SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ FEBRUARY 11TH

FEAST OF THE DAY: Today, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of  Lourdes. We also celebrate the World day of the sick.

WORLD DAY OF THE SICK: “February 11 was proclaimed World Day of the Sick by Pope John Paul II. Therefore, it would be appropriate to celebrate the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick on this day during a Mass or Liturgy of the Word. (The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is only to be given to “those of the faithful whose health is seriously impaired by sickness or old age,” Roman Ritual. This Sacrament must not be given indiscriminately to all who take part in Masses for the sick.)”

On this feast of Our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Lourdes, may she intercede for us sinners, who are sickened by sin, and who are suffering the consequences of our infidelity and weakness. We humbly pray for her to guide us in our path to seek the healing from the hands of her Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and look kindly upon us and show us His mercy, love and compassion, now and always. ‘May the Lord touch our ears to receive His word, and our mouth to proclaim His faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father’ Amen🙏

Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, we humbly pray for our personal intentions, for our physical and spiritual healing, for the safety and well-being of our families and our loved ones, for healing of the sick and dying, with special intentions for those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases, the elderly and those suffering from physical and mental illness. For peace in our divided and conflicted world, for protection from diseases and harm ~ Amen🙏

Our Lady of Lourdes, who brings healing and hope to your children in France and throughout the world~ pray for us🙏

OUR LADY OF LOURDES: On February 11, 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to 14-year-old French Peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous in the hollow rock of Massabielle in southern France. That year Bernadette would report a total of 18 apparitions of a woman she described as “lovelier than I have ever seen.” On March 25, when Bernadette asked the Beautiful Lady her name, she replied: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” The woman in the vision revealed herself as the “Immaculate Conception,” in confirmation of this dogma of the Catholic faith which was infallibly defined by the Holy Father just four years prior. The Marian apparitions began Feb. 11, 1858, ended July 16 that year and received the local bishop’s approval after a four-year inquiry. Coming soon after the 1854 dogmatic definition of her Immaculate Conception, the Virgin Mary’s appearances at Lourdes turned the town into a popular travel destination. Our Lady told Bernadette to drink from an unseen fountain at the grotto, when Bernadette scratched at the ground, a stream of pure spring water surged forth. This stream demonstrated healing properties, and it continues to draw pilgrims to the grotto from around the globe. Thousands of people say their medical conditions have been cured through pilgrimage, prayer and the water flowing from the spring to which Bernadette was directed by the Blessed Virgin. Experts have verified 69 cases of miraculous healing at Lourdes since 1862. St. Bernadette also has her own liturgical memorial, which occurs on February 18th in France and Canada and April 16th elsewhere. Born in January 1844, the future visionary was the first child of her parents Francois and Louise, who both worked in a mill run by Francois. Their family life was loving but difficult. Many of Bernadette’s siblings died in childhood, and she developed asthma. Economic hardship and an injury suffered by her father cost them the mill in 1854. Years of poverty followed, during which Bernadette often had to live apart from her parents and work rather than attending school. In January 1858 she returned to her family, whose members were living in a cramped single room. Strongly committed to her faith, Bernadette made an effort to learn the Church’s teachings despite her lack of formal education.

On Feb. 11, 1858, Bernadette went to gather firewood with her sister and a friend. As she approached a grotto near a river, she saw a light coming from a spot near a rosebush. The light surrounded a woman who wore a white dress and held a rosary. Seeing the lady in white make the sign of the Cross, Bernadette knelt, took out her own rosary, and began to pray. When she finished praying, the woman motioned for her to approach. But she remained still, and the vision disappeared. Her companions had seen nothing. Bernadette described the lady in white to them, demanding they tell no one. But the secret came out later that day. The next Sunday, Bernadette returned to the grotto, where she saw the woman again. The identity of the apparition, however, would remain unknown for several weeks. Some adults accompanied Bernadette on her third trip, on Feb. 18, though they did not see the vision she received. The woman in white asked the girl to return for two weeks. “She told me also,” Bernadette later wrote, “that she did not promise to make me happy in this world, but in the next.” A group of family members and others went with her to the cave the next day, but only the young peasant girl saw the woman and heard her words. Over the next few days, the number of people in attendance at the cave swelled to more than 100. A parish priest, Father Peyramale, became concerned – as did the police. On Feb. 24, 250 people saw Bernadette break into tears, but only she heard the woman’s message: “Penance! Penance! Penance! Pray to God for sinners. Go, kiss the ground for the conversion of sinners.” A larger crowd was there on Feb. 25 – but they were shocked to see Bernadette drinking from a muddy stream and eating weeds. The apparition had told her to drink the water, and the weed-eating was a penitential act. Onlookers, meanwhile, saw only the girl’s unusual behavior, and popular fascination turned to ridicule and suspicion. On Feb. 27, Bernadette made a joyful discovery: the spring from which she drank was not muddy now, but clear. As the crowds continued to gather, this change was noticed, and a woman with a paralyzed arm came to the water hoping to be healed. Four years later, her case would be recognized as the first miraculous healing at Lourdes. Public interest continued, and Bernadette heard a recurring message from the vision: “Go, tell the priests to bring people here in procession and have a chapel built here.”

While others were quick to conclude that Bernadette was seeing the Virgin Mary, the visionary herself did not claim to know the woman’s identity. As she conveyed the repeated message to Fr. Peyramale, the priest grew frustrated and told Bernadette to ask the woman her name. But when she did so, the woman smiled and remained silent. Her identity remained a mystery after the initial two-week period. Three weeks later, on the Feast of the Annunciation, Bernadette visited the cave again. When she saw the lady, she kept asking to know her identity. Finally, the woman folded her hands, looked up and said: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” The seer, devout but uneducated, did not know what these words meant. She related them to Fr. Peyramale, who was stunned and informed his bishop. Bernadette saw the Blessed Virgin Mary two more times in 1858: on the Wednesday after Easter, and on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The publicity given these miraculous events on the one hand and the seeming sincerity and innocence of the girl on the other made it necessary for the bishop of Tarbes to institute a judicial inquiry. In 1862, four years later bishop of Tarbes declared the apparitions to be supernatural and and worthy of belief and permitted the public veneration of the Immaculate Conception in the grotto. Soon a chapel was erected. St. Bernadette left Lourdes in 1866 to join a religious order in central France, where she died after several years of illness in 1879. By the time of her death, a basilica had been built upon the rock of the Massabielle at the apparition site in response to Our Lady’s request, and in 1876 it was consecrated as the “Church of the Rosary”, under the leadership of Fr. Peyramale. Since that time countless pilgrims come every year to Lourdes to fulfill promises or to beg graces. Due to the multitudes of medically documented miraculous healings, the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France is one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in the world. Our Lady of Lourdes is the Patron Saint of Illness and Healing, sick people, protection from diseases, Lourdes, France, Quezon City, Tagaytay City, Barangay Granada of Bacolod, Daegu, South Korea, Tennessee, Diocese of Lancaster. 

PRAYER: “Grant us, O merciful God, protection in our weakness, that we, who keep the Memorial of the Immaculate Mother of God, may with the help of her intercession, rise up from our iniquities. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever”…Amen🙏

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT ABIGAIL, RELIGIOUS AND BLESSED BARTHOLOMEW OF OLMEDO, PRIEST: Today, we also celebrate the Memorial of Saint Abigail, Religious and Blessed Bartholomew of Olmedo, Priest.

SAINT ABIGAIL, RELIGIOUS: Saint Abigail (5th-6th C.) was a Medieval Irish saint, also known as St. Gobnait (Irish for Abigail which means brings joy) or Deborah (meaning honeybee). She was was born around the 6th century in County Clare, Ireland. According to tradition, Abigail’s family was always feuding. This caused her to run away from home to settle on Inis Oirr in the Aran Islands. After some time, an angel appeared to Abigail and told her this was not her place of resurrection. She was to head inland to find the place she would spend the rest of her life. The angel told Abigail this place would be marked with the presence of nine white deer. Abigail set off in search for the deer throughout the southern coastal counties. Her journey is now marked by churches and holy wells which are dedicated to her along the way. She finally found the herd of deer in Ballyvourney, County Cork, now known as St. Gobnet’s Wood.

St. Abigail would spend the rest of her earthly life dedicated to pastoral service and Christian charitable work. Her brother, St. Abban is believed to have joined her to help set the foundation for a convent, placing St. Abigail as its abbess, or mother superior of the community of women religious. St. Abigail also went on to spend much of her time caring for the sick. She had a special relationship with bees and would care for the sick with honey and natural medicines. According to early Celtic folklore and religious symbolism, the soul departs from the body in the form of a bee or butterfly. So, it is not surprising that, given her deep Christian faith and belief in the Resurrection, St. Abigail also became a beekeeper. It is said that she developed a powerful relationship with the bees and would use their honey to treat illnesses and heal wounds. She became known for her miracles in rousting bees from their hives and using them to chase off evil. Some pious legend even claim that the bees transformed into soldiers, with their hives becoming helmets. St. Abigail is also credited with saving Ballyvourney from the plague. Abigail ministered to the people until her “soul left her body” which in Irish legend is represented by a flying bee. She remained settled in Ballyvourney until her death where she was then buried “to await her resurrection.” St. Abigail is the Patron Saint of honeybees, beekeepers health, and fertility. She is often featured surrounded by bees or carrying a honeycomb. Her feast day is celebrated on February 11.

PRAYER: Heavenly Patron, in whose name I glory, pray ever to God for me: strengthen me in my faith; establish me in virtue; guard me in the conflict; that I may vanquish the foe malign and attain to glory everlasting. Amen. St. Abigail, Pray for Us 🙏

BLESSED BARTHOLOMEW OF OLMEDO, PRIEST: Blessed Bartholomew of Olmedo (1485-1524) was a Spanish Mercedarian priest, and the first priest to arrive on Mexican soil in 1516 at the age of 31. He was chaplain for the expedition of Spanish Conquistador Fernando Cortés, who began the Spanish colonization of the Americas and the downfall of the Aztec empire. Bartholomew was well-liked by the native people. He taught them the Christian faith and exhorted them to end their practice of human sacrifice. He also defended them against injustice and restrained Cortés from acting out in violence against them. Bartholomew taught the native Mexicans devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Mercy, which they embraced. Blessed Bartholomew of Olmedo baptized more than 2500 people before he died in Mexico in 1524 at the age of 39. He was buried in Santiago de Tlatelolco. His feast day is February 11.

Blessed Bartholomew of Olmedo, Priest ~ Pray for us 🙏