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT CATHERINE OF GENOA, WIDOW: St. Catherine (1447–1510) was noble in birth, rich, and exceedingly beautiful, born into an aristocratic family in Genoa, Italy. She was a quiet, obedient and holy child who devoted herself to prayer and penance. At the age of 13 she made an attempt to enter a convent, but was rejected. At the age of 16 she consented to a marriage arranged by her family for political and financial gain. Her husband was faithless and violent, and their marriage was miserable. St. Catherine did not bear any children, and for the first five years lived as a hermit in her fine home. After this time, upon her family’s rebuke of her solitude, she began to engage in the kind of social activity expected for her state in life. She somewhat relaxed the strictness of her life and entered into the worldly society of Genoa. This only increased her weariness and depression, and led to the loss of her religious fervor. St. Catherine prayed earnestly for assistance in her trouble. Taking the advice of her sister, who was a nun, St. Catherine went to confession, and through the sacrament had a profound mystical experience in which she clearly saw the depth of her sinfulness contrasted with the depth of God’s love. From that point on she renewed her commitment to rigorous prayer, penance, and works of mercy, and God continued to favor her with mystical visions. St. Catherine later won the conversion of her husband, and they were received into the Third Order of St. Francis. Together they cared for the poor and sick in the Genoa hospital, over which St. Catherine became administrator. St. Catherine’s husband after amended his evil ways and he died penitent. St. Catherine’s mystical visions were recorded by her confessor toward the end of her life, the most famous being her Treatise of Purgatory. St. Catherine of Genoa wrote a treatise on Purgatory and a Dialogue between the soul and body—two outstanding documents of Christian mysticism. Her heroic fortitude was sustained by the constant thought of the Holy Souls, whose sufferings were revealed to her, and whose state she has described in a treatise full of heavenly wisdom. A long and grievous malady during the last years of her life only served to perfect her union with God, till, worn out in body and purified in soul, she breathed her last on September 14, 1510. St. Catherine of Genoa is the Patron Saint of Brides, Childless People, Difficult Marriages, People Ridiculed for their Piety, Temptations, Victims of Adultery, Victims of Unfaithfulness, Widows. Her feast day is celebrated on September 15th.

Saint Catherine of Genoa, Widow ~ Pray for us 🙏

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER:

MONTH OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS:
September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as our Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa)! Since the 16th century, Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The Church dedicates the month of September to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15th.  Devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary dates from the twelfth century, when it made its appearance in monastic circles under the influence of St. Anselm and St. Bernard.

This devotion recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary’s spiritual martyrdom in virtue of her perfect union with the Passion of Christ. This was her role in salvation history and what merited her place as the spiritual Mother of all Christians. This is symbolized by a single sword, or seven swords, piercing Mary’s suffering heart, as foretold in Simeon’s prophecy. Traditionally the Church meditates on the “Seven Sorrows” of our Blessed Mother: the prophecy of Simeon; the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt; the loss of the Child Jesus for three days; the meeting of Mary and Jesus as He carried His cross; Jesus’ crucifixion and death; Jesus’ sacred body taken down from the cross; and Jesus’ burial. All the sorrows of Mary (the prophecy of Simeon, the three days’ loss, etc.) are merged in the supreme suffering at the Passion. In the Passion, Mary suffered a martyrdom of the heart because of Our Lord’s torments and the greatness of her love for Him. “She it was,” says Pope Pius XII, “who immune from all sin, personal or inherited, and ever more closely united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and motherly love. As a new Eve, she made this offering for all the children of Adam contaminated through his unhappy fall. Thus, she, who was the mother of our Head according to the flesh, became by a new title of sorrow and glory the spiritual mother of all His members.” The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa) is September 15th.

INVOCATIONS: Mary most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us. Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us 🙏🏾

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=762

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER – FOR THE CRY OF THE EARTH: We pray that each one of us will hear and take to heart the cry of the Earth and of victims of natural disasters and climactic change, and that all will undertake to personally care for the world in which we live.

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, and 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 lived a selfless life in which Your only concerns were the glory of the Father in Heaven and the salvation of the world. Please free me from all selfishness so that I will be more able to deny myself in every way, run toward every cross in life, and follow You into the beautiful life of selfless and sacrificial love. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

My Immaculate and Sorrowful Mother, you stood at the foot of the Cross of your Son with the perfection of a mother’s love. Your heart was filled with a sorrow that was mixed with every holy virtue. Pray for me that I may understand this love more fully, so that I may also open up my own heart to your love. As I do, I pray that I will become an instrument of the love in your heart toward those in my life who suffer and are in most need of tender compassion and mercy. Lord, help me to love with the love of Your dear Mother.  Help me to feel the same holy sorrow she felt and to allow that holy sorrow to deepen my concern and compassion for all those who suffer. Sorrowful Heart of Our Mother Mary, 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 Blessed Mother Mary; Our Lady of Sorrows; Saints Nicomedes and Saint Catherine of Genoa ~ 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 September!🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 14, 2024

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | Novena link below

Greetings and blessings, beloved family. Happy Saturday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time and Happy Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross!

Today, on this special feast day, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we humbly pray for the gentle repose of the souls of our loved ones who recently passed away, we particularly pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and we continue to pray for the repose of 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 and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

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

On this feast day, we continue to pray for our children and children all over the world. With special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we pray for their safety and well-being, especially those beginning the new school year. May God grant them the courage to face new challenges and wisdom to make good choices. We pray for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and for God’s guidance and protection upon them during this school year and always. We pray for safe travels, to and from school. We also pray for all teachers, staff and parents, and guardians. May the good Lord provide for those in need. And we continue to pray for the Clergy, persecuted Christians, for peace, love, justice and unity in our families and our world. May God keep us all safe and well. Amen 🙏

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” ~ James 1:5

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | September 14, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | September 14, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes France” | September 14, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| September 14, 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 of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time | September 14, 2024
Reading 1, Numbers 21:4-9
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 78:1-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38
Reading 2, Philippians 2:6-11
Gospel, John 3:13-17

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/nine-day-prayer-for-life-novena-to-our-lady-of-sorrows-283

The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15.  This “Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows” devotion includes prayers honoring each of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as Mater Dolorosa, is a title given to our Blessed Mother and focuses on Mary’s profound suffering and grief during the seven painful events she endured during her life as the mother of Jesus.

FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 14TH: Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross of Our Lord Jesus. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are
mentally and physically ill, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for the poor and needy and for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, 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…. Amen🙏

FEAST OF THE EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS: This Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross celebrated on September 14th was observed in Rome before the end of the seventh century. This day is also called the Triumph of the Cross, Elevation of the Cross, Holy Cross Day, Holy Rood Day, or Roodmas. The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross celebrates two historical events: first, the discovery of the True Cross by Saint Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, in 320 under the temple of Venus in Jerusalem, and secondly, the dedication in 335 of the basilica and shrine built on Calvary by Constantine, which mark the site of the Crucifixion. When the Sacred Body of Jesus was taken down from the Cross and carried to the grave on Calvary, the Cross on which He died was thrown into a ditch or well, and covered over with stones and earth, so that the followers of the Crucified Redeemer might not find it. Almost three hundred years later (312 A.D.), Constantine the Great, not yet a Christian, while battling with Maxentius for the throne of the Roman Empire, prayed to the God of the Christians to aid him in his struggle. In answer to Constantine’s prayer, a luminous cross of monogram of Christ appeared in the heavens bearing the inscription: “In This Sign You Will Conquer.” In gratitude for victory, under this banner, over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge, on October 28, 312, Constantine had the Sign of Christianity placed on the Roman standard and on the shields of his soldiers. Then came the finding of the True Cross at Jerusalem by St. Helena in 326, commemorated by a feast on May 3. Early in the 4th century St. Helena, mother of Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the actual locations where the events of Jesus’ life took place. She found the True Cross which immediately became an object of veneration for the Church. Constantine built a basilica on Calvary marking the site of the Crucifixion and dedicated it on this day in the year 335 A.D. The basilica was later destroyed by the Persians and the true cross was stolen. This day also marks the recovery of the cross by Emperor Heraclius II who returned it to Jerusalem, carrying it on his own back and restoring it to the Church in 629 A.D.

The basilica, named the Martyrium, and the shrine, named the Calvarium, were destroyed by the Persians in the year 614. Chosroes II, King of Persia, invaded Syria and Palestine; he took and sacked Jerusalem, carrying off with other treasures the great relic of the True Cross. The Emperor Heraclius of Constantinople, at the head of a large army, invaded Persia, and forced the Persians to sue for peace and to restore the Sacred Cross, which Heraclius piously brought back to Jerusalem in 629. The Golden Legend describes Emperor Heraclius carrying the Cross back to Jerusalem on his shoulders. He was clothed with costly garments and with ornaments of precious stones. But at the entrance to the city gate on the way that led to Mt. Calvary a strange incident occurred. Try as hard as he would, he could not go forward. Zacharias, the Bishop of Jerusalem, then said to the astonished monarch: “Consider, O Emperor, that with these triumphal ornaments you are far from resembling Jesus carrying His Cross.” The Emperor then laid aside every robe and mark of royalty, put on a penitential garb and clothed in sackcloth of penance and barefoot, continued the journey carrying the Cross up the ascent of Calvary and restored it to its place in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This event is commemorated by the Church on September 14, in the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Church of the Holy sepulcher which now stands on the site was built by the crusaders in 1149. However the feast, more than anything else, is a celebration and commemoration of God’s greatest work: his salvific death on the Cross and His Resurrection, through which death was defeated and the doors to Heaven opened.

The liturgy of the Cross is a triumphant liturgy. When Moses lifted up the bronze serpent over the people, it was a foreshadowing of the salvation through Jesus when He was lifted up on the Cross. Our Mother Church sings of the triumph of the Cross, the instrument of our redemption. To follow Christ we must take up His cross, follow Him and become obedient until death, even if it means death on the cross. We identify with Christ on the Cross and become co-redeemers, sharing in His cross. We made the Sign of the Cross before prayer which helps to fix our minds and hearts to God. After prayer we make the Sign of the Cross to keep close to God. During trials and temptations our strength and protection is the Sign of the Cross. At Baptism we are sealed with the Sign of the Cross, signifying the fullness of redemption and that we belong to Christ. Let us look to the cross frequently, and realize that when we make the Sign of the Cross we give our entire self to God — mind, soul, heart, body, will, thoughts.

O cross, you are the glorious sign of victory. Through your power may we share in the triumph of Christ Jesus.

The entrance antiphon for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is: “We should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection, through whom we are saved and delivered.”

PRAYER: God, You willed that Your only Son should undergo crucifixion to bring about the salvation of the human race. Grant that we who have known His mystery on earth may deserve to reap the rewords of His redemption in heaven. Amen 🙏

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT NOTBURGA OF AUSTRIA; SAINT MATERNUS, BISHOP OF COLOGNE; SAINT PETER OF TARENTAISE, ABBOT AND SAINT ALBERT OF JERUSALEM, BISHOP ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 14TH

Today, we also celebrate the Memorial of Saint Notburga, a peasant who lived in the Tyrol, Austria; Saint Maternus, Bishop of Cologne and Saint Peter of Tarentaise, the abbot at a Cistercian monastery and Saint Albert of Jerusalem, Bishop.

SAINT NOTBURGA OF AUSTRIA: St. Notburga (1265-1313), a peasant who lived in the Tyrol, Austria and worked as a housemaid and servant. St. Notburga of Austria, is venerated in the Austrian Tyrol, Bavaria, Istria, Croatia and Slovenia. Many a church in these lands bears her name. St. Notburga was born at Rattenberg-on-the-Inn, a town in the Austrian Tyrol not far to the east of Innsbruck. At the age of 18, this devout young woman of peasant stock entered the employment of Count Henry of Rattenberg as a member of his kitchen staff. St. Notburga was always very solicitous of the poor. She cut down on her own food, especially on Friday, so as to be able to give something to those who knocked on the kitchen door. Discovering that the staff were used to discarding the abundant food left over from the Count’s table, she also began to hand this out, too. Count Henry’s mother was apparently unopposed to the charitable practice. But after the mother’s death Henry’s wife, Countess Ottilia, ordered that all leftovers be fed to the pigs. Dismayed, Notburga obeyed for a time, but then renewed her former policy. Unfortunately, the bossy Ottilia caught her red-handed one day and saw to it that she was fired. The young woman then found employment with a farmer at nearby Eben. Her new job involved fieldwork. A charming legend connecting her with harvesting has become a popular tale among the children of Tyrol. St. Notburga made a practice of going to church for Sunday’s first vespers, and her employer had agreed not to interfere. One Saturday, however, when she was engaged in reaping, the vesper bell rang, indicating that Sunday had officially begun. The saint was getting ready to leave for church when the farmer ordered her to continue cutting the grain. She refused. With first vespers it was already Sunday, she said, and Christians do not work on Sunday. “But the weather might change and the crop be lost,” he insisted. “All right,” said the servant, “Let this sickle decide between us.” Thereupon she threw the shiny crescent-shaped tool up into the air, and there it hung like a new moon! The farmer yielded, and she went off to church.

Meanwhile, Count Henry was in a dejected state of mind. Bossy Ottilia had died and he had been suffering all sorts of misfortunes, which he was inclined to blame on his dismissal of St. Notburga. When he remarried, therefore, he asked her to return to his castle as housekeeper. She did so, and lived the rest of her life happily and holily in his employ. When St. Notburga was dying, it is said, she urged him to continue taking care of the poor. Furthermore, she instructed him to place her corpse on a wagon drawn by two oxen, and to bury her wherever the oxen might stop in their tracks. Henry complied. The oxen stopped right in front of the chapel of St. Rupert at Eben, so there she was laid to rest. Although long venerated in the western and Adriatic parts of the Austrian Empire, St. Notburga was never officially canonized. In March 1862, however, Pope Pius IX formally confirmed her ancient cult and her saintly title. When St. Notburga is represented in paintings or sculptures, it is often with a sickle, either in her hand or hanging in the sky like a new moon. She is the Patron Saint of Servants and peasants.

Saint Notburga of Austria ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT MATERNUS, BISHOP OF COLOGNE: St. Maternus (d. 325) is the first known bishop of Cologne, in modern Germany. He fought against the Donatist heresy. He was involved in the effort against the Donatist heretics and was asked by Emperor Constantine to hear charges against the Donatists in 313.

In a legend defended by St. Peter Canisius, St. Maternus is labeled a disciple of St. Peter and the son of the widow of Naim, resurrected to serve the faith once more. St. Maternus died at Trier, Germany, where it is believed he also served as a bishop at one time. In art, Saint Maternus is a bishop holding a large key. He may also be shown holding three churches combined as one or with a crozier and pilgrim’s staff or hermit’s crutch.

Saint Maternus, Bishop of Cologne ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT PETER OF TARENTAISE, ABBOT: St. Peter of Tarentaise (1102-1174), was born near Vienne, France in 1102. At the age of 20 he entered the Cistercian Order, in Bonneveaux, France and convinced his family to enter along with him. His two brothers and his father entered the religious community of Bonneveaux with him, and his sister also followed thier example and became a religious. Ten years after he entered, St. Peter was sent to found a new house in the Tarantaise mountains near Geneva, Switzerland. Here he opened a hospital which also served as a guest house for those travelling through the mountains. He became the abbot of Tamie Abbey in the Tarentaise Mountains. He reluctantly accepted the appointment of archbishop of Tarentaise in 1142, replacing a very corrupt bishop. He wanted to decline the post and remain where he was happiest, as a Cistercian monk. He reluctantly accepted, however, because of the urging of St. Bernard and the other monks in his order, seeing their insistence as the will of God.

On his accession to the episcopacy, St. Peter reformed the diocese and set about providing education and distributing food to the poor, a tradition called the “May Bread”, which lasted until the French Revolution in 1789. He performed many miraculous healings during that time. As Archbishop, St. Peter replaced corrupt clergy, and ministered to the poor. After around 10 years as archbishop, St. Peter “fell off the radar.” It seems he was never able to banish his longing for the monastic life he left behind, and after 13 years as archbishop, he fled to a Cistercian abbey in Switzerland disguised as a lay brother and lived there for a year until he was discovered and forced by his superiors in the order to return to Tarantaise. He returned to his duties as archbishop and once again began to assist the poor. During the fractious rife between the anti-pope Victor and the true Pope, Alexander III, St. Peter was one of the only major voices in the Church openly supporting the claim of Pope Alexander, even against the emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Recognizing his courage, loyalty, and holiness, Pope Alexander III thought him to be the ideal peacemaker between King Louis VII of France and Henry II of England. He died of an illness shortly after meeting and unsuccessfully trying to reconcile the two kings.St. Peter of Tarentaise died at Bellevaux, France in 1175. He was canonized in 1191.

Saint Peter of Tarentaise, Abbot ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT ALBERT OF JERUSALEM, BISHOP: St. Albert of Jerusalem (d. 1215) was born to a noble family in Italy, and was well educated in theology and law. He went on to become a priest and bishop and served in important posts as a peacemaker; he served as a mediator between Pope Clement III and the Holy Roman Emperor, between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Cyprus, and between the Knights Templar and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. In 1205 he was made Patriarch of Jerusalem by Pope Innocent III during the time when the Saracens had control of the city. In this position he was respected by all for his sanctity and intelligence. Because of the Muslim presence in Jerusalem, Albert took up residence in Acre overlooking the great city, as well as Mt. Carmel where a group of holy hermits lived. Albert was asked by St. Brocard, who was prior of the group of hermits, to draw up a rule of life for them which became the beginning of the Carmelite Order. In 1214 Albert was summoned to serve in the General Lateran Council, but was murdered before he could attend. The Master of the Hospital of the Holy Spirit, whom he had rebuked and deposed for immorality, stabbed him to death on September 14th in the Church of Saint John of Acre, while he was part of the procession on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. His feast day is September 14th.

Saint Albert of Jerusalem, Bishop ~ Pray for us 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

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

Gospel Verse: We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Cross you have redeemed the world.

Gospel Reading: John 3:13-17

“So the Son of Man must be lifted up; For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son”

“Jesus said to Nicodemus: “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

In today’s Gospel reading, on this special feast of the exaltation or triumph of the Holy Cross we celebrate the lifting up of the Son of Man. The Gospel details the exchange between our Lord Jesus and Nicodemus, the Pharisee who was sympathetic to Him and His teachings. The Lord spoke of the parallel between what happened back then and what He Himself would have to undergo, as He would be raised up as the Son of Man, before all the people much as how the bronze serpent was raised up by Moses before the whole people of Israel. And just as how the bronze serpent showed the salvation, mercy, compassion and forgiveness from God for His people, sparing them from the fiery serpents, thus, the Lord has also showed the infinite love of God through His crucifixion and His Cross. The Lord has shown us His enduring and patient love, made manifest through His Son, and this was made possible because He loved us so much that He willingly emptied Himself and took up the appearance and essence of our humanity, by being born of His mother Mary, becoming the Son of God incarnate in the flesh, and becoming the Son of Man. Through His incarnation in the flesh, God made His love visible and tangible for us, and by His voluntary sacrifice on the Cross, the show of God’s ultimate love, all of us have witnessed and received the manifestation of that undying love. By suffering and dying on the Cross, He made us all sharers in His salvation, and die to our sins, and by His glorious Resurrection, He shared with us the new life, free from sin that we shall enjoy for eternity.

Christ by His humble submission to His Father’s will has shown us all mankind how we can be truly faithful to the Lord, and breaking free from the chains of sin and wickedness that had enslaved us, and how we can gain freedom from death through Christ and His assurance of salvation and new life for us. While the first Adam faltered and failed when tested by the devil, and succumbed to the temptations of his desires, ending up with sin that corrupted us all, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as the New Adam showed us that we should not and cannot bow down to those temptations or to the devil, and we should instead seek the Lord and commit ourselves to Him wholeheartedly. That is why the devil, Satan, and all of his fallen allies, the evil spirits and demons despised and feared the Holy Cross, because that tool of humiliation that was once used for the worst of criminals, as means for great suffering and humiliation, has become the means by which God saved His beloved people, and through His Holy Cross, the Lord has cast a devastating blow upon the devil and all of his forces, and broke their dominion over us forever, showing us the sure path to freedom from sin and death, and into eternal life. This is why today we mark that glorious triumph of the Holy Cross over the forces of sin, evil and death. Today’s feast celebrates the good news that God turned the tragedy of Calvary into a triumph for us all. Through the cross, God’s life-giving love and mercy was embracing us all. Today’s feast also reminds us that in our own personal experiences of Calvary, the Lord is present with us in a loving and merciful way, working on our behalf to bring new life out of our suffering and dying.

Our first reading today details what happened when the Israelites rebelled against God in the desert, and the bronze serpent of Moses was crafted to help the Israelites. At that time, the rebellious Israelites disobeyed God such that the Lord sent fiery serpents to strike at them as punishment for their sins, disobedience and wickedness. Many died from those fiery serpents and their bites, and the people begged the Lord for forgiveness and mercy. It was then that the Lord told Moses to craft that bronze serpent as a sign of God’s salvation and mercy, and all those who saw that bronze serpent after being bitten did not perish. The people of Israel cried out, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord’. However, when they looked upon the bronze serpent they experienced the Lord’s life-giving mercy. When we look upon the face of the Lord on the cross, we too find mercy; we experience the cross as the throne of grace.

As our second reading today from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians highlighted, Christ obeyed His Father’s will and committed Himself so humbly and thoroughly that He would be raised up high on the Cross, to be the salvation for everyone who believe in Him. This is why all of us are reminded today on this important Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross that we have to remember everything that the Lord had lovingly and caringly done for us through His Cross. By His loving kindness and by His persistence in desiring to be reunited and reconciled with us, He has done everything He could, even to the point of humbling and emptying Himself of all glory and honour, to be led to the slaughter place, and to offer Himself as the perfect and most worthy offering for the atonement of all of our sins, evils and wickedness. Hence, we must be thankful and appreciate all that the Lord had done for us, in having been patient in bearing with us and our infidelities, our stubbornness and arrogance, in having resisted His efforts and attempts to reach out to us all these while.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures and the significance and importance of today’s Feast, its meaning and purpose, and how it has shown us the salvation of God and the triumph of His Cross, let us all also reflect and ponder upon our own lives. We rejoice and honour most wonderful the Triumphant victory which our Lord Himself has won against the forces of evil and darkness, which He has assured us through His Holy and most Precious Cross, the True Cross by which He has purchased on our behalf, the salvation of the whole world, by breaking His own Body and pouring out His own Blood, from His many wounds, to be the source of salvation of all, the Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God that had been offered and sacrificed, as the one and only worthy offering for the atonement of the sins of all of us, our innumerable sins, that the Lord had shown His mercy and compassion on us, reaching out to us to rescue us. Let us all look upon the Lord on His Cross, the Crucifix, and discern how each and every one of us can be better disciples of His. We cannot continue to live our lives with apathy towards our faith, ignorance or lukewarmness, in how we practice our Christian faith and beliefs. We should not be hypocrites, and should not forget the love and compassion that God has always generously shown us. Let us all look upon He Who has been crucified for us upon the Holy and Glorious Cross. Let us all glorify and praise Him more and more each day, by our own worthy and grace-filled lives, dedicating ourselves in each and every moments to love and serve the Lord ever more with our every living moments, with all of our might and strength. May the Lord, through His triumphant Cross, continue to guide us forward to the path towards eternal life. May He our Triumphant Lord and King, by Whose Holy Cross has triumphed over evil, sin and death, continue to love us and strengthen us in our respective journeys in life, so that in each and every moments of our lives and existence, we will continue to do whatever we can to honour Him, and to focus our attention on Him once again, and no longer be distracted, swayed and tempted by the many false allures and temptations of sin and all the worldliness around us. May all of us continue to put our gaze towards the Cross of Our Lord and Saviour, and remember at all times, how He has been most generous in His love and compassion, so that we will continue to walk ever more faithfully in His path. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and we pray on this feast that the triumph of the cross would continue to take flesh in all of our lives. May God bless us all and may He guide us through this journey and faith in life, now and always, forevermore. Amen🙏

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER:

MONTH OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS:
September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as our Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa)! Since the 16th century, Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The Church dedicates the month of September to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15th.  Devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary dates from the twelfth century, when it made its appearance in monastic circles under the influence of St. Anselm and St. Bernard.

This devotion recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary’s spiritual martyrdom in virtue of her perfect union with the Passion of Christ. This was her role in salvation history and what merited her place as the spiritual Mother of all Christians. This is symbolized by a single sword, or seven swords, piercing Mary’s suffering heart, as foretold in Simeon’s prophecy. Traditionally the Church meditates on the “Seven Sorrows” of our Blessed Mother: the prophecy of Simeon; the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt; the loss of the Child Jesus for three days; the meeting of Mary and Jesus as He carried His cross; Jesus’ crucifixion and death; Jesus’ sacred body taken down from the cross; and Jesus’ burial. All the sorrows of Mary (the prophecy of Simeon, the three days’ loss, etc.) are merged in the supreme suffering at the Passion. In the Passion, Mary suffered a martyrdom of the heart because of Our Lord’s torments and the greatness of her love for Him. “She it was,” says Pope Pius XII, “who immune from all sin, personal or inherited, and ever more closely united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and motherly love. As a new Eve, she made this offering for all the children of Adam contaminated through his unhappy fall. Thus, she, who was the mother of our Head according to the flesh, became by a new title of sorrow and glory the spiritual mother of all His members.” The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa) is September 15th.

INVOCATIONS: Mary most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us. Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us 🙏🏾

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=762

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER – FOR THE CRY OF THE EARTH: We pray that each one of us will hear and take to heart the cry of the Earth and of victims of natural disasters and climactic change, and that all will undertake to personally care for the world in which we live.

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, and 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 exalted Lord, help me to gaze upon the Cross. Help me to experience in Your own suffering a taste of Your final victory. May I be strengthened and healed as I look upon You. I turn to You in my need and with the utmost faith in Your divine power to save. Please give me the grace I need to fully embrace every cross in my life with hope and faith in You. Please transform my crosses so that You will be exalted through them and so that they will become an instrument of Your glory and grace. 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 Blessed Mother Mary; Saint Notburga; Saint Maternus; Saint Peter of Tarentaise and Saint Albert of Jerusalem ~ 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 September and relaxing weekend!🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 13, 2024

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | Novena link below

Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Friday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time!

Today, on this feast day, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we humbly pray for the gentle repose of the souls of our loved ones who recently passed away, we particularly pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and we continue to pray for the repose of 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 and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

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

On this feast day, we continue to pray for our children and children all over the world. With special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we pray for their safety and well-being, especially those beginning the new school year. May God grant them the courage to face new challenges and wisdom to make good choices. We pray for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and for God’s guidance and protection upon them during this school year and always. We pray for safe travels, to and from school. We also pray for all teachers, staff and parents, and guardians. May the good Lord provide for those in need. And we continue to pray for the Clergy, persecuted Christians, for peace, love, justice and unity in our families and our world. May God keep us all safe and well. Amen 🙏

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” ~ James 1:5

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

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

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

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| September 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: Friday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time | September 13, 2024
Reading 1, First Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-27
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 84:3, 4, 5-6, 8, 12
Gospel, Luke 6:39-42

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/nine-day-prayer-for-life-novena-to-our-lady-of-sorrows-283

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, BISHOP, AND DOCTOR AND SAINT MAURILIUS, BISHOP OF ANGERS ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 13TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor and Saint Maurilius, Bishop of Angers. 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 who are mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for the poor and needy and for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families, and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, 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…. Amen🙏

SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, BISHOP, AND DOCTOR: St. John Chrysostom (347-407 A.D.) refered to as Golden-mouthed, was a great genius and perhaps the greatest preacher in the history of the Church, thus the name given him, and the most prominent Greek father of the Church. His powerful eloquence earned him the surname of Chrysostom, or ‘Golden mouthed’ or ‘Golden tongued’. With St. Athanasius, St. Gregory Nazianzen and St. Basil, he forms the group of the four great doctors of the Eastern Church. St. John Chrysostom was born to noble parents in Antioch about 347 A.D., an important center of Christianity in his day. He was the son of a Latin father and a Greek mother; his mother, Anthusa, was widowed at the age of twenty, soon after his birth. Putting aside all thought of remarriage, Anthusa gave all of her attention to her son. She gave him the best classical Greek education of the day and enrolled him as a catechumen when he was eighteen. He studied Rhetoric under Libanius, a pagan, the most famous orator of the age. He came under the influence of the Holy Bishop Meletius, patriarch of Antioch, he decided to devote his time to the study of religious works and the Sacred Scriptures and Meletius sent him to the monastic school of Diodore, then Baptized him after three years of study and ordained him lector. As a result of his philosophical studies he was convinced of the truth of Christianity and became a renowned scholar and orator. He was then set out for the desert to live the ascetic life of a hermit. In 374, St. John then adopted a life of extreme asceticism as a hermit and began to lead the life of an anchorite in the mountains near Antioch and committed the whole of Sacred Scripture to memory. His extreme mortifications left him in fragile health, but in 386 the poor state of his health forced him to return to Antioch, after two years of recovery, and devoted himself to studying for the priesthood. He was ordained in 386 and served in the Cathedral of Antioch for 12 years, winning widespread fame for his sublime preaching. The brilliance of his mind combined with the holiness of his soul made him famous; he was ordained a bishop in Antioch and was later was forcefully appointed to the Archbishopric of Constantinople in 398, and became one of the greatest lights of the Church. His sermons, which extended for up to two hours, were public marvels. His straightforward style of preaching the Scriptures and his practical homilies made him very popular. As Archbishop of Constantinople, he also denounced the abuses of the ruling authority and preached against the immorality of the day, his courageous stance against the vices of even the wealthy made him enemies in high places and some were ecclesiastics, not the least being Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, who had him condemned on false charges in 403 but repented of this before he died. His most powerful enemy, however, was the Empress Eudoxia, who was offended by the apostolic freedom of his discourses. Several accusations were brought against him in a pseudo-council, and he was sent into exile numerous times.

In the midst of his sufferings, like the Apostle St. Paul whom he so greatly admired, St. John Chrysostom found the greatest peace and happiness. He had the consolation of knowing that the Pope remained his friend, and did for him what lay in his power. The papal envoys were imprisoned, and St. John was defended by the pope and ordered restored to his see but he was sent further into exile, six hundred miles from Constantinople, across the Black Sea. He was exiled to Armenia where he continued to be a great presence in the Church of the East through his many letters. He was exiled from Armenia to an isolated place along the Black Sea. His enemies were not satisfied with the sufferings he had already endured, and they banished him still further, to Pythius, at the very extremity of the Empire. As a result he was worn out, sick and unable to endure its rigors and died on his way there on September 14, 407, still in exile of his hardships at Comana in Pontus. His last words were, “Glory to God for all things.” In 438 the Emperor Theodosius II of Constantinople had St. John Chrysostom’s body returned to Constantinople, and did penance for the sins of his mother Eudoxia. In 1204 his body was brought to St. Peter’s in Rome but was returned to the Orthodox on November 27, 2004 by Pope Saint John Paul II. His silver and jewel-encrusted skull is now kept in the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos in northern Greece, and is credited by Christians with miraculous healings. His right hand is also preserved on Mount Athos, and numerous smaller relics are scattered throughout the world. St. John Chrysostom’s many writings, especially homilies and commentaries on the Gospels, are still extant and have exerted great influence over the centuries. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 451.St. John Chrysostom is the Patron Saint of Constantinople; epilepsy; Sacred orators; preachers. St. John Chrysostom’s feast day is September 13th.

PRAYER: God, You are the strength of those who hope in You. You gave Your Church St. John Chrysostom, Your Bishop, who was endowed with great eloquence and was able to with stand great sufferings. Let us learn from his teaching and be inspired by the example of his patience. Amen 🙏

QUOTES OF SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM:

☆ “When you are before the altar where Christ reposes, you ought no longer to think that you are amongst men; but believe that there are troops of angels and archangels standing by you, and trembling with respect before the sovereign Master of Heaven and earth. Therefore, when you are in church, be there in silence, fear, and veneration.”

☆ “If the Lord should give you power to raise the dead, He would give much less than He does when he bestows suffering. By miracles you would make yourself debtor to Him, while by suffering He may become debtor to you. And even if sufferings had no other reward than being able to bear something for that God who loves you, is not this a great reward and a sufficient remuneration? Whoever loves, understands what I say.”

SAINT MAURILIUS, BISHOP OF ANGERS: St. Maurilius (c. 336 – 426), wss a priest originally from Milan and became the bishop of Angers between 423 and 453. He played an early role in the Christianization of Gaul. As a young man, Maurilius was drawn to his faith. He studied closely under St. Martin of Tours who, at the time, had a monastery in Milan. After the Arians drove St. Martin away from Milan, Maurilius felt he had lost his teacher. Maurilius soon found himself as cantor for St. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan. However, after St. Maurilius’ father passed away, he left Milan to rejoin St. Martin in Tours. While there, Maurilius was ordained a priest by the Apostle of Gaul. Maurilius was dedicated fervently to the salvation of souls. During his mission, he was led to a pagan temple near Angers. Maurilius, with his prayers, brought fire down from heaven to destroy the site. Afterwards, he had a church and a monastery built in that location. Many souls traveled to pray with St. Maurilius in the new monastery. During this time, Maurilius converted many pagans by preaching to them and performing miracles on the sick, the blind and the possessed.

Following the bishop of Angers’ death, St. Martin of Tours chose Maurilius to succeed him. It is said that on the day of Maurilius’ consecration, a white dove flew into the church and rested upon his head. During his 90th year of life, God prepared Maurilius for his departure on earth. Before his hour of death, Maurilius spoke, “Ponder well, that your souls are bought at a great price: the precious blood of Jesus Christ.” Following a short illness, Maurilius passed away in 426. During his funeral, numerous miracles took place, including two people who were born blind having their sight restored and a paralyzed man regaining use of his limbs after kissing the coffin. His remains now live at the Cathedral of Angers. He is the patron saint of Angers, invoked by fishermen and gardeners.

St. Maurilius, Bishop of Angers ~ Pray for us 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Readings for Today – Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church | Friday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ Luke 6:39-42

“Can a blind person guide a blind person?”

“Jesus told His disciples a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus calls on us to be more attentive to the plank in our own eye than to the splinter in our neighbour’s eye. In a humorous image in today’s parable, Jesus is reminding us that we all have our blind spots; we all have something that blocks our vision. We do not see clearly. The conclusion He draws from that is that we should be slow to criticize or to judge others. The words of Jesus in today’s Gospel reading invite us to ask ourselves, ‘How well do we see others?’ Jesus suggests that our way of seeing others can be very limited, as He uses the humorous image of someone with a plank in their eye trying to take a splinter out of someone else’s eye. The one who is blind, but is unaware of his or her blindness, is trying to help someone who is less blind to see. In calling on us to take the plank out of our own eye first, he calls on us to work on our own areas of blindness before attempting to help others to see clearly. In his first letter to the Corinthians, from which we are reading these days, Saint Paul says, ‘now we see as in a mirror, dimly’. He was referring to how we see the Lord, with the eyes of faith. It is a dim seeing compared to our seeing him face to face beyond this earthly life. We also see other people dimly in this earthly life. Only the Lord can look into the heart of someone, whereas we can only look at appearances. It is because of our innate blindness when it comes to others, our seeing dimly, that the Lord calls on us not to judge others, but to leave judgement to God who alone sees clearly, with the eyes of love. Every day we can come before the Lord in prayer, asking Him to heal our blindness, so that we can grow towards seeing others as He sees them, with His eyes.

In our first reading today from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and faithful people of God in Corinth, the Apostle spoke of the matter about his ministry and how he did not boast about his accomplishments and achievements before everyone. Instead, he highlighted that being Christians, that is as the disciples and followers of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, one must be more humble and focused on the Lord in all things, rather than to be proud and full of oneself. He reminded all Christians to be always vigilant against the various temptations of worldly glory and ambitions, all of which can lead one astray and away from the Lord and His salvation unless we are careful and vigilant in how we live our lives. According to the first reading St. Paul looks back on his life, on the time he was a persecutor of the church. He says, ‘I use to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit the faith’. In retrospect he can see clearly the plank that was in his eye back then, even though at the time he couldn’t see it. He was judging the followers of Jesus, trying to take the splinter out of their eye, while all the time blind to the plank in his own eye. It took that moment of grace on the road to Damascus to open his eyes to his own level of blindness. ‘Mercy was shown me’, he says. It was ultimately the Lord who took the plank out of his eye and healed his blindness. It is the Lord who heals our blindness too. He wants to show us mercy, as he showed mercy to St. Paul. For that to happen, we need to come before Him acknowledging our blindness or, at least, asking for the grace to see our blindness. It is only in opening ourselves in this way to the Lord’s healing and merciful presence that we can begin to see others clearly. This is where a healthy awareness of our own faults and limitations can be important. It keeps us grounded and helps us to look on others in a more understanding and more generous way. This was the way the Lord looked on people. Part of our baptismal calling is to see as the Lord sees, so that when we look upon others they sense something of the Lord’s look.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are reminded not to be proud, arrogant or egoistic in how we carry on living our lives. Instead, the greater we are, and the more knowledgeable we are, the wiser and the better we are, the more we should be humble and willing to listen to others, especially the Lord Himself in how we should be living our lives. We must not allow our ego and pride to become our downfall and be the serious obstacles and challenges in our path, preventing us from truly being able to approach the Lord and be filled with His grace and love. If we allow ourselves to be swayed by those evils and ambitions, and if we harden and close our hearts and minds against Him and against others, then more often than not we may find ourselves falling into the wrong path in life. As we reflect on the lives of the Saints and holy men and women, let us all be inspired by their great and faithful examples, especially the experiences faced by St. John Chrysostom, who we celebrate today, the challenges and trials that he faced in his works and ministry should remind us all that we are also likely to face such struggles, trials and hardships amidst our faith journey throughout our respective lives. St. John Chrysostom dedicated himself wholly and thoroughly to God, and he spoke up courageously against those who abused their power and against all those who acted with pride, ego and arrogance. He humbly dedicated himself to God and His people despite his status and the prestige that he enjoyed. He did not allow himself to be swayed by the temptations of sin, of pride and ego, of ambition and greed. Each and every one of us should be inspired to follow in his footsteps and continue to do our best so that we may grow ever stronger in our faith and commitment to God, and we may distance ourselves from all the things that may lead to our downfall and destruction, and keeping us away from God. We are reminded that each and every one of us should keep ourselves away from worldly temptations and evils, and all the things that usually keep us away from the path of righteousness and virtue in God. Each and every one of us as Christians have been called to do God’s will, to obey His Law and commandments, and to free ourselves from the many temptations and the shackles of evil and sin that have often kept us chained to our desires and all the attachments we have to worldly glory and pleasures, so that we do not remain bound to those wicked and evil thoughts and ways, but receive from God the assurance of eternal life and true joy through our faith and commitment to Him. All of us should do our best so that our every words, actions and deeds are exemplary and full of true and genuine faith in God. Let us all not be discouraged and be disheartened by all those things, trials and temptations, but instead, let us be strengthened by the examples and inspirations that our many holy predecessors have shown in their lives, all these while. May the Lord continue to bless our efforts and works, and help guide us in our journey towards Him. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace to love one another and may God be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen🙏

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER:

MONTH OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS:
September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as our Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa)! Since the 16th century, Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The Church dedicates the month of September to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15th.  Devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary dates from the twelfth century, when it made its appearance in monastic circles under the influence of St. Anselm and St. Bernard.

This devotion recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary’s spiritual martyrdom in virtue of her perfect union with the Passion of Christ. This was her role in salvation history and what merited her place as the spiritual Mother of all Christians. This is symbolized by a single sword, or seven swords, piercing Mary’s suffering heart, as foretold in Simeon’s prophecy. Traditionally the Church meditates on the “Seven Sorrows” of our Blessed Mother: the prophecy of Simeon; the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt; the loss of the Child Jesus for three days; the meeting of Mary and Jesus as He carried His cross; Jesus’ crucifixion and death; Jesus’ sacred body taken down from the cross; and Jesus’ burial. All the sorrows of Mary (the prophecy of Simeon, the three days’ loss, etc.) are merged in the supreme suffering at the Passion. In the Passion, Mary suffered a martyrdom of the heart because of Our Lord’s torments and the greatness of her love for Him. “She it was,” says Pope Pius XII, “who immune from all sin, personal or inherited, and ever more closely united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and motherly love. As a new Eve, she made this offering for all the children of Adam contaminated through his unhappy fall. Thus, she, who was the mother of our Head according to the flesh, became by a new title of sorrow and glory the spiritual mother of all His members.” The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa) is September 15th.

INVOCATIONS: Mary most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us. Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us 🙏🏾

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=762

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER – FOR THE CRY OF THE EARTH: We pray that each one of us will hear and take to heart the cry of the Earth and of victims of natural disasters and climactic change, and that all will undertake to personally care for the world in which we live.

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, and 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 merciful Jesus, may I build a humble and true habit of gazing upon You in Your splendor and beauty. As I see You, day in and day out, please also help me to see myself through Your eyes of mercy so that I will also grow in humility. Please remove all judgment from my heart so that I will be free to know and love all people as You know and love them. 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 Blessed Mother Mary; Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor and Saint Maurilius, Bishop of Angers ~ 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 September and relaxing weekend!🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 12, 2024

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | Novena link below

Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Thursday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time!

Today, on this special feast of the Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we pray for the gentle repose of the souls of our loved ones who recently passed away, we particularly pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and we continue to pray for the repose of 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 and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

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

On this feast day, we continue to pray for our children and children all over the world. With special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we pray for their safety and well-being, especially those beginning the new school year. May God grant them the courage to face new challenges and wisdom to make good choices. We pray for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and for God’s guidance and protection upon them during this school year and always. We pray for safe travels, to and from school. We also pray for all teachers, staff and parents, and guardians. May the good Lord provide for those in need. And we continue to pray for the Clergy, persecuted Christians, for peace, love, justice and unity in our families and our world. May God keep us all safe and well. Amen 🙏

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” ~ James 1:5

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | September 12, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | September 12, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes France” | September 12, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| September 12, 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: Memorial of the Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary | September 12, 2024
Reading 1, Galatians 4:4-7
Responsorial Psalm, Luke 1:46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55
Gospel, Luke 1:39-47

Today’s Bible Readings: Thursday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time | September 12, 2024
Reading 1, First Corinthians 8:1-7, 11-13
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 139:1-3, 13-14, 23-24
Gospel, Luke 6:27-38

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/nine-day-prayer-for-life-novena-to-our-lady-of-sorrows-283

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF THE MOST HOLY NAME OF MARY AND THE MEMORIAL OF SAINT GUY OF ANDERLECHT, HERMIT ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 12TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary and Saint Guy of Anderlecht, Hermit. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for all those seeking for life partners, may God grant their heart’s desires. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those mentally and physically ill, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for the poor and needy and for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, 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…. Amen🙏

THE MOST HOLY NAME OF MARY: On this day, the Church venerates the Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary because of her unique privilege as the holiest of creatures, the Mother of God, and the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Her name is therefore a royal one of the highest order, and as such should be given the greatest honor after that of her Divine Son, Jesus Christ. Instituted in 1513, the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary honors the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, as blessed and marks the very mention of her name as holy and deserving of respect and devotion. The feast day encourages us all to pray for her intercession to deepen our love of Christ and our relationship with the Lord. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “We venerate the name of Mary because it belongs to her who is the Mother of God, the holiest of creatures, the Queen of heaven and earth, the Mother of Mercy. The object of the feast is the Holy Virgin bearing the name of Mirjam (Mary); the feast commemorates all the privileges given to Mary by God and all the graces we have received through her intercession and mediation.” Over the years, more than seventy meanings have been attached to the name Mary—most based on devotion rather that philology. The two meanings that are most prevalent nowadays are: “The Exalted One” and “The Sublime One”. The latter seems to be most probable of all—and it certainly fits the Blessed Virgin very well. The name of Mary is celebrated as: (1) a name of honor, for God has so exalted her name that human lips will never cease to praise her; (2) a holy name, for it marks out the woman who was entirely full of grace and found favor with God and gave birth to the Son of God; (3) a maternal name, for the Lord Jesus dying on the altar of the Cross gave her to us as our Mother so that we might call upon her and be strengthened in our needs; and (4) a name responsive to need, for the faithful on whose lips her name echoes turn to her with confidence as their Star of hope and their Mother in time of danger. This feast is a counterpart to the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus; both have the possibility of uniting people easily divided on other matters.

The feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary began in Spain and was approved by the Holy See in 1513 and in 1671 was extended to all of Spain and the Kingdom of Naples. In 1683, John Sobieski, king of Poland, brought an army to the outskirts of Vienna to stop the advance of Muslim armies loyal to Mohammed IV of Constantinople. After Sobieski entrusted himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he and his soldiers thoroughly defeated the Muslims. Pope Innocent XI extended this feast’s observance to the entire Church in 1683 in thanksgiving for the victory of John Sobieski, King of Poland over the Turks, who were besieging Vienna and threatening the West. The feast was assigned to September 12, the date of the victory and only four days after the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The feast remained in the Universal Roman Calendar as a lesser Feast of Mary until the publication of the new Roman Missal revised in accord with the principles of the Secondd Vatican Council, when it was dropped as being a duplication of Mary’s Nativity. It has now been restored in the Roman Missal of John Paul II, which appeared in 2003. The Church teaches that God the Father is glorified first of all on account of the Name of Jesus, i.e., on account of the Person of His Son, His power and saving mission—in no other name is there salvation. The Father is then glorified on account of the Name of Mary, i.e., on account of the person of Christ’s Mother and her mission in the History of Salvation.

The ancient Onomastica Sacra have preserved the meanings ascribed to Mary’s name by the early Christian writers and perpetuated by the Greek Fathers. “Bitter Sea,” “Myrrh of the Sea,” “The Light Giver,” “The Enlightened One,” “Lady,” “Seal of the Lord,” and “Mother of the Lord” are the principal interpretations. These etymologies suppose that the Hebrew form of the name is Maryãm, not Miryãm. From the time of St. Jerome until the 16th century, preferred interpretations of Mary’s name in the West were “Lady,” “Bitter Sea,” “The Light Giver,” and especially “Star of the Sea.” Stella Maris was by far the favored interpretation. The revival of Hebraic studies, which accompanied the Renaissance, led to a more critical appraisal of the meanings assigned to Our Lady’s name. Miryãm has all the appearance of a genuine Hebrew name, and no solid reason has been discovered to warrant rejecting the Semitic origin of the word. The Hebrew name of Mary, Miryãm, (in Latin Domina) means lady or sovereign; this Mary is in virtue of her Son’s sovereign authority as Lord of the World. We call Mary our Lady as we call Jesus our Lord, and when we pronounce her name we affirm her power, implore her aid and place ourselves under her protection. Patron Saint of people named Stella Maris, Estelle, Astrid, Astra, Muriel or Mary.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.🙏

PRAYER: Almighty God, grant that all who celebrate the glorious Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary may obtain the benefits of Your mercy. Amen 🙏
 
SAINT GUY OF ANDERLECHT, HERMIT: St. Guy (950–1012), also known as the “Poor Man of Anderlecht,” was poor and uneducated but led an austre life. Layman, Guy was a farm labourer born in Brabant around 950 to pious parents of humble means in the country village of Anderlecht near Brussels. Born in poverty, he was trained in his faith by his pious parents and lived happily with his humble work in poverty. As a child St. Guy had two loves, the Church and the poor. Having no money for school, from his childhood he served the poor and fostered a great devotion to the Church while praying for the grace to love and accept his poverty. St. Guy was regarded as a young saint by those who knew him. The love of prayer growing more and more, he left his poor home at Brussels to seek greater poverty and closer union with God. He arrived at Laeken, near Brussels, and there showed such devotion before Our Lady’s shrine that one day, a priest who noticed his great reverence while praying in church, invited him to stay and serve the Church for a small sum, he was made sacristan of the church at Laeken near Brussels. Thenceforth his great joy was to be always in the church, sweeping the floor and ceiling, polishing the altars, and cleansing the sacred vessels. During the day St. Guy still found time to befriend and help the poor, so that his almsgiving became famous in all those parts and at night he would work and pray in the church; these were his two great loves. He served in this way joyfully and faithfully.

According to Legend, St. Guy had a failed “get rich quick” scheme, he invested his small savings in a business which failed. After losing his home and his job, he realized he needed to re-embrace his life of poverty. One day a shipping merchant from Brussels, hearing of the generosity of this poor sacristan, came to Laeken, prompted by a devil he wanted to take St. Guy away from his holy work as a Sacristan, offered him a share in his business and presented St. Guy with a lucrative opportunity to invest his small savings into a business venture. St. Guy could not bear to leave the church; but the offer seemed providential, and he at last closed with it, not recognizing the temptation. St. Guy accepted the job offer under the pretense of making more money to give to the poor, and he left his position as Sacristan. When his first cargo ship sunk as it left the harbor, St. Guy realized his error and the deception he had succumbed to in giving up his happy and humble work serving Christ. He went back to the church and found that the sacristan position had been replaced. Left without a job and no money, St. Guy was so filled with remorse over his foolish decision that he went on a penitential pilgrimage. He visited Rome, the Holy Land, and other shrines, wandering from shrine to shrine as far as Jerusalem on pilgrimage over a period of seven years. In 1020 he returned home to Anderlecht exhausted and sick and died shortly afterwards at the public hospital in Anderlecht. As he died, a light shone round him, and a voice was heard proclaiming his eternal reward. Through the years a cult formed around his grave and his shrine became a popular pilgrim site, particularly associated with horses. Miracles were reported at the grave of this ‘poor man of Anderlecht’, after which a church was built in his honor. St. Guy is the Patron Saint of Anderlecht, Belgium; against mad dogs; against rabies; against epilepsy; bachelors; epileptics; horned animals; laborers; work horses; hydrophobia; convulsions; bell ringers; farmers; sacristans, sextons and protection of outbuildings such as sheds and stables. His feast day is September 12th.

Saint Guy of Anderlecht, Hermit ~ Pray for us 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Readings for today, Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time | Memorial Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Alternative reading (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Mary)

Today’s Bible Readings: Memorial of the Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary | September 12, 2024
Reading 1, Galatians 4:4-7
Responsorial Psalm, Luke 1:46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55
Gospel, Luke 1:39-47

Gospel Reading ~ Luke 1:39-47

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior”

“Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

Today’s Gospel reading details the account of the visitation by Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, when Mary came to the place where the latter stayed having heard from the Archangel Gabriel that she was pregnant with a child, about six month earlier than Mary herself. Both of these cases involved miraculous conception and pregnancy, with Elizabeth’s case being that the pregnancy happened when she was already old and definitely beyond child-bearing age. In the meantime, Mary became pregnant without having relationship with a man, and she was not yet married to Joseph, her spouse-to-be at the moment of her conceiving her Son. This was because the Lord Himself has made the conception possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, that the Son of God, the Word of God Incarnate has entered into our world through Mary’s cooperation and faith. According to the Gospel, the Lord had truly performed great and wonderful deeds through these two women, and how He has rescued and brought them out of their respective predicaments. The Lord showed His power and might to rescue all those who have faith in Him, and He proved it to all of us through these great wonders and miracles. He will not abandon His faithful and beloved ones to the darkness, and He will always be by our side, not leaving us alone. Our Blessed Mother Mary received the great grace of God, blessed by her faith and obedience, and also the unique and special role that she has in the story of our salvation and liberation from the power of evil and darkness, through her Motherhood of Christ, Our Lord and Saviour.

In our first reading today from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, we are all reminded by the Apostle St. Paul of the nature of the coming of the salvation of God through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, who had been brought into this world via the cooperation and acceptance which Mary had given to the whole plan of God’s salvation for all of us mankind. Mary has resolutely said yes and embraced wholeheartedly the role that she would play in the entire plan of God’s salvation, when she responded to the Archangel Gabriel, that she is indeed the handmaid of the Lord, and let all things be done to her according to His will. Through Mary’s faith and obedience therefore, God’s salvation had become incarnate and tangible to us through Christ. Not only that, but as St. Paul also mentioned to both the Ephesians and the Galatians, through this coming of Christ, the Saviour Whom God had sent into this world, all of us through our sharing in Christ’s human nature, have become brothers and sisters to one another, and become the adopted children of God. And through that, we have been given the share in the glorious resurrection of Our Lord, and receive the assurance of eternal life beyond this world, by He Who has conquered death for us, triumphant and victorious against the forces of evil and wicked ones who sought to destroy us and lead us into the darkness. And Mary, as the Mother of God, has been standing by her Son, and all of us, whom the Lord had entrusted to her as her own children. And if the evil forces, the demons and spirits are afraid of the Lord, because they know that He is truly the Lord and Master over all things, and that no matter what they do, they cannot overcome Him, fearing the very mention of His Name, therefore, by association to her Son, Mary’s holy Name is equally feared and has the same power over those evil spirits as well. By invoking the Most Holy Name of Mary, we bring into our presence the protection of the Mother of God herself, who has always been our greatest ally and intercessor, ever praying for and helping us sinners, guiding us all towards her beloved Son, our Lord and Saviour. She has also constantly given us all the inspiration and the help to make us find our way towards the Lord and His salvation.

Today’s Bible Readings: Thursday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time | September 12, 2024
Reading 1, First Corinthians 8:1-7, 11-13
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 139:1-3, 13-14, 23-24
Gospel, Luke 6:27-38

Gospel Reading ~ Luke 6:27-38

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”

“Jesus said to His disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful. “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

In today’s Gospel reading from Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount details one of the most radical of all Jesus’ teachings. The calling of the Gospel reading today is very demanding. We are to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, pray for those who treat us badly, to give to others without any hope or expectation of a return, not to condemn but to forgive others. We are called to love our enemies and to give to those who do not deserve our generosity and who will never be in a position to pay it back or to give something to us in return. In the culture of the time, people who were in a position to give generously expected some kind of return. Giving to others put them in debt to you; there was a cultural expectation of some kind of return. Perhaps our own culture is not all that different, because we are not all that different. We struggle to be completely selfless in our giving. Jesus cuts across that culture of giving with a view to receiving. The love he calls for which has no trace of self-seeking in it is a divine kind of love; it is the way God loves. God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked; God does not give with a view to receiving. God does not love his enemies less than his friends. Jesus is calling on us to be God-like in our loving and in our giving. The world would consider this kind of giving a folly; we will be left with nothing. Jesus, however, promises that if we give in this God-like way, a full measure, running over, will be poured into our lap. The Gospel reading declares that in giving as we have received, we open our hearts to receive even more from God. ‘Give, and there will be gifts for you’. We give out of what we have received and our giving opens us up to receive even more. As the Gospel reading says, God is merciful and compassionate; He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. God has loved us in an extraordinary way in the person of Jesus and we are to relate to each other out of that tremendous grace that we have been given. More fundamental even that this high ideal of how we are to relate to others is how God relates to us. We are to relate to others in all these ways because that is how God relates to us.

In today’s first reading, St. Paul calls on the members of the church in Corinth to love the brothers and sisters in the community of faith. There were some who were so full of their knowledge of what they were free to do that they acted without regard for others in the community. They were forgetting, that because each member of the community of faith is a member of Christ’s body, to sin against a member of the church is to sin against Christ himself. St. Paul is reminding us that within the community of faith personal freedom must always be subordinate to the wellbeing of others, including their spiritual wellbeing. While St. Paul in our first reading calls on us to love the members of the believing community and to be prepared to let go of our legitimate freedoms to do so, Jesus in the Gospel reading goes even further and calls on us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute the community of faith. This is the extraordinary ideal of love that the Gospel puts before us. Indeed, in the Gospel reading, Jesus makes it clear that He is calling for a divine kind of love, a love that reflects the love of the Most High who is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked, and not only to the good and virtuous. We can only love in this way with divine help, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God’s love that God stands ready to pour into our hearts. This is why we need to keep on praying, ‘Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts and kindle in us the fire of your love’. We are invited, in the words of today’s first reading, to let this message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with us.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today as the Church celebrates the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary, in which moment we praise and honour Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother, who has always been with us, interceding for us and helping us all throughout our journey of faith and life, by her constant and persistent intercessions and other efforts through which she had reached out to us and calling on us to follow her on the way towards her Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, through Whom we shall gain the assurance of salvation and eternal life. Through Mary, whose memory and holy Name we honour today, we have the surest and best path towards God and His grace, His salvation and light. Mary has played in the story of our salvation, let us all continue to honour and respect her, as the Mother of God and also as our loving Mother, who has always looked kindly upon us, caring for each and every one of us, guiding and helping us to find our way towards the salvation in God. We honour Mary and her most holy name, which like that of her Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is feared by the devil, our great enemy, who has always despised her for having taken so many away from his clutches, because of all of her efforts in reaching out to us, all these time, in trying to bring us back once again towards the Lord, our Saviour, her Son. Our blessed Mother Mary has played in the story of our salvation, let us all continue to honour and respect her, as the Mother of God and also as our loving Mother, who has always looked kindly upon us, caring for each and every one of us, guiding and helping us to find our way towards the salvation in God. Our Blessed Mother Mary has always cared for all of us, whom her Son had entrusted to us to be her own, and hence, we have her as our own beloved mother. Through her many efforts and outreach towards us, Mary had brought so many among us and our predecessors out of the darkness of sin and evil, and back into the path towards the salvation and eternal life in her Son. Today, let us all ask our blessed and loving Mother Mary, whose Most Holy Name we honour and glorify, to pray for us always, to intercede for us sinners, that we may be forgiven our many sins, and be reconciled with her Son, Our most loving Saviour, our God and Creator. May Mary, Holy Queen and Mother, continue to guide and help us all in our journey of faith and life, that we may always come ever closer to the glory and joy of Heaven, and distance ourselves from the wickedness and evils of sin. May God be with us too, and may He empower us all to follow Him ever more faithfully, at all times. May she continue to inspire us all to live our lives worthily and well in all things and at all opportunities. In times of trouble let us continue to invoke the Most Holy Name of Mary, our Mother, calling sincerely and earnestly upon her to come and help us, to assist and intercede for us all. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and bless us always in all things, and may He continue to guide and strengthen us in all things, and help us to persevere through the many challenges of life. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Mother pray for us too, and listen to us when we call upon your most holy name, and protect us from the evil ones. Holy Mary, Mother of God, our loving Mother, pray for us sinners, now and always, and at the hour of our death. Amen 🙏🏾

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER:

MONTH OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS:
September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as our Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa)! Since the 16th century, Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The Church dedicates the month of September to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15th.  Devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary dates from the twelfth century, when it made its appearance in monastic circles under the influence of St. Anselm and St. Bernard.

This devotion recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary’s spiritual martyrdom in virtue of her perfect union with the Passion of Christ. This was her role in salvation history and what merited her place as the spiritual Mother of all Christians. This is symbolized by a single sword, or seven swords, piercing Mary’s suffering heart, as foretold in Simeon’s prophecy. Traditionally the Church meditates on the “Seven Sorrows” of our Blessed Mother: the prophecy of Simeon; the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt; the loss of the Child Jesus for three days; the meeting of Mary and Jesus as He carried His cross; Jesus’ crucifixion and death; Jesus’ sacred body taken down from the cross; and Jesus’ burial. All the sorrows of Mary (the prophecy of Simeon, the three days’ loss, etc.) are merged in the supreme suffering at the Passion. In the Passion, Mary suffered a martyrdom of the heart because of Our Lord’s torments and the greatness of her love for Him. “She it was,” says Pope Pius XII, “who immune from all sin, personal or inherited, and ever more closely united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and motherly love. As a new Eve, she made this offering for all the children of Adam contaminated through his unhappy fall. Thus, she, who was the mother of our Head according to the flesh, became by a new title of sorrow and glory the spiritual mother of all His members.” The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa) is September 15th.

INVOCATIONS: Mary most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us. Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us 🙏🏾

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=762

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER – FOR THE CRY OF THE EARTH: We pray that each one of us will hear and take to heart the cry of the Earth and of victims of natural disasters and climactic change, and that all will undertake to personally care for the world in which we live.

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, and 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:

Dearest Mother Mary, Mother of God and my mother, I love you and call upon you to receive me into your motherly heart so that you will present me to your Son, Jesus. Your Son entrusted me to your motherly care as He hung upon the Cross, and I now imitate that entrustment by giving myself to you as my mother. Please gain for me every grace I need to be faithful to God’s will, so that I will imitate the fidelity that you manifested in your own life. Mother Mary, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏🏾

My merciful Lord, Your love is beyond my own ability to comprehend. Your love is absolute and always seeks the good of the other. Give me grace, dear Lord, to love with Your heart and to forgive to the extent that You have forgiven. Use me, especially, to be an instrument of salvation and mercy to those who need it most in my life. 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 Blessed Mother Mary; Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Guy of Anderlecht ~ 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, and grace-filled week and fruitful month of September!🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 11, 2024

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | Novena link below

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | September 11, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | September 11, 2024 |

Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Wednesday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time!

Today, please let us pray for the safety and well-being of all service men and women, we also pray for peace in our world. We especially pray for the victims of the September 11 attacks (USA). We pray for the gentle repose of the souls of our loved ones who recently passed away, we particularly pray for the repose of the souls of the victims of September 11th attacks (USA) and we continue to pray for the souls in Purgatory; lost souls; the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. For the repose of 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 and souls of all the faithful departed 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🙏

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 🙏🏾

On this feast day, we continue to pray for our children and children all over the world. With special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we pray for their safety and well-being, especially those beginning the new school year. May God grant them the courage to face new challenges and wisdom to make good choices. We pray for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and for God’s guidance and protection upon them during this school year and always. We pray for safe travels, to and from school. We also pray for all teachers, staff and parents, and guardians. May the good Lord provide for those in need. And we continue to pray for the Clergy, persecuted Christians, for peace, love, justice and unity in our families and our world. May God keep us all safe and well. Amen 🙏

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” ~ James 1:5

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | September 11, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | September 11, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes France” | September 11, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| September 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: *Today’s Bible Readings: Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Reading 1, First Corinthians 7:25-31
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 45:11-12, 14-15, 16-17
Gospel, Luke 6:20-26

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/nine-day-prayer-for-life-novena-to-our-lady-of-sorrows-283

SAINTS OF THE DAY: SAINT PROTUS AND HYACINTH, MARTYRS; SAINT PAPHNUTIUS THE GREAT, BISHOP AND SAINT JOHN (JEAN) GABRIEL PERBOYRE, PRIEST AND MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 11TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saints Protus and Hyacinth, Martyrs and Saint Paphnutius the Great, Bishop and Saint John (Jean) Gabriel Perboyre, Priest and 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 who are mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for the poor and needy and for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families, and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, 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…. Amen🙏

SAINTS PROTUS AND HYACINTH, MARTYRS: Sts. Protus and Hyacinth were brothers who were servants of Saint Eugenia, a wealthy Roman woman. After their baptism, they devoted themselves to the study of Sacred Scripture and lived as hermits for a time in Egypt, but later returned to Rome. Sometime between 257 and 259, they were arrested—along with Saint Eugenia—because of their Christian faith during a persecution of the Emperor Gallienus. Although they were given the chance to deny Christ, the brothers refused and were beaten and beheaded on September 11. The Acts of these Martyrs are included in those of St. Eugenia and are spurious. They state that Eugenia, a Christian daughter of the prefect of Egypt, fled from her house with Protase and Hyacinth, her slaves. She converted her family and others. The Roman lady Basilla was converted by the Martyrs and all three were beheaded together.

According to Pope St. Damasus, the brothers, Roman Martyrs Protase and Hyacinth were martyred separately (doubtless in 303/304). They were buried in the cemetery of Basilla on the Old Salarian Way. In 1845, the grave of Saints Protus and Hyacinth was discovered in the Catacomb of Saint Hermes on the Via Salaria. The burial place of St. Hyacinth was found intact after 15 centuries. He seemed to have died by fire. And an inscription of St. Protase (but no tomb) was found nearby. Protus means ‘the first’ and Hyacinthus means ‘flower’ hence attractive.

For reflection: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”—Matthew 16:24

PRAYER: May the confession of Thy blessed martyrs, Protus and Hyacinth, fill our hearts with joy and comfort us, O Lord, and their example increase our faith, and their prayers renew our courage. May their kind intercession constantly protect us. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ: Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.🙏

SAINT PAPHNUTIUS THE GREAT, BISHOP: St. Paphnutius the Great was a Hermit, an Egyptian monk who became a Bishop in Egypt, endured torture for the faith, and participated at the Ecumenical Council of Nicea in its confirmation of Christ’s divinity. While there is no record of Paphnutius’ early life, it is known that he – like many other men of his day – became a Spiritual student and disciple of the monk Saint Anthony of the Desert, Abbot whose direction of a community of fellow hermits marked the beginning of traditional Christian monasticism. Having spent several years pursuing spiritual illumination in the austerity of the desert under St. Anthony’s direction, St. Paphnutius was eventually chosen to become a Bishop for the Upper Thebaid region. This placed him in direct conflict with Maximinus Daia, the Roman imperial ruler of Egypt and Syria from 305 to 313, who persecuted the Church in these regions and attempted to undermine it by strengthening the institutions of paganism. During the persecutions of emperor Galerius Maximinus, St. Paphnutius had his right eye torn out, his left knee crippled, in an unsuccessful effort to make him renounce the Catholic faith. Not yielding before torture, he was condemned to manual labor in the mines, all as punishment for his faith. Since he survived the ordeal of persecution, St. Paphnutius was regarded with reverence by the first Christian leader of the Roman Empire. Constantine is said to have met frequently with the bishop from the Upper Thebaid, showing his respect by kissing the wound left by the loss of his eye.

Imperial policy toward Christians shifted between 311 and 313, in the midst of a power struggle between the various co-emperors of the time. The Emperor Constantine began to embrace the faith in 312, and he proclaimed its legality the following year, during which Maximinus Daia also died. Rescued by emperor Constantine the Great in 313, St. Paphnutius resumed his pastoral duties and worked against Arianism heresy. The Egyptian bishop, St. Paphnutius is also reputed to have played a role at the First Ecumenical Council, which condemned Arianism and promulgated the Nicene Creed and afterwards worked to spread the Nicene Creed. While celibate himself, A St. Paphnutius successfully resisted an effort by some council participants to change the Eastern Churches’ traditions regarding married members of the clergy. St. Paphnutius said that it was enough to conform to the ancient tradition of the Church, which forbade the clergy marrying after their ordination. To this day it is the law of the Eastern Churches, whether Catholic or dissident, that married men may receive all Holy Orders below the episcopate, and continue to live freely with their wives. During the years of doctrinal confusion that followed the Council of Nicea, St. Paphnutius stood in defense of Christian orthodoxy alongside Saint Athanasius of Alexandria and other Church leaders who upheld the doctrine of Jesus’ eternal preexistence as God.

In 335 St. Paphnutius joined a large group of Egyptian Bishops in attending the regional Council of Tyre, where they found the majority of Bishops adhering to the Arian heresy and he again had to oppose Arianism. St. Paphnutius was especially distressed to see his fellow Bishop Maximus of Jerusalem mingling with the Arian clergy, since Maximus, like himself, had once suffered torture rather than compromise his faith. St. Paphnutius took his fellow confessor aside, and personally persuaded him to back St. Athanasius in the struggle against Arianism. The year of St. Paphnutius’ death, like that of his birth, is unknown. St. Paphnutius is sometimes called “the Great” to distinguish him from other saints of the same name. He should not be confused with another prominent Egyptian monk of the same name (who appears in the “Conferences” of Saint John Cassian), nor is he the same Paphnutius whose martyrdom the Eastern churches commemorate on April 19. St. Paphnutius’ feast day is September 11.

Saint Paphnutius, Bishop ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT JOHN (JEAN) GABRIEL PERBOYRE, PRIEST AND MARTYR: St. John (Jean) Gabriel Perboyre (1802-1840) was one of eight children born to Pierre Perboyre and Marie Rigal, a pious farming family in France on January 6, 1802. Including Jean Gabriel, five of the Perboyer children became consecrated religious – three priests and two nuns. St. John was a pious child and served as a model of virtue for his childhood companions. He discerned a call to the priesthood and joined the Vincentians along with a younger brother, with the full support of his parents. At age 16 he followed his brother Louis to the seminary, founded by their uncle that formed Vincentians, priests who followed the example of St. Vincent de Paul. His parents wanted John to make sure Louis settled in and acclimated to the new life; John discovered that the new life spoke to him as well, and he joined his brother as a seminarian and joined the Congregation of the Mission of Saint Vincent on Christmas Day 1818. Ordained in Paris on September 23, 1825. He taught dogmatic theology. Seminary rector. Assistant director of novices. He served as a seminary professor for many years, and his sanctity impressed even his superiors. He longed to serve in the missions to China, but his poor health prevented him and his brother was sent instead. He prayed and begged to also be sent to preach in China and to suffer martyrdom there. After his brother died on the voyage to China, St. Jean-Gabriel was allowed to take his place in the mission. 

In March 1835 he sailed for China, and began his mission in Macao in June 1836. His labors there were met with great success. A widespread persecution of Christians began in 1839, the same year England had attacked China. St. Jean-Gabriel was one of the first to be arrested. He was denounced to the authorities by one of his catachumens. The events leading to his death bear a striking resemblance to the Passion and Death of Christ. St. Jean Gabriel was betrayed to the authorities by one of his new converts (catachumens) for thirty pieces of silver, he was arrested, tried on 16 September 16, 1839, stripped of his garments and clothed with rags, bound, and dragged from tribunal to tribunal. At each trial, he was brutally treated and tortured by hanging by his thumbs and flogging with bamboo rods, and he was finally condemned to death along with seven other criminals on September 11, 1840. He was martyred by being strangled to death as he hung on a cross. St. John Gabriel was Canonized on June 2, 1996 by Pope John Paul II, St. John Gabriel Perboyre is the first saint of China. As a result of his martyrdom, the British government negotiated a clause in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking that required any apprehended missionary to be handed over to the custody of his nation’s diplomatic representatives. His feast day is September 11th.

Before his death St. Jean Gabriel wrote this prayer: “O my Divine Savior, Transform me into Yourself. Grant that I may live but in You, by You, and for You, So that I may truly say, with Saint Paul, “‘I live – now not I – But Christ lives in me.’”

St. John Gabriel Perboyre, you followed your passion to spread the Gospel and died with faith ~ Saint John Gabriel Perboyre, Priest and Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

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

Gospel Reading ~ Luke 6:20-26

“Blessed are you who are poor. Woe to you who are rich”

“Raising His eyes toward His disciples Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus told His disciples the famous Sermon on the Mount, also known as the Eight Beatitudes. Jesus declares blessed and happy the poor, the hungry and those who weep, whereas He declares unfortunate the rich and those who have their fill of everything. Jesus speaks a word of consolation to the great mass of the poor, the hungry and the weeping, whereas He issues a warning to the rich and complacent elite. The version of the beatitudes we find in St. Luke’s Gospel are very disconcerting in many ways. While Jesus declares blessed those who are poor, hungry and weep. He declares unfortunate those who are rich, who are full and who laugh. Jesus is not saying that poverty is a blessing in itself. Rather He is declaring that the poor are blessed because God will work to transform their situation. It is the situation of being vulnerable that creates a space for God to work. It is often our need that opens us up to God; it is those who are afflicted in any way who are most likely to experience God’s nearness and God’s help. In contrast, those who appear to have everything often have no sense of their need for God and are not open to God’s transforming presence. The Gospel reading assures us that our pain, our suffering, our affliction can be a blessing because it can open us up to experience the generosity of God towards us. Jesus proclaimed a God who wanted to show special favour to the distressed and vulnerable. In Luke’s Gospel, as Jesus hung from the cross one of the criminals alongside Him said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’. To this poor, hungry, weeping man Jesus said, ‘today, you will be with me in paradise’. It is often when we are at our weakest that we are most responsive to the Lord’s transforming and life-giving presence. The Lord wants to continue His mission to the broken in body, mind and spirit, in and through each one of us today. It is the situation of being vulnerable that creates a space for God to work. If the promise Jesus makes in today’s Gospel reading to the poor, the hungry and those who weep is to be fulfilled in this life and not just in eternity, He needs to work through each one of us. He needs us as His labourers.

In the Gospel, the Lord Jesus presented to all of His disciples and followers what it truly means for each and every one of them to become His disciples. They should heed whatever that He had told to them and to all the people, in the series of blessings and graces He had proclaimed and presented to all those who have truly obeyed the Lord and lived their lives worthily of the Lord at all times. The Lord praised and blessed all those who are poor in spirit, those who are hungry and in need, those who are sorrowful, those who have been hated and persecuted, those who acted righteously and sought to make peace, among other things. Jesus assures those who are struggling that God is aware of their plight and that God is working to reverse their abysmal situation, if not in this life, then in the kingdom of heaven. He warns the complacent rich who live in splendid isolation from the struggles of the vast bulk of the population that their situation will also be reversed, only for the worst. According to one of the psalms, ‘the Lord is close to the broken hearted, and saves the crushed in spirit’. This was the God that Jesus revealed by His words and His deeds. He gravitated towards the broken in body, mind and spirit, and they were drawn to Him. The Lord is especially close to us when we are broken or crushed in body, mind or spirit. He comes to bring us joy in our sorrow, strength in our weakness, and hope in our despondency. Whenever we come before the Lord in our poverty and weakness, we will find that He is close to us in love.

In our Gospel reading today, Jesus speaks a word of consolation to those who are struggling the most, the poor, the hungry, all who weep, those experiencing rejection because of their loyalty to Him. He declares that God is working to transform their situation for the better. The day will come when they will be satisfied, when they will laugh, when the kingdom of God will be theirs. Jesus is revealing God to be one who is not only present to us in our most vulnerable situations but who is actively working on our behalf to bring a change for the better to our lives. This is the God whom Jesus revealed by His deeds and His words. He invited the poor to His table, He fed the hungry in the wilderness, He brought the joy of God’s kingdom to those who were weeping, such as the widow at Nain. Jesus wants His disciples, all of us, to reveal this same God by our deeds and our words. The risen Lord wants to work through us to bring something of that fullness of life which characterizes the kingdom of God to those who are poor, hungry and weeping today. We are aware of some people who are bringing hunger, poverty and sadness to others by their actions or even complacent indifference. It is this group that Jesus addresses in the second half of the Gospel, declaring that God hold them to account for the suffering they are inflicting on others, very often growing rich in the process. There are forces around that are death dealing and in the face of such forces the Lord needs us all the more to be instruments of his life-giving work in the world. As Saint Paul says in today’s first reading, Christ ‘is your life’. The Lord who comes to us as our life-giver also wants to live in us so that He can be a life-giver for others through us. He wants to continue His mission to the broken in body, mind and spirit, in and through each one of us today. If the promise Jesus makes in today’s Gospel reading to the poor, the hungry and those who weep is to be fulfilled in this life and not just in eternity, He needs to work through each one of us. He needs us as His labourers.

In our first reading today from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, the Apostle spoke to the people of God, the faithful and beloved people of God in that city and region about the matter of how each and every one of them ought to live their lives with commitment and dedication to God, and not to give themselves to immorality and wickedness, temptations and all the other corruptions of the world. He also exhorted them all to live virtuously and not to be swayed by worldly corruptions and desires, living as worthy and truly holy brothers and sisters in the same Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. St. Paul told the faithful people of God in Corinth not to embrace worldliness, and to reject all sorts of wicked things that may lead them astray from the path towards God and His salvation. However, at the same time, we must also understand the context and situation in which St. Paul made this comment and exhortation upon the faithful in Corinth. We must not understand it literally or else we may misunderstand the intention of those words uttered by St. Paul to the Corinthians as at that time it was commonly understood and thought that the Lord’s Second Coming would be truly imminent, and everything would come to happen within probably one’s lifetime. Therefore that was why St. Paul exhorted that the faithful should refrain from worldly matters and saying that the married should behave as if they were not married to each other, that they might stay focused on the Lord and not on their families. Putting this context aside, we see how the family is truly an important aspect of Christian life, that St. Paul and the other disciples of the Lord often placed a lot of emphasis and focus on the sanctity and purity of the families of those whom the Lord had called and chosen to be His own people, to be truly exemplary and worthy in each and every one of our works, actions and deeds so that we may continue to be holy and worthy to be truly called as disciples and followers of the Lord in all things. As Christians it is important that we must be the beacons of the light and truth of Christ, in each and every one of our words, actions, deeds and interactions with one another, and often it is our families that are the source of all these witnessing to the truth of Christ. If our families are not firmly rooted in Christ, in His teachings and truth, then it may be easy for us to be swayed into the path of rebellion, disobedience and therefore fall into the temptations to sin. That is why we need to make sure that each and every one of us, especially in our families, be it as parents or children, or be it as husbands or wives, and even as relatives to one another, we must continue to strive to live our lives most worthily of the Lord so that we can continue to embody our Christian faith in each and every moments of our lives, and we may proclaim the Lord and glorify Him through even the smallest and seemingly least significant efforts and works that we carry out in each and every moments. Our families and each and every one of us should continue to be filled with the grace of God at all times.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, it is important that each and every one of us understand the context of what we have heard from them, and understand how we can apply them to our own respective lives so that each and every one of us may grow ever more committed in each and every moments of our lives in doing whatever it is that He has taught and commanded us all to do. All of us should heed what the Lord told and taught to us with regards to how we should live our daily living as Christians, that is as those whom He had called and chosen from this world, and how we can be better and more attuned to His will, living in a manner that is truly worthy and blessed by the Lord, our loving God. Essentially, all of those things help to bring one ever closer to God, helping one to resist the temptations of the world, of all the worldly allures of pleasures and other forms of wicked things that may lead one astray and ever further from the path of God. We are all reminded that as Christians, our lives and our existence should always be focused on the Lord and we ought to have Him at the forefront of all and everything that we do in our everyday living. We must always adhere to the path of God’s grace, and do our very best in each and every moments to be inspirational and exemplary to everyone around us, helping one another to remain true to our faith and obedience to God, to do whatever it is that He has entrusted to us to do. May the Lord continue to help us in our journey towards Him, giving us the strength and encouragement to continue living our lives faithfully, dedicating ourselves at each and every moments to proclaim His truth and love, His Good News and truth to all the people of all the nations. May God be with us always and may He empower all of us, that we may be ever stronger in faith and in our conviction to love and serve Him in all of our actions regardless of the hardships and challenges that we may have to face in our path, in our every moments in life. May God in His infinite grace and mercy grant us the grace as we strive to remain faithful, and may He continue to bless our every endeavours and good deeds, all for His greater glory. Let us all Christians glorify the Lord and proclaim His truth and Good News among all the peoples, through our own worthy lives, now and always, forevermore. Amen 🙏

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER:

MONTH OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS:
September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as our Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa)! Since the 16th century, Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The Church dedicates the month of September to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15th.  Devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary dates from the twelfth century, when it made its appearance in monastic circles under the influence of St. Anselm and St. Bernard.

This devotion recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary’s spiritual martyrdom in virtue of her perfect union with the Passion of Christ. This was her role in salvation history and what merited her place as the spiritual Mother of all Christians. This is symbolized by a single sword, or seven swords, piercing Mary’s suffering heart, as foretold in Simeon’s prophecy. Traditionally the Church meditates on the “Seven Sorrows” of our Blessed Mother: the prophecy of Simeon; the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt; the loss of the Child Jesus for three days; the meeting of Mary and Jesus as He carried His cross; Jesus’ crucifixion and death; Jesus’ sacred body taken down from the cross; and Jesus’ burial. All the sorrows of Mary (the prophecy of Simeon, the three days’ loss, etc.) are merged in the supreme suffering at the Passion. In the Passion, Mary suffered a martyrdom of the heart because of Our Lord’s torments and the greatness of her love for Him. “She it was,” says Pope Pius XII, “who immune from all sin, personal or inherited, and ever more closely united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and motherly love. As a new Eve, she made this offering for all the children of Adam contaminated through his unhappy fall. Thus, she, who was the mother of our Head according to the flesh, became by a new title of sorrow and glory the spiritual mother of all His members.” The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa) is September 15th.

INVOCATIONS: Mary most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us. Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us 🙏🏾

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=762

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER – FOR THE CRY OF THE EARTH: We pray that each one of us will hear and take to heart the cry of the Earth and of victims of natural disasters and climactic change, and that all will undertake to personally care for the world in which we live.

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

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, and 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 blessed Lord, You were poor, hungry, temperate and humble to the perfect degree. For these reasons, You were filled with perfect virtue and were satisfied to the greatest degree. Please open my eyes to the deceptions of this world so that I can live with You a life of true holiness, experiencing the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven. 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 Blessed Mother Mary; Saints Protus and Hyacinth; Saint Paphnutius the Great and Saint John (Jean) Gabriel Perboyre ~ 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, and grace-filled week and fruitful month of September!🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 10, 2024

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | Novena link below

Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Tuesday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time!

On this feast day, we continue to pray for our children and children all over the world. With special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we pray for their safety and well-being, especially those beginning the new school year. May God grant them the courage to face new challenges and wisdom to make good choices. We pray for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and for God’s guidance and protection upon them during this school year and always. We pray for safe travels, to and from school. We also pray for all teachers, staff and parents, and guardians. May the good Lord provide for those in need. And we continue to pray for the Clergy, persecuted Christians, for peace, love, justice and unity in our families and our world. May God keep us all safe and well. Amen 🙏

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” ~ James 1:5

Through the intercession of the Saints on this feast day, we pray for the souls in Purgatory; lost souls; the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We particularly 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” | September 10, 2024 |

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

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

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| September 10, 2024 |

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

Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) | https://youtu.be/vVc782kcDds

Today’s Bible Readings: Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Reading 1, First Corinthians 6:1-11
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 9
Gospel, Luke 6:12-19

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/nine-day-prayer-for-life-novena-to-our-lady-of-sorrows-283

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO (TOLENTINE), PRIEST; SAINT PULCHERIA, EMPRESS AND SAINT AMBROSE EDWARD BARLOW, PRIEST AND MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 10TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (Tolentine), Priest; Saint Pulcheria, Empress and Saint Ambrose Edward Barlow, Priest and 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 who are physically and mentally ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for the poor and needy and for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, 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…. Amen🙏

SAINT NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO (TOLENTINE) PRIEST: St. Nicholas (1245-1305) was a simple Priest and Augustinian Friar known as the Patron of Holy Souls, particularly invoked as an advocate for the souls in Purgatory, especially during Lent and the month of November. He is an Italian Saint and Mystic who touched the lives of many. His sprit of prayer, penance, austerity of life and devotion to the Holy Souls were notable. His preaching brought many to Christ. St. Nicholas’ bread, a roll of dough with a cross in the center, has its origin in the bread he used to give to the sick to eat after he had prayed for the Virgin Mary’s healing intercession. Born Nicholas Gurutti in 1245 at Sant’Angelo, Pontano, Macerata, a town near Fermo in Italy. His family was rather poor. St. Nicholas was born in answer to his mother’s prayers. Childless and in middle age, she had made a pilgrimage with her husband to the shrine of St. Nicholas of Bari to ask for a son whom she promised to dedicate to God’s service. When her wish was granted, she named the boy Nicholas and he soon gave unusual signs of saintliness. St. Nicholas was blessed by innocence and the practice of more than ordinary virtue from his early infancy. Already at seven he would hide away in a nearby cave and pray there like the hermits whom he had observed in the mountains. As soon as he was old enough he was received into the Order of Augustinian friars. He joined the Order there shortly after the Grand Union. A sermon preached by an Augustinian friar, on the vanity of the world, persuaded him to enter religion. This was not a passing emotion, but a firm resolution, which he executed by entering the Augustinian Order at Tolentine, a small town in the Papal States. From this town, where Nicholas spent the great part of his life, he obtained his surname. He made his profession before he had completed his eighteenth year. Then he began to run the giant race of sanctity, in which he soon excelled, distinguishing himself especially by the virtues of humility and meekness. While he was still a young student, his extraordinary merit caused him to be appointed to a canonry in the Church of Our Savior, a position that was extremely pleasing to him, as it gave him opportunity of being constantly employed in God’s service. On account of his kind and gentle manner his superiors entrusted him with the daily feeding of the poor at the monastery gates, but at times he was so free with the friary’s provisions that the procurator begged the superior to check his generosity. He was sent successively to several convents of his Order, and in that of Cingole he was ordained priest at the hands of the Bishop of Osimo in 1271 and said his first Mass with exceptional fervor; thereafter, whenever he celebrated the holy Mystery he seemed aglow with the fire of his love. From that time he was employed in the works of the ministry, preaching, and hearing confessions. His preaching, instructions and work in the confessional brought about numerous conversions, and his many miracles were responsible for more, yet he was careful not to take any credit for these miracles. “Say nothing of this,” he would insist, “give thanks to God, not to me. I am only a vessel of clay, a poor sinner.”

The early years of his life as a friar were devoted to preaching in various houses of his province, but his last thirty years were spent in Tolentine, where he was engaged principally as confessor, benefactor of the poor and diligent minister to the sick. At that time in Tolentine, the Guelfs and the Ghibellines were in constant strife. St. Nicholas saw only one remedy to the violence: street preaching, and the success of this apostolic work was astounding. “He spoke of the things of heaven,” says his biographer St. Antonine. “Sweetly he preached the divine word, and the words that came from his lips fell like flames of fire. Among his hearers could be seen the tears and heard the sighs of people detesting their sins and repenting of their past lives.” St. Nicholas was a man filled with compassion and charity toward his brothers in the monastery, great hospitality to visitors and generous attention to all in need. At the same time his life of prayer and recollection, of penance and fidelity to the common life won the admiration of all. His devotion to the faithful departed and his prayers for their salvation earned him the title Patron of the Souls in Purgatory. God favored St. Nicholas with many heavenly gifts, and the time he could spare from his labors he spent in prayer and contemplation. He had also much to suffer from various painful diseases. During the last years of his life St. Nicholas was bedridden and suffered grievously. He died peacefully surrounded by his community on September 10, 1305 and his body is venerated in his Basilica in Tolentine. In 1345 a lay Brother cut off the arms of his body intending to take them to Germany as relics, and the friars then hid his body to prevent further attempts of this kind. It has not been found to this day, but the arms have been preserved. It is recorded that they have bled on several occasions, usually, it is said, before some calamity that befell the Church or the world. The remains of St. Nicholas are preserved at the Shrine of Saint Nicholas in the city of Tolentine. St. Nicholas of Tolentine was canonized by Pope Eugene IV in 1446. Saint Nicholas is the first Augustinian friar to be canonized after the Grand Union of the Order of St. Augustine in 1256 and for much of the Order’s history served as the model – par excellence – of the perfect integration of a life of contemplation with that of active ministry among God’s people. St. Nicholas of Tolentine is the Patron Saint of the souls in Purgatory; lost souls; dying people; infants; mariners; against epidemic disease and against fires and animals.

QUOTE OF SAINT NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO:“The Heavens are not pure in the sight of Him Whom I serve; how then shall I, a sinful man, stand before Him?”

PRAYER: Almighty God, Your glory has shone upon the Church through the holiness and miracles of St. Nicholas of Tolentine. In answer to his prayers keep Your holy people in peace and unity. Amen 🙏
 
SAINT PULCHERIA, EMPRESS: St. Pulcheria (399-453), Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire, eldest daughter of the Byzantine emperor Arcadius (395-408) and Empress Aelia Eudoxia. St. Pulcheria was co-regent and adviser of her brother Theodosius the Younger (408-450). St. Pulcheria was born on January 19, 399. Her father died when she was 15. After the death of her father, Arcadius (408), her younger brother, Theodosius II, then only seven, became emperor under the guardianship of Anthimus. St. Pulcheria had matured early and had great administrative ability; she soon exerted salutary influence over the young and not very capable emperor Theodosius. On July 4, 414, she was proclaimed Augusta (empress) by the Senate, and made regent of the empire for her younger brother, Theodosius, until he was old enough to rule. St. Pulcheria took special care of her brother’s education, ensuring a strong religious background. She took a vow of chastity (virginity) and persuaded her sisters to do the same, and worked for religious reform and evangelization through the empire. The imperial palace thus becoming almost a monastery. At the same time she fulfilled all her duties as a ruler for about ten years jointly with her brother. When Theodosius took over the throne, St. Pulcheria faded for a while into court life. In 421 she arranged the marriage of Theodosius with Athenais, who assumed the name Eudocia (Eudoxia). After the marriage, the new empress sought to weaken St. Pulcheria’s influence over the emperor. Theodosius’ wife  convinced him to exile St. Pulcheria and, with the aid of some courtiers, succeeded for a time. The two women quarreled about 440, and Eudocia in 443 withdrew permanently to Jerusalem. The grand chamberlain Chrysaphius then acquired the dominant influence over Theodosius. Court intrigues obliged St. Pulcheria (446) to leave the imperial palace and retire to a suburb of Constantinople, where she led a monastic life. When this adviser fell from power shortly before Theodosius’ death (in July 450), St. Pulcheria again came into prominence, she returned to Court about 449. At the emperor Theodosius’ death (on July 28, 450) she was proclaimed empress, and then married the able general, Marcian, but with the condition that her vow of virginity should be respected. At her order Marcian was proclaimed Augustus. She selected Marcian as Theodosius’ successor and agreed to become his nominal wife in order to preserve the Theodosian dynasty.

St. Pulcheria supported Pope Leo the Great regarding the Monophysite controversy. On Oct. 25, 451, she sponsored and attended the Council of Chalcedon and supported the Church against the Nestorian and Eutychian heresies. She was loudly acclaimed by the bishops assembled there. Throughout her life she defended the Faith against various heresies. St. Pulcheria showed no less zeal in promoting other interests of the Church. She built three churches in Constantinople in honour of Mary the Mother of God; one, erected after the condemnation of the Nestorian heresy, was exceedingly beautiful. In other places also she built churches, hospitals, hospices, houses for pilgrims, and gave rich gifts to various churches and built a university in the city of Constantinople. She had the bones of Saint John Chrysostom, who had died in exile, brought back to Constantinople and buried in the church of the Apostles on January 27, 438; this led to the reconciliation with the Church of the schismatic party of the Johannines. St. Pulcheria had the relics of the forty martyrs of Sebaste, which were found near Constantinople, transferred to a church. Throughout her life St. Pulcheria remained a devout Christian. After giving away her wealth and all her possessions to the poor and to the Church, she died peacefully at the age of fifty-four in July 453 A D in Turkey of natural causes. She’s the Patron Saint against in-law problems; against the death of parents; empresses; exiles; orphans; people in exile; victims of betrayal.

Saint Pulcheria, Empress ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT AMBROSE EDWARD BARLOW, PRIEST AND MARTYR: St. Ambrose Edward Barlow (1585-1641) was born near Manchester, England, to a noble family. He was baptized Catholic at his birth, but was raised Protestant when Catholicism was outlawed by the reigning monarchy. His grandfather died while imprisoned for his Catholic faith, and his father had two-thirds of his estate confiscated for refusal to conform to the Church of England. Ambrose returned to Catholicism as an adult, recognized his vocation to the priesthood, and traveled to France to enter seminary. He was ordained in 1617 in the Order of St. Benedict. He returned to England to minister to underground Catholics in his native south Lancashire for 24 years, being financially supported with a pension arranged by his grandmother.

St. Ambrose said Mass daily and administered the sacraments secretly to avoid detection by the authorities. He was arrested four times during his priesthood, each time being released without charge. When the king issued a decree that all Catholic Priests should immediately flee the country or be arrested and condemned as traitors, St. Ambrose chose to stay, reasoning that he could not die a better death than to be martyred for being a Catholic Priest. On April 25, 1631, just as he ended Easter Sunday Mass at Morley Hall near Manchester, he was arrested by a 400-strong armed mob led by the local Anglican Vicar He freely admitted to the charge of being a Catholic Priest and gave a defense of the true faith before his judge. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, quartered, and boiled in oil on September 10, 1641. His dead body was publicly displayed on a pike as a warning to other Catholic Priests. St. Ambrose Edward Barlow is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. His feast day is September 10th.

Saint Ambrose Edward Barlow, Priest and Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

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

Gospel Reading ~ Luke 6:12-19

“He spent the night in prayer. He chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles”

“Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus calls Twelve from among the wider group of His disciples to be His closest companions, a kind of inner circle of disciples. The calling of this small group of Twelve from among the larger group was done very carefully and was such an important moment that, according to the Gospel reading, He spent the whole night in prayer to God. Jesus’ choice of this significant group came out of His prayer. Each one of the Twelve was, in a sense, the fruit of His prayer. He prayerfully discerned those who would form this important group. Jesus felt the need of God’s sustaining and guiding presence as He made this momentous choice. We can all feel the need to spend time with the Lord in prayer before we make an important decision. In prayer we try to open ourselves up more fully to what the Lord wants for our lives. We ask that His will be done and His kingdom come in and through the decision we make. We invite the Holy Spirit to guide and shape our discerning and decision making. Moments of decision are times when we tend to seek the Lord with greater focus and energy. Even though Jesus spent the night in prayer to God before choosing the Twelve, yet, as St. Luke says in the Gospel reading, the leader of this group would go on to deny Him three times, and one of the group, Judas Iscariot, became a traitor, he went on to betray Jesua to His enemies. Not even Jesus’ prayerful choice guaranteed the faithfulness of those chosen. Just because we bring our decision to the Lord in prayer doesn’t mean that everything afterwards will run smoothly for us. The fact that we pray does not mean that all will work out just right. However, prayer deepens our communion with God, and if things do not work out as we might have hoped, we face all that in the strength that our communion with God gives us. In opening ourselves to the Lord in prayer at such moments of decision we are allowing Him to be at the heart of our decision making and at the heart of all that follows from it, even if what follows from our decision is not what we had expected. When Jesus was abandoned by those He had chosen, denied by one and betrayed by another, all of that brought Him pain. Yet, because of His prayerful communion with God He came through that dark experience into a new life, which He has opened up to all who turn to Him in faith.

In our first reading today from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Corinth, we are reminded that first of all, each one of us as Christians must always strive to live our lives away from the corruptions and wickedness of the world. All of us must be faithful to the teachings and ways of the Lord, observing wholeheartedly everything that He has called us all to do in completing His commandments and in walking down the path of righteousness and virtue. We must not give in to the temptations of evil and sin, of the corruptions of the flesh and worldliness which are always all around us, threatening to lead us all down the path towards ruin and destruction. At the same time, we must also not be divided against each other, fellow brothers and sisters in the same Lord, all of us fellow Christians, holy people of God. As one flock of the Lord’s people, His called and chosen ones, we must strive to live in harmony, respecting one another and caring for our fellow brethren. As what St. Paul had exhorted the Christians who lived in Corinth, each and every one of them must not accuse one another and hand over their fellow brethren to the pagan judges to be punished. They should instead settle their disagreements and divisions within their community, doing the best they could to restore the harmony and peace in the community of God’s faithful people. He reminded them all how those who were wicked and did not follow God’s Law and commandments would have to face the just consequences of their wickedness and be punished for their sins. That is why, each and every one of them, and hence, all of us as Christians should keep ourselves away from all sorts of immorality and corruptions of worldly desires, ambitions, from the allures of our human pride, ego and greed, from all the things that can easily lead us astray and bring us all to our downfall if we are not careful and vigilant. All of us have been bestowed with the blessings and grace of God, given and entrusted with His truth and love, and we should therefore commit ourselves to be filled with God’s love and to carry out our lives with great love and compassion for one another instead of with anger, jealousy and hatred. And instead of pride and greed, let us all be humble and be generous in giving and sharing our blessings and riches with one another, that everyone may be truly equally blessed by God.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, each and every one of us have been reminded by the Lord Himself that we should be righteous in all the things that we say and do throughout our whole lives, and we should be exemplary in how we carry out our actions throughout our lives that we may indeed be good and worthy role models, inspirations and strength for one another in faith. All of us have been reminded that as God’s people we must always live in accordance with His ways and adhere closely to Him and the path that He has shown us. We cannot contradict our faith with our wayward and wicked way of life and actions, which would have led us into the path towards our downfall and make us no better than hypocrites and unbelievers. Let us all therefore continue to do our best to love and serve the Lord, and to do our part in helping and guiding our fellow brothers and sisters around us. Let us all not be distracted anymore by any kind of worldly pursuits, attachments and excesses all around us. Instead, let us all strengthen our commitment to God and our love for Him, and let us all, in each and every moments of our lives be truly inspirational and exemplary, through the many virtuous and good words, actions and deeds we carried out. Let us all be true and worthy bearers of God’s light and grace at all times, in every opportunities that God has presented and given generously to us. Let us continue to walk faithfully in His Holy Presence now and always. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may the good Lord, our most loving God and Father continue to bless and guide us in our journey through life so that we may always be strong amidst the various temptations and challenges that we may have to face in our journey together as Christians, as God’s holy and chosen people, and as His disciples and followers, having been entrusted with the important missions to proclaim His Good News and truth, now and forevermore. Amen 🙏🏾

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER:

MONTH OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS:
September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as our Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa)! Since the 16th century, Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The Church dedicates the month of September to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15th.  Devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary dates from the twelfth century, when it made its appearance in monastic circles under the influence of St. Anselm and St. Bernard.

This devotion recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary’s spiritual martyrdom in virtue of her perfect union with the Passion of Christ. This was her role in salvation history and what merited her place as the spiritual Mother of all Christians. This is symbolized by a single sword, or seven swords, piercing Mary’s suffering heart, as foretold in Simeon’s prophecy. Traditionally the Church meditates on the “Seven Sorrows” of our Blessed Mother: the prophecy of Simeon; the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt; the loss of the Child Jesus for three days; the meeting of Mary and Jesus as He carried His cross; Jesus’ crucifixion and death; Jesus’ sacred body taken down from the cross; and Jesus’ burial. All the sorrows of Mary (the prophecy of Simeon, the three days’ loss, etc.) are merged in the supreme suffering at the Passion. In the Passion, Mary suffered a martyrdom of the heart because of Our Lord’s torments and the greatness of her love for Him. “She it was,” says Pope Pius XII, “who immune from all sin, personal or inherited, and ever more closely united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and motherly love. As a new Eve, she made this offering for all the children of Adam contaminated through his unhappy fall. Thus, she, who was the mother of our Head according to the flesh, became by a new title of sorrow and glory the spiritual mother of all His members.” The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa) is September 15th.

INVOCATIONS: Mary most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us. Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us 🙏🏾

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=762

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER – FOR THE CRY OF THE EARTH: We pray that each one of us will hear and take to heart the cry of the Earth and of victims of natural disasters and climactic change, and that all will undertake to personally care for the world in which we live.

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, and 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 miraculous Lord, please draw me to Yourself, teaching in the wilderness of my interior life of silence and solitude. Help me to seek You out so that I can hear Your Word, spoken to me to give me new life. May I always listen to You so that Your holy Word will transform me more fully, making me into the new creation You desire me to be. 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 Blessed Mother Mary; Saint Nicholas of Tolentine; Saint Pulcheria, Empress and Saint Ambrose Edward Barlow ~ 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, and grace-filled week and fruitful month of September!🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

TWENTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 9, 2024

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | Novena link below

Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Monday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time!

On this feast day of St. Peter Claver, we humbly pray for the poor, for victims of human trafficking and for an end to human trafficking and modern-day slavery around the world. We continue to pray for our children and children all over the world. With special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we pray for their safety and well-being, especially those beginning the new school year. May God grant them the courage to face new challenges and wisdom to make good choices. We pray for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and for God’s guidance and protection upon them during this school year and always. We pray for safe travels, to and from school. We also pray for all teachers, staff and parents, and guardians. May the good Lord provide for those in need. And we continue to pray for the Clergy, persecuted Christians, for peace, love, justice and unity in our families and our world. May God keep us all safe and well. Amen 🙏

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” ~ James 1:5

On this day, we pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We particularly 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” | September 9, 2024 |

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

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

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| September 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: Monday September 9, 2024
Reading 1, 1 Corinthians 5:1-8
Responsorial Psalm, Psalm 5:5-6, 7, 12
Gospel, Luke 6:6-11

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/nine-day-prayer-for-life-novena-to-our-lady-of-sorrows-283

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT PETER CLAVER, PRIEST; SAINT GORGONIUS, MARTYR AND SAINT KIERAN THE YOUNGER, RELIGIOUS ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 9TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Peter Claver. Priest; Saint Gorgonius, Martyr and Saint Kieran the Younger, Religious. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the victims of human trafficking and for an end to human trafficking and modern-day slavery around the world. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are physically and mentally ill, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the poor and needy and for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families, and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, 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…. Amen🙏

SAINT PETER CLAVER, PRIEST: St. Peter Claver (1580 – 1654) was a Jesuit missionary who spent his life in the service of African slaves brought against their will to South America during the 17th century. St. Peter Claver was born on June 26, 1580 to impoverished parents who descended from ancient and distinguished farming family in the Spanish region at Verdu, Catalonia, Spain. He studied at the University of Barcelona as a young man, and joined the Jesuit novitiate at Tarragona in 1602, taking his final vows on Aug 8, 1604. While studying philosophy in Tarragona, St. Peter developed a friendship with an older Jesuit lay brother, Alphonsus Rodriguez. Although Alphonsus spent his days doing menial work as a door-keeper, he had immense insight into spiritual matters and encouraged St. Peter to become a missionary in the Spanish colonies. St. Alphonsus Rodriguez influrnced St. Peter Claver to go to the Indies and save “millions of those perishing souls.” Pope Leo XIII would later canonize both men on the same day, almost two centuries later. St. Peter Claver left his homeland to become a missionary in the colonies of the new world (the Americas). In 1610, St. Peter Claver, now a priest, arrived in Cartagena, a port city in present-day Colombia. Despite Pope Paul III’s repeated condemnations of slavery during the previous century, European colonists continued importing African slaves, often sold by their own rulers, to work on plantations and in mines. Those who survived the ship journey could expect to be worked to death by their masters. St. Peter was determined to sacrifice his own freedom to bring material aid and eternal salvation to the African slaves, in keeping with his vow, St. Peter Claver declared himself to become the “slave of the Negroes forever.” The young priest made and kept this resolution despite his own health problems (aggravated by Cartagena’s tropical climate) and the language barrier between himself and the population he served. St. Peter Claver ministered to the slaves physically and spiritually when they arrived daily in Cartegena (now Colombia). Over a thousand slaves arrived in Cartagena every month. He brought them food, ministered to their medical needs and prayed with them. He would care for the sick and dying, and instruct the slaves through Black catechists, before administering the Sacraments. After instructing them in the faith, he baptized them. Furthermore, he did not lose sight of his converts when they left the ships, but followed them to the plantations to which they were sent, encouraged them to live as Christians, and prevailed on their masters to treat them humanely. During the 40 years of his ministry at Cartagena, by 1651, St. Peter Claver instructed and baptized an estimated 300,000 slaves into the faith.

Many Spanish Royal officials in Cartagena appreciated St. Peter Claver’s work, and made contributions toward the slaves’ relief and religious education. The slave traders, on the other hand, found the priest and his interpreters to be a nuisance. Meanwhile, some Spanish expatriates who sought out the priest because of his holy reputation, refused to enter the same church or confessional as the black slaves. In order to minister to speakers of a foreign language, St. Claver often employed pictorial representations of Catholic truths. He also communicated by means of generosity and expressions of love, giving food and drink to the ailing workers and visiting them during bouts of sickness that often proved fatal. “We must speak to them with our hands,” he reasoned, “before we try to speak to them with our lips.” In keeping with his vow of “slavery,” St. Peter survived on minimal amounts of food and sleep. His life of humility and penance led to miraculous occurrences – as when he healed the sick with the touch of his cloak, or appeared surrounded by a supernatural light during his hospital visits. After four years of sickness, which forced St. Peter to remain inactive and largely neglected, his work came to an end with his death at Cartagena on September 8, 1654. Pope Leo XIII canonized him on January 15, 1888, proclaiming him special patron and protector of the negroes. St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, porter of the college, who inspired St. Peter to become a missionary for the slaves was also canonized at the same time. St. Peter Claver is the Patron Saint of slave; against slavery; African missions; foreign missions; black people; race relations; Colombia; diocese of Shreveport, Louisiana; diocese of Lake Charles, Louisiana; Knights and Ladies Auxiliary of St. Peter Claver. During the Vatican’s Synod for Africa in 2009, Cartagena’s Archbishop Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal lamented the fact that his city had been the center of an “awful commerce.” But he spoke with gratitude for the fact that the same city had become the home of such a “great witness to sanctity,” the “apostle of the slaves, whose body rests in our cathedral, who lived to protect them and lead them towards the faith” in which they could experience God’s love.

PRAYER: God of mercy and love, You offer all peoples the dignity of sharing in Your life. By the example and prayers of St. Peter Claver, strengthen us to overcome all racial hatreds and to love each other as brothers and sisters. Amen 🙏

QUOTES OF SAINT PETER CLAVER: ☆ “Seek God in all things and you shall find God by your side.” ☆”To love God as He ought to be loved, we must be detached from all temporal love. We must love nothing but Him, or if we love anything else, we must love it only for His sake.” ☆ “We must speak to them with our hands by giving, before we try to speak to them with our lips.” ☆”Man’s salvation and perfection consists of doing the will of God which he must have in view in all things, and at every moment of his life.”

SAINT GORGONIUS, MARTYR: St. Gorgonius was born in Nicomedia, a Roman soldier in the court of Emperor Diocletian. While an officer of the household of Diocletian, he converted to the faith of Christ, with the help of his colleague Dorothy, all the servants of the imperial palace. “To punish them for such audacity, they were hung up and their bodies lacerated by whips; then vinegar and salt were thrown on their uncovered entrails and they were strangled after having been roasted on a gridiron.” They were put to death at Nicomedia, Bithynia (modern-day Izmit, Turkey) in A.D. 303. Later, the body of St. Gorgonius was buried at Rome on the Latin Way, whence it was eventually translated to the basilica of St. Peter.

According to tradition, St. Gorgonius held a high position in the household of the emperor, and had often been entrusted with matters of the greatest importance. At the breaking out of the persecution he was consequently among the first to be charged, and, remaining constant in the profession of the Faith, was with his companions, Dorotheus, Peter and several others, subjected to the most frightful torments and finally strangled. Diocletian, determined that their bodies should not receive the extraordinary honours which the early Christians were wont to pay the relics of the martyrs (honours so great as to occasion the charge of idolatry), ordered them to be thrown into the sea. The Christians nevertheless obtained possession of them, and later the body of Gorgonius was carried to Rome, whence in the eighth century it was translated by Saint Chrodegang, Bishop of Metz, and enshrined in the monastery of Gorze. Many French churches obtained portions of the saint’s body from Gorze, but in the general pillage of the French Revolution, most of these relics were lost. Their feast is kept on September 9th.

Saint Gorgonius, Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT KIERAN THE YOUNGER, RELIGIOUS: St. Kieran the Younger (512-546 A.D.), also known as St. Ciaran, was born in Connacht, Ireland, the son of a carpenter. He demonstrated a great aptitude in his studies, being educated by a holy deacon who had him baptized. St. Kieran tended cattle in the fields before continuing his education at Saint Finnian’s monastery school at Clonard, where he became a monk. He soon earned the reputation for being the most learned monk at Clonard, and was held in high esteem by his instructors and peers. St. Kieran’s years of residence there were marked by many miracles. He also mentored, befriended, and tutored many of the founders of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Saint Kieran eventually left Clonard and went on to found the famous Clonmacnoise Abbey in West Meath Ireland, which attracted thousands of students from all over Europe. St. Kieran was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland – the first twelve bishops in Ireland consecrated by St. Patrick. He is also honored as the first Irish-born saint. St. Kieran’s feast day is September 9th.  

Saint Kieran the Younger, Religious ~ Pray for us 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

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

Gospel Reading ~ Luke 6:6-11

“The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath”

“On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely to see if he would cure on the sabbath so that they might discover a reason to accuse him. But he realized their intentions and said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up and stand before us.” And he rose and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” Looking around at them all, he then said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so and his hand was restored. But they became enraged and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.”

In today’s Gospel reading, when Jesus goes into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, a man with a withered right hand was standing there. The Pharisees and scribes were watching Jesus to see if He would heal the man, thereby breaking the Sabbath law which prohibited work on the Sabbath. Knowing their intentions, Jesus addresses a question to them, ‘Is it against the law on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it?’ The question is left hanging in the air, waiting for an answer. How would we answer it? Clearly, it is against the Sabbath law to do evil on the Sabbath, but the implication of Jesus’ question is that it is never against the Sabbath law to do good, to save and enhance life. Doing good, relating to people in ways that bring wholeness and healing, is always timely. There is never a time when it is not appropriate. We are to take every opportunity that comes our way to work for the good of others, regardless of the day of the week. There is never a wrong time to do good. Any law which says otherwise is not God’s law. The sun never ceases to shine, even if clouds block our view of it. God never ceases to work in a loving and life-giving way and Jesus is the embodiment of God’s life-giving work. He cannot but touch the lives of others in ways that bring them more fully to life. The Lord’s life-giving and loving presence never ceases to shine upon us either, regardless of the day of the week, however dark situation in which we might find ourselves. He is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow.

According to the Gospel reading, Jesus was clearly doing good, but some people were on the lookout for what he might be doing wrong. Some of Jesus’ contemporaries were very slow to recognize that God was at work in the life and ministry of Jesus. Some went so far as to claim that all the good Jesus was doing was done through the power of Satan. In contrast to His opponents who saw bad where there was only good, Jesus saw good in people where they themselves and others very often only saw bad. He saw the good in Zacchaeus whom most people despised. He saw the good in Peter who had called on Jesus to depart from him because he was a sinful man. Jesus knew that Zacchaeus and Peter were sinners and left a lot to be desired but He also saw all that was of value in them. We can often be much quicker to name the failings of others than to name the good in them. Jesus’ mission in life was not to take people down but to build people up, not to diminish them but to enhance them. This is what we find Jesus doing in today’s Gospel reading. He healed a man with a disability on the Sabbath, even though He knew that in doing so he would meet with hostility from those who held that He was breaking the Sabbath rest. Yet, Jesus would not be side-tracked from His work of renewing people, recreating them, in body, mind and spirit. This remains His work among us today. His mission remains, in the words of the Gospel reading, ‘to do good’ and ‘to save life’. This is the same mission that He has entrusted to each one of us. We are not to be in the business of waiting and hoping that people will fail. The Lord wants to work through us to build up others in body, mind and spirit. The Gospels are always calling us to see the good work that God is doing even when things are not happening quite as we might expect or want them to happen. We are all called to look upon others with the eyes of Jesus. It is not a case of looking at everything and everyone through rose-tinted glasses. Rather we are to look beyond the weakness, the imperfection in others, so as to see as well the elements of grace that are always there in every human life.

In our first reading today, from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, St. Paul chastised the Corinthians and the faithful people of God there for their immoral and improper behaviour in how they carried out actions such as taking one’s own stepmother as a wife, and other scandals which were truly unbecoming of the Lord’s holy and beloved people. This together with other immoral actions and behaviours which St. Paul highlighted to the Christians in Corinth that they should not be doing those actions and that they should turn back once again towards the righteous and virtuous path of the Lord, throwing away the corruptions of worldliness and immorality, and all the things which may become stumbling blocks and obstacles in their path towards God and His salvation.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are reminded that we should have true and genuine faith in the Lord, and not to allow ourselves to be tempted by the distractions and temptations present all around us in this world. Each and every one of us must always be committed to the Lord, our loving God and Master, and keep ourselves firmly rooted in our faith in Him, entrusting ourselves to Him in all things. We should not allow our pride and ego to be hurdles and stumbling blocks in our path, preventing us from coming closer to God and His salvation. Instead, we should continue to resist the temptations of the world, the temptations and allures of pride and ego so that we may truly come faithfully to the Lord’s Presence. Let us all hence be inspired by the great examples of the Saints and Holy men and women, particularly the great examples and the life of St. Peter Claver, who we celebrate today. Let us all therefore be inspired by the great examples and the dedication which St. Peter Claver, as a committed servant of God and holy man of God, had done in his life and has shown us how we all can also live our lives worthily as a disciple and follower of the Lord. Let us all be holy, just as the Lord our God is Holy, and let us all commit ourselves in our own way, and in our own capacity, to serve the Lord ever more faithfully and courageously in all things. Each and every one of us as part of God’s Church have the shared responsibility, mission and calling to do what He has entrusted to us to do, that is to proclaim God’s truth and love, His Good News and salvation to everyone, and we should do this while showing the same love which God has generously showered us with. Let us all continue to love one another and be gracious to all of our fellow brethren, especially those who are less fortunate and have no one to care for them. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to look on others in a more understanding and more generous way. May the good Lord bless us all and empower each one of us, in our daily lives, to be His ever more dedicated disciples. May the Lord bless us in all things, and may the intercession of St. Peter Claver be with us always. Amen.🙏

PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this Ordinary Time, please let us pray for the souls of our loved ones who recently passed away and we continue to pray for the repose of the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. We pray for the people of Maui Hawaii, United States, especially those who lost their lives in the Maui wildfire disaster, may God grant them eternal rest and may their families find peace and comfort. Amen. We pray for peace in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the continent of Africa, Nigeria and peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly 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. We also pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases, for the souls of the faithful departed, may God grant them eternal rest. We pray for the poor and the needy and we continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world. Amen🙏

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER:

MONTH OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS:
September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as our Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa)! Since the 16th century, Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The Church dedicates the month of September to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15th.  Devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary dates from the twelfth century, when it made its appearance in monastic circles under the influence of St. Anselm and St. Bernard.

This devotion recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary’s spiritual martyrdom in virtue of her perfect union with the Passion of Christ. This was her role in salvation history and what merited her place as the spiritual Mother of all Christians. This is symbolized by a single sword, or seven swords, piercing Mary’s suffering heart, as foretold in Simeon’s prophecy. Traditionally the Church meditates on the “Seven Sorrows” of our Blessed Mother: the prophecy of Simeon; the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt; the loss of the Child Jesus for three days; the meeting of Mary and Jesus as He carried His cross; Jesus’ crucifixion and death; Jesus’ sacred body taken down from the cross; and Jesus’ burial. All the sorrows of Mary (the prophecy of Simeon, the three days’ loss, etc.) are merged in the supreme suffering at the Passion. In the Passion, Mary suffered a martyrdom of the heart because of Our Lord’s torments and the greatness of her love for Him. “She it was,” says Pope Pius XII, “who immune from all sin, personal or inherited, and ever more closely united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and motherly love. As a new Eve, she made this offering for all the children of Adam contaminated through his unhappy fall. Thus, she, who was the mother of our Head according to the flesh, became by a new title of sorrow and glory the spiritual mother of all His members.” The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa) is September 15th.

INVOCATIONS: Mary most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us. Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us 🙏🏾

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=762

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER – FOR THE CRY OF THE EARTH: We pray that each one of us will hear and take to heart the cry of the Earth and of victims of natural disasters and climactic change, and that all will undertake to personally care for the world in which we live.

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, and 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 glorious Lord, you know all thoughts and probe the depths of every heart. You know me, Lord, through and through. Please open my eyes to see that which is within me so that I can discern the ill intentions I have and rejoice in the virtues given to me by You. May I always be attentive to You, dear Lord, so that I become aware of all that You wish to reveal to me. 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 Blessed Mother Mary; Saint Peter Claver; Saint Gorgonis and Saint Kieran the Younger ~ 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, and grace-filled week and fruitful month of September!🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

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

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Starts today – Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | Novena link below

Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Saturday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time!

On this feast day, we continue to pray for our children and children all over the world. With special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we pray for their safety and well-being, especially those beginning the new school year. May God grant them the courage to face new challenges and wisdom to make good choices. We pray for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and for God’s guidance and protection upon them during this school year and always. We pray for safe travels, to and from school. We also pray for all teachers, staff and parents, and guardians. May the good Lord provide for those in need. And we continue to pray for the Clergy, persecuted Christians, for peace, love, justice and unity in our families and our world. May God keep us all safe and well. Amen 🙏

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” ~ James 1:5

On this day, we pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We particularly 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” | September 7, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | September 7, 2024 |

Pray “1st Saturday – Holy Rosary and Special Prayer Event with the Marian Fathers of The Immaculate Conception” | National Shrine of the Divine Mercy | September 7, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| September 7, 2024 |

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

Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) | https://youtu.be/vVc782kcDds

Today’s Bible Readings: Saturday, September 7, 2024
Reading 1, First Corinthians 4:9-15
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 145:17-18, 19-20, 21
Gospel, Luke 6:1-5

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF SORROWS: Traditionally prayed September 7–15th. The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is September 15th | https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/nine-day-prayer-for-life-novena-to-our-lady-of-sorrows-283

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT REGINA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR AND SAINT CLOUD (CLODOALD), PRIEST ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 7TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Regina, Virgin and Martyr and Saint Cloud  (Clodoald), Priest. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for all victims of abuse and torture. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the poor and needy and for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, 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…. Amen🙏

SAINT REGINA (REINE), VIRGIN AND MARTYR: St. Regina (d. 286 A.D.) was born in the 3rd century to pagan parents in Alise, France, formerly a large ancient town called Alesia, famous for the siege which Caesar laid to it, where two hundred years earlier Vercingetorix had fought so valiantly against Caesar, now a small village in the diocese of Autun in Burgundy. St. Regina’s mother died at childbirth and her father was a prominent man who was a pagan. St. Regina’s father hired a Christian nurse to raise St. Regina. While St. Regina was quite young the nurse secretly baptized St. Regina and raised her in the Christian faith. St. Regina became more and more religious as she grew older and her embrace of Christianity became evident. When her father learned that she had been baptized, he disowned her. St. Regina then went to live with her Christian nurse and worked in the fields to earn money. They lived in poverty, and St. Regina tended sheep to help support the household. While working, she meditated on the love and mercy of God. This solitude allowed her time to pray and meditate on the lives of the Saints.

When Regina was 15 years old, the prefect of Gaul, a Roman proconsul named Olybrius noticed Regina and became determined to marry her. He discovered that she was of noble race and of the Christian Faith. He became greatly disturbed and was unhappy that she was a Christian. Olybrius asked her to renounce her faith in order to save her life and secure a prosperous marriage with him. He tried to convince her to deny her faith but she not only refused but proclaimed her faith even louder.  St. Regina staunchly refused to deny her faith, having already taken a vow of virginity to Christ. For her defiance she was cast into prison while Olybrius went to ward off the incursions of the barbarians. She was chained to the walls of the cell with an iron belt. Hoping that her resolve would gradually weaken, Olybrius visited her in prison and asked her once more to renounce her faith. St. Regina’s determination only increased with time, and she again refused to deny her faith. Olybrius, angered, had her severely tortured with her body being whipped and scourged, burned, and raked. Finally she was beheaded and she went forth to meet her heavenly Bridegroom. She died in the year 286. A.D. Many were converted after seeing a solitary dove hover over her during the torture. After her death many miracles were attributed to her relics. The relics of St. Regina are enshrined and kept with great devotion in the neighboring Abbey of Flavigni, a league distant, whither they were translated in 864, and where they have been rendered famous by miracles and pilgrimages, of which a history is published by two monks of that abbey. According to tradition, St. Regina’s martyrdom happened in the persecution of Decius, in 251, or under Maximian Herecleus in 286, as different Martyrologies disagree. She is honored in many ancient Martyrologies. St. Regina is honored as a martyr for the faith. She’s depicted as experiencing the torments of martyrdom; or as receiving spiritual consolation in prison by a vision of a dove on a luminous cross. St. Regina is the Patron Saint of poor people, against poverty, shepherdesses, and for abuse and torture victims. Her feast day is September 7th.

PRAYER: Lord God, You showered heavenly gifts on St. Regina. Help us to imitate her virtues during our earthly life and enjoy eternal happiness with her in heaven. Amen 🙏

SAINT CLOUD (CLODOALD), PRIEST: Saint Clodoald (522 – c. 560), better known as St. Cloud was born in 522 and is the first and most illustrious Saint among the princes of the royal family of the first race in France. He was a grandson of King Clovis of the Franks and the youngest son of King Clodomir of Orleans, the eldest son of St. Clotilda. St. Cloud was scarce three years old when his father was killed in Burgundy; but he and his brothers were raised in Paris by their grandmother St. Clotilda, Queen of the Franks who loved them extremely. Their ambitious uncles divided the kingdom of Orleans between them. St. Cloud was one of three brothers, all of whom were targeted for assassination by their uncle, Clotaire I. Two of his brothers, Theodoald and Gunther, were slain at the ages of ten and nine respectively by their uncle Clotaire, king of the Franks from 558-561. St. Clodoald, eight survived by escaping to Provence France. St. Clodoald renounced the world and all claims to the throne and devoted himself to the service of God in a monastic state. He lived as a studious hermit and disciple of Saint Severinus of Noricum, a holy recluse who lived near Paris, from whose hands he received the monastic habit.

Wishing to live unknown to the world, he withdrew secretly into Provence, but his hermitage being made public. Visited by many for counsel and healing, St. Clodoald in effect gained nothing by keeping himself remote from society. He therefore returned to Paris, where he was received with joy. At the people’s request, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Eusebius of Paris in 551, and served the church for some time in the functions of the sacred ministry. Afterward St. Cloud retired to and established a holy place at Nogent-sur-Seine, known as St. Cloud, two leagues below Paris, where he built a monastery that is now a collegiate church of canons regular called Saint Cloud wherein his relics are kept. Here he assembled many pious men, who fled out of the world for fear of losing their souls in it. St. Cloud was regarded by them as their superior, and he animated them to all virtue both by word and example. He was indefatigable in instructing and exhorting the people of the neighboring country, and piously ended his days. St. Cloud remained and died at Nogent in about the year 560, and the major part of his relics remain still in the parochial church of the village. The village hosting his tomb was renamed Saint Cloud accordingly. He’s the Patron Saint against carbuncles; nail makers; Diocese of Saint Cloud, Minnesota; France.

Saint Cloud (Clodoald), Priest ~ Pray for us 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

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

Gospel Reading ~ Luke 6:1-5

“Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”

“While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?” Then He said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is in dispute with the Pharisees as to what people can and cannot do on the Sabbath. The Pharisees criticize the disciples of Jesus for breaking the Sabbath Law. The Jewish Sabbath then, which is now a Saturday, work was forbidden. Sunday is now the Christian Sabbath. To satisfy their hunger, the disciplines of Jesus were picking ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands and eating them. This was a form of reaping, as far as the Pharisees were concerned, and reaping which constituted work was forbidden on the Sabbath. In His response, Jesus defends the actions of His disciples and turns to a similar situation in the Jewish Scriptures in support of His position. For Jesus, however, it was always legitimate to satisfy one’s physical hunger on the Sabbath, especially for people like Himself and His disciples who were never sure where the next meal was going to come from. Jesus insists that legal prescription has to yield before human need. King David recognized this when he allowed his followers to eat bread that had been set aside for sacrifice to God, because his followers were hungry. If David can make such a decision, how much more so can Jesus do so, the Son of David, the Jewish Messiah, the Lord of the Sabbath. The laws of the Pharisees about the Sabbath were not Jesus’ master or his Lord. Rather, Jesus declares that He Himself is Lord of the Sabbath. Law, including religious Law, is at the service of human need. If human regulations prevent basic human needs from being met, such as the need for food, then such regulations must yield before those needs. Jesus always gave priority to meeting the needs of others, especially their basic human needs for food, clothing, shelter and health. He came that we may have life and have it to the full. Today’s Gospel reading suggests that no set of human regulations should stand in the way of the basic needs of people being met, and being met without delay. As Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel reading that any work which serves the basic needs of others is always legitimate on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is not so much the day when we do no work at all as the day when we try to do God’s work, the work of responding to the needs of others and the call they make on us.

In our first reading today from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Corinth, he spoke to the people of God about how they should not look upon themselves with an air and sense of superiority, thinking that they were better than others around them as they lived their lives with comfort and full of blessings in this world. On the contrary, St. Paul said that to be Christians, they ought to be more humble and more focused on the Lord, seeking to glorify God by their lives and not to allow themselves to be swayed by worldly ambitions and temptations, all of which could lead us all down the path towards our downfall and destruction. If we allow ourselves to be swayed and tempted by those allures of glory, fame and power, then we may end up losing sight on our true destination and purpose in life, that is to seek the path towards the Lord our God. In our world today, we often face this issue of being tempted by our own pride and ego, our preoccupation with status and the privileges we have and enjoy in life, as we may find it hard to be told that what we are doing is not right and proper, or that there are others who know it better than us. That is why as Christians we must always cultivate the virtue of humility and obedience, to be humble in all things and to be willing to listen to others, especially to be willing to listen to the Lord and His words, embracing His truth and love, doing whatever it is that He has told us to do, and not to harden our hearts and minds against Him. It was pride that had led the devil himself to fall into sin, the pride and ambition of thinking that he could surpass God and became the ruler of all of Creation.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are reminded that we should be humble as Christians and followers of the Lord. We should not be proud in our hearts and minds lest we may be tempted to think that we are better than all others and look down on others around us whom we disagree with. We should not allow hubris, pride and ego to be great stumbling blocks in our path, keeping us away from falling down into the wrong path in life and helping us to remain firm in our faith and commitment towards the Lord. If we remain humble and committed to the Lord, resisting the temptations and allures of pride and ego, we will eventually triumph with the Lord, and share in His eternal joy and glory in the end. All of these are reminders for all of us that we should not merely be outwardly faithful to the Lord, and we are reminded that we should not be like the Pharisees whose pride and ego, in their thinking and ambitions, claiming that they were superior and better than others because of their ways of observing the Law and obeying the Law like those of the rules of the Sabbath, which they thought were appropriate and better than those done by others. As Christians, we must always remind ourselves not to be easily swayed and tempted by those temptations, and continue to keep ourselves humble and open-minded in receiving advice and guidance from others around us, and in learning how we can better live in a more appropriate and genuine way in being faithful to God, not just merely by outward appearances but also through wholehearted devotion and orientation towards Him in all things. May the Lord, our ever patient and loving God and Father continue to help and guide us in our journey, strengthening us in our desire and commitment to walk in His path and to love Him, ever reminding ourselves and one another to put our focus and emphasis in our lives in the Lord, our Master and Creator. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and bless our every good efforts, works and deeds, in our every contributions and commitments so that we may always glorify Him by our every moments in life, by our exemplary inspirations in each and every moments, now and forevermore. Amen 🙏

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER:

MONTH OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS:
September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as our Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa)! Since the 16th century, Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The Church dedicates the month of September to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15th.  Devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary dates from the twelfth century, when it made its appearance in monastic circles under the influence of St. Anselm and St. Bernard.

This devotion recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary’s spiritual martyrdom in virtue of her perfect union with the Passion of Christ. This was her role in salvation history and what merited her place as the spiritual Mother of all Christians. This is symbolized by a single sword, or seven swords, piercing Mary’s suffering heart, as foretold in Simeon’s prophecy. Traditionally the Church meditates on the “Seven Sorrows” of our Blessed Mother: the prophecy of Simeon; the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt; the loss of the Child Jesus for three days; the meeting of Mary and Jesus as He carried His cross; Jesus’ crucifixion and death; Jesus’ sacred body taken down from the cross; and Jesus’ burial. All the sorrows of Mary (the prophecy of Simeon, the three days’ loss, etc.) are merged in the supreme suffering at the Passion. In the Passion, Mary suffered a martyrdom of the heart because of Our Lord’s torments and the greatness of her love for Him. “She it was,” says Pope Pius XII, “who immune from all sin, personal or inherited, and ever more closely united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and motherly love. As a new Eve, she made this offering for all the children of Adam contaminated through his unhappy fall. Thus, she, who was the mother of our Head according to the flesh, became by a new title of sorrow and glory the spiritual mother of all His members.” The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa) is September 15th.

INVOCATIONS: Mary most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us. Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us 🙏🏾

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=762

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER – FOR THE CRY OF THE EARTH: We pray that each one of us will hear and take to heart the cry of the Earth and of victims of natural disasters and climactic change, and that all will undertake to personally care for the world in which we live.

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, and 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:

Lord of all Truth, You and You alone are the guide of my life. You and You alone are the Truth. Help me to be humble, dear Lord, so that I can recognize any error in my convictions and turn to You and Your divine Law as the one and only guide for my life. 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 Blessed Mother Virgin Mary; Saint Regina and Saint Cloud (Clodoald) ~ 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 September and relaxing weekend 🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖