Saint Ambrose

The patristic reading in the Office of Readings (in the Divine Office) there is a beautiful letter from Saint Ambrose about governance and the use of words. Wouldn’t be good to heed Ambrose’s exhortation about relying on the guidance of the Church as the surest sign of God’s faithfulness, in keeping our words clean, reflective and full of meaning? Ambrose’s letter bears thinking about today. Let us keep in prayer today the Church in which Ambrose lived and worked, the Archdiocese of Milan.

St Ambrose detail GPiamonte.jpg

You have entered upon the office of bishop. Sitting at the helm of the Church, you pilot the ship against the waves. Take firm hold of the rudder of faith so that the severe storms of this world cannot disturb you. The sea is mighty and vast, but do not be afraid, for as Scripture says: he has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters.

The Church of the Lord is built upon the rock of the apostles among so many dangers in the world; it therefore remains unmoved. The Church’s foundation is unshakeable and firm against the assaults of the raging sea. Waves lash at the Church but do not shatter it. Although the elements of this world constantly beat upon the Church with crashing sounds, the Church possesses the safest harbor of salvation for all in distress. Although the Church is tossed about on the sea, it rides easily on rivers, especially those rivers that Scripture speaks of: The rivers have lifted up their voice. These are the rivers flowing from the heart of the man who is given drink by Christ and who receives from the Spirit of God. When these rivers overflow with the grace of the Spirit, they lift up their voice.

There is also a stream which flows down on God’s saints like a torrent. There is also a rushing river giving joy to the heart that is at peace and makes for peace. Whoever has received from the fullness of this river, like John the Evangelist, like Peter and Paul, lifts up his voice. Just as the apostles lifted up their voices and preached the Gospel throughout the world, so those who drink these waters begin to preach the good news of the Lord Jesus.

Drink, then, from Christ, so that your voice may also be heard. Store up in your mind the water that is Christ, the water that praises the Lord. Store up water from many sources, the water that rains down from the clouds of prophecy.

Whoever gathers water from the mountains and leads it to himself or draws it from springs, is himself a source of dew like the clouds. Fill your soul, then, with this water, so that your land may not be dry, but watered by your own springs.

He who reads much and understands much, receives his fill. He who is full, refreshes others. So Scripture says: If the clouds are full, they will pour rain upon the earth.

Therefore, let your words be rivers, clean and limpid, so that in your exhortations you may charm the ears of your people. And by the grace of your words win them over to follow your leadership. Let your sermons be full of understanding. Solomon says: The weapons of the understanding are the lips of the wise; and in another place he says: Let your lips be bound with wisdom. That is, let the meaning of your words shine forth, let understanding blaze out. See that your addresses and expositions do not need to invoke the authority of others, but let your words be their own defense. Let no word escape your lips in vain or be uttered without depth of meaning.

Saint Barbara

St Barbara.jpegLoving God, whose service calls forth

Courage in Your
servant’s soul,

We here gathered
sing the praise of

One who bravely
reached heav’n’s goal.

Claiming Christ
as only Savior,

Scorning those
with evil planned,

Now with
white-robed brilliance vested,

Near Your throne
she finds her stand.


Teach us, as You
taught St. Barb’ra,

How to love and
serve Your Name

That our hearts
may not be conquered

By our fears or
love of fame.

As she loved You
to her last breath,

Give us strength
to faithful be,

That our witness
may be fearless

And our lives
unfeigned and free.


Glory be to God,
the Father,

Glory be to God,
the Son,

Glory be to God,
the Spirit:

Glory to the
Three-in-One!

From the virgin
choirs of heaven

And from tempted
saints below,

Endless hymns
and praise unceasing

Shall from all
our hearts e’er flow.

J. Michael Thompson, © copyright.




Saint Andrew, the First Called, martyr

St Andrew FDuquesnoy.jpg

Saint Andrew, pray for us.
Ask Saint Andrew to ask the Lord for the grace to carry the cross in humility, dignity and in the face of great opposition, opposition found within ourselves and from others. May he ask the Lord to bless the Bishop of Rome, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Scotland, Russia, the Archdiocese of Amalfi and for fish mongers, old maids and singers.

Saint Andrew Dung Lac and companions


St Andrew Dung Lac.jpg

O God, source and origin of all fatherhood, who kept the
Martyrs Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and his companions faithful to the Cross of your
Son, even to the shedding of their blood, grant, through their intercession
that, spreading your love among our brothers and sisters, we may be your
children both in name and in truth.

Saint Andrew and his 117 companions are known as the Martyrs of Vietnam, killed for their faith in Christ between 1745 and 1862, but these people are few in number compared with the vast number of people thought to have been persecuted. Saint Andrew was a secular priest who was killed in 1839. Among the companions there were 8 bishops, 50 priests, 59 lay faithful of Vietnamese, Spanish and French nationalities. Pope John Paul II canonized these saints in 1988.

Saint Cecelia, Virgin & Martyr

On this feast of an early woman martyr, Saint Cecelia, it is good to reflect on music and its impact on the heart. As she lay dying for three days, Cecelia sang of the Lord’s glory and extolled the singular devotion of one dedicated to the Lord as a virgin. Saint Cecelia is the patron saint of musicians. Benedict XVI writes about beauty and contemplative nature of music:

St Cecilia.jpgThe encounter with the beautiful can become the wound
of the arrow that strikes the heart and in this way opens our eyes, so that
later, from this experience, we take the criteria for judgment and can
correctly evaluate the arguments. For me an unforgettable experience was the
Bach concert that Leonard Bernstein conducted in Munich after the sudden death
of Karl Richter. I was sitting next to the Lutheran Bishop Hanselmann. When the
last note of one of the great Thomas-Kantor-Cantatas triumphantly faded away,
we looked at each other spontaneously and right then we said: “Anyone who
has heard this, knows that the faith is true.” The music had such an
extraordinary force of reality that we realized, no longer by deduction, but by
the impact on our hearts, that it could not have originated from nothingness,
but could only have come to be through the power of the Truth that became real in
the composer’s inspiration. (Message to Communion and Liberation, August 2002,
Rimini, Italy; text available May 2, 2005, Zenit.org)

Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne

St Rose Philippine Duchesne.JPGSaint Rose Philippine was called “the woman who is always praying.” Her singular focus on Christ and the mission won her esteem among those who found the Christian Gospel foreign. She is buried in St. Charles, MO, having died there on this date in 1852 at the age of 83. She lived the Lord’s parable of the Pearl of Great Price.
Beatified by Pope Pius XII in 1940 and canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988, Duchesne is the US founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart, an order of religious women who were first founded in France by Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat.

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, a great American saint

St Frances Xavier Cabrini at Vatican Basilica.jpgO Lord and Bridegroom of your Church,

We praise you for this virgin wise

Who, lighted lamp in hand, went forth

To preach her Groom and win his prize!

 

From early youth she heard your voice

And longed to work in Asian lands;

But “in the west you’ll find your east,”

The pope said, firm in his commands.

So from her home, Francesca came

That she might care for those who left

Italian homes to seek for work,

But in the New World were bereft.

She founded schools and hospitals

And orphan homes, and traveled wide;

Despite ill health and stature small

Her works became our Church’s pride.

 

She labored long with sisters brave,

And soon her congregation spread

From North to Southern hemisphere,

Although she sailed the seas with dread.

 

In labors long and hard, she worked

That Christ her Lord might be well served

In poor and sick and ignorant,

That they might feel God’s love deserved.

O Trinity of love most great,

O Father, Son, and Spirit blest,

With Frances and with all your saints

Bring us, at length, to heaven’s rest.

 

J. Michael Thompson

Copyright © 2009, World Library Publications

LM; DUKE STREET, ROCKINGHAM NEW, HAMBURG

Saint Josaphat of Polotsk, a martyr for unity

Striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit.

 

Lord, fill Your Church with the Spirit that gave Saint Josaphat
the courage to lay down his life for his people. By his prayers may Your Spirit
make us strong and willing to offer our lives for our brothers and sisters.

 

God, you are the martyrs’ crown!St Josaphat of Poltosk.jpg

Hear the hymn we raise in gladness, 

Praising good Saint Josaphat,

Who in midst of earthly sadness

Followed Truth, and Way, and Life,

Braving trouble, scorn, and strife.


Josaphat, a preacher bold,

Was a bishop strong and fearless.

In his love for all his flock

And his ardor, he was peerless:

“That in Christ we one may be”

Was his earnest, heart-felt plea.

 

Strong defender of his Church,

Lover of the Eastern teaching,          

Faithful priest and leader true

Urged his people through his preaching,

And, by God’s mysterious grace,

Took in heav’n a martyr’s place.

 

God the Father, God the Son,

God the Spirit, hear our praises

With our hymns on this glad day;

 Which your Church in glory raises.

With Saint Josaphat, in song,

Echoing the ages long!


J. Michael Thompson

Copyright © 2009, World Library Publications

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78 77; GROSSER GOTT, or JESU MEINE ZUVERSICHT

Saints in Verbum Domini


communion of saints LA Cathedral.JPGYou may be curious to know the saints and blessed Pope Benedict references in Verbum Domini, or whose work he used.

The Pope said, “The interpretation of sacred Scripture would remain incomplete were it not to include listening to those who have truly lived the word of God: namely, the saints” (48). 

And, “No sooner do I glance at the Gospel, but immediately I breathe in the fragrance of the life of Jesus and I know where to run. Every saint is like a ray of light streaming forth from the word of God…” (49).

Who are the saints in Verbum Domini?

Mary, the Mother of God

Saint Peter
Saint John the Evangelist
Saint Paul
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Saint Bonaventure
Saint Thomas Aquinas

Saint John of the Cross
Saint Irenaeus of Lyons
Saint John Chysostom
Saint Maximus the Confessor
Saint Jerome
Saint Gregory the Great

Saint Ambrose
Saint Augustine
Saint Anthony, Abbot
Saint Basil the Great
Saint Benedict
Saint Athanasius

Saint Francis of Assisi
Saint Clare of Assisi
Saint Dominic
Saint Teresa of Avila
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Saint John Bosco

Saint John Mary Vianney
Saint Pius of Pietrelcina
Saint Josemaría Escrivá
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
Saint Gaetano Errico
Saint Maria Bernarda Bütler
Saint Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception

Saint Narcisa de Jesús Martillo Morán
Saint Ignatius of Antioch
Saint Elizabeth
Blessed Jordan of Saxony
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
Blessed Aloysius Stepinac
Blessed John XXIII

Plus, the Pope uses the works of Origen, Richard of Saint Victor and Hugh of Saint Victor, the last two are notable scholars and saintly men; Richard and Hugh are not saints but may be we can push their cause.

“Read the divine Scriptures frequently; indeed, the sacred book should never be out of your hands. Learn there what you must teach.”