Saints – Page 73

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. Lord, pour out on us the riches of the Spirit which you bestowed on Saint Margaret Mary. May we come to know the love of Christ, which surpasses all human understanding, and be filled with the fullness of God.

Consider knowing more about the message of Saint Margaret Mary, which forms some of our devotional life today. This is especially true when it comes to First Friday devotions and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, source of all love and mercy.

Saint Margaret Mary, pray for us.

Blessed Pope John XXIII

Today is the liturgical memorial of Blessed Pope John XXIII. It is an optional memorial on the liturgical calendar and so the memorial is left up to the discretion of the celebrant. But that today is Sunday, the prayers for his Mass are not prayed because Sunday takes precedence because it is a “Little Easter.” Today also marks the anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

Everyone remembers the image of Pope John’s smiling face and two outstretched arms embracing the whole world. How many people were won over by his simplicity of heart, combined with a broad experience of people and things! The breath of newness he brought certainly did not concern doctrine, but rather the way to explain it; his style of speaking and acting was new, as was his friendly approach to ordinary people and to the powerful of the world. It was in this spirit that he called the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, thereby turning a new page in the Church’s history Christians heard themselves called to proclaim the Gospel with renewed courage and greater attentiveness to the “signs” of the times. The Council was a truly prophetic insight of this elderly Pontiff who, even amid many difficulties, opened a season of hope for Christians and for humanity. In the last moments of his earthly life, he entrusted his testament to the Church: “What counts the most in life is blessed Jesus Christ, his holy Church, his Gospel, truth and goodness.” (Pope John Paul II)

Saint Denis and Companions

As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way:
through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments,
tumults, labors, watching, hunger; by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness,
the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the
weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and
dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet
are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as
punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet
making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Father, you
sent Saint Denis and his companions to preach your glory to the nations, and you
gave them the strength to be steadfast in their sufferings for Christ. Grant
that we may learn from their example to reject the power and wealth of this
world and to brace all earthly trials.

Let us pray for France, the Church’s eldest daughter and for the Archdiocese of Paris as it commemorates the martyrdom of Saint Denis and his companions. We all know that Catholicism is bit sclerotic in France at the moment and Saint Denis’ intercession would be helpful in rectifying the situation.

Saint Bruno

We implore, O Lord, that we may be helped by the intercession of Saint Bruno, Thy Confessor; that we, who grievously offend Thy majesty by our transgressions, may by his merits and intercession obtain pardon of our sins.

Guardian Angels

God has given His Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

O God, Who in Thine ineffable providence has deigned to send Thy holy Angels to watch over us, grant to Thy suppliants always to find safety in their protection and in eternity to share their happiness.

Angels are not mere nice spirits who do good things for us or make feel nice, or even warm our hearts when afraid. They certainly have the inspiration to that when needed. As I mentioned to my 3rd graders on Wednesday at CCD, the Guardian Angels are God’s messengers sent to us guard us, teach us and to protect us. The primary duty of angels after worshipping God, as you know, is to deliver messages. Hence, they these holy spirits are called angels. A few years ago it was popular to wear angel pins and certainly the printing companies made a fortune off angel pictures, cards and posters.

What do we know about angels? We know they don’t have bodies, they are created by God and they worship Him at the His throne, they’re sent to give us something (a message) or to protect us from evil. The Church has always held the presence of angels as a reality since they are present, that is, seen and experienced in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. The sacred Liturgy attests to the Catholic belief in angels especially when you consider the liturgical art, music, especially at Christmas, and poetic texts used in worship. And since 1608 the Church has included the feast of the Guardian Angels in the Roman Missal. The Catechism has a section on angels; review the paragraphs.

A perduring memory of my grandmothers is that of them teaching me the prayer “Angel of God, my guardian dear.” Before bed each night when I slept over their respective homes, we would kneel by the bedside and say goodnight to God through His angels. Every day, right after Mass has finished, I pray the Saint Michael the Archangel prayer and the Angel of God prayer. Why? Because I believe God has given me these gifts and promises and I want to take advantage of the graces God offers through the angels. Do you pray to the angels?

Brush up on your knowledge of angels in a booklet published by the Catholic Information Service called, All About Angels. You can also listen to booklet as an audio file.

Say a prayer for the monks of the American Cassinese Congregation on this their patronal feast. As the founder of many monasteries, and since 1856 when official documentation from the Holy See came through, Archabbot Boniface Wimmer placed his monasteries under the care of the Holy Guardian Angels. His correspondence shows the confidence he had in the Guardian Angels. How more should we!

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

God our Father, you have promised your kingdom to
those who are willing to become like little children. Help us to follow the way
of
Saint Thérèse with confidence so that by her prayers we may come to know
your eternal glory.

I would recommend reading or listening to the booklet on Saint
Thérèse‘s Little Way. It will bring you closer in understanding the same and
shed light on her fresh approach to knowing the Lord.

Saint Jerome

O God, for the expounding of the Holy Scriptures did raise up in Thy Church the great and holy Doctor Jerome; we beseech Thee, grant that by his intercession and merits we may, by Thy help, be enabled to practice what he taught us both by word and by work.

Don’t miss Pope Benedict XVI on Saint Jerome, part I and part II.

Saints Michael, Gabriel & Raphael, archangels

Bless the Lord, all you his angels, mighty in power, you obey his word and heed the sound of his voice.

God our Father, in a wonderful way you guide the work of angels and men. May those who serve you constantly in heaven keep our lives safe from harm on earth.

In her liturgy, the Church joins with the angels to adore the thrice-holy God. She invokes their assistance (in the funeral liturgy’s In Paradisum deducant te angeli… [“May the angels lead you into Paradise…”]). Moreover, in the ‘Cherubic Hymn’ of the Byzantine liturgy, she celebrates the memory of certain angels more particularly (St. Michael, St Gabriel, St. Raphael and the guardian angels)” (CCC 335).

Read All About Angels or listen to the audio file.

Saint Vincent de Paul

Well done, good and faithful servant; because you have been faithful over a few things, I will place you over many things, enter into the joy of the Lord.

O God, Who did endow blessed Vincent with apostolic power for preaching the Gospel to the poor and for promoting the honor of the priesthood; we beseech You, grant that we who venerate his holy life may be inspired by the example of his virtues.

Vincent was always a favorite saint of mine. His sons, the Vincentian fathers, operated the parish and grammar school (with the CSFN sisters) where I went. His life, his radical conversion to God, his work among the poor and his work in the formation of men for priesthood sets the bar for my own life. The collect that the Church sets on our lips (see above) is a good reminder of how we ought to live our own lives. May his witness continue for years to come. Read about the Vincentians here.

Saint Matthew, the evangelist

We beseech Thee, O Lord, let the prayers of blessed Matthew, Thine Apostle and Evangelist, assist us, that those things which we cannot obtain by ourselves may be granted us by his intercession.

Adrienne von Speyer says of Saint Matthew: “in prayer, he feels himself drawn toward something mysterious in the Son, toward the Son’s divinity, toward the Father and the Spirit. And he always believes that the turning point in his life will one day bring confirmation of his prayer. He sees too little that he has to bring his life into correspondence with his way of praying already today. His prayer is a bit isolated. He is like a person who might say, “Every morning I pray for an hour. It’s wonderful! It is the highpoint of my day! If I didn’t have this time, I wouldn’t know how to bear the boredom of the rest of the time!” (Book of All Saints)