Saint of the day and Feast days-Part 2

[odhiambo]

In the early Church, all Christians, being faithful members of the Mystical Body of Christ, were classified as “saints”. Saint Paul in particular, so liked to refer to members of the early Christian Community. He spoke of “ the saints who are at Ephesus” ( Eph. 1:1), etc.
In the Acts of the Apostles, we also find that all who were followers of Christ were called “saints”.
The word “saint “is derived from the Latin word “ sanctus” which means “ holy”. In this original meaning of the word, therefore, “every Christian soul, incorporated with Christ by baptism, and having within himself The Holy Spirit( so long as he remains in the state of sanctifying grace), is holy; is a saint…” Leo J. Trese in his book, The Faith Explained.
Nowadays when we say “saint”, we mean only those in heaven.
In the Apostles Creed, we find these words “…We believe in the communion of Saints”. This means we believe that there is a union, an intercourse or fellowship among all souls in whom dwells the Holy Spirit, viz:

1:Us here on earth who are still struggling and fighting against sin. Hence-The Church militant.

2:The Souls in Purgatory-The Church Suffering.

3: Those blessed Souls now in heaven-The Church Triumphant.

From time immemorial, we Catholics have been devoted to the Saints. In the words of the early Christians of Smyrna:

“ We adore Christ because He is the Son of God; we love the Saints because they are disciples and imitators of Our Lord”

From the Saints we seek to imitate their way of life; we seek fellowship with them and finally we seek aid by their intercession. We believe that because of the love they have shown God, their intercession with God, on our behalf, is powerful, and that God , in His love for us, works miracles through His Saints.

Again, to quote Leo J. Trese, “ An artist is honored when his works are praised. The Saints are the masterpieces of God’s grace. When we honor them, we are honoring their maker, their sanctifier and their redeemer. Honor given to the Saints is not honor taken away from God. On the contrary, It is honor given to God in a manner which He Himself has indicated and desires.”

Let us therefore daily honor Our God in His Saints.

We continue where we left off at the thread “Saint of the Day and Feast days”
Link given below.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=494322&page=67

 

[Shin]

Congratulations on reaching part 2 odhiambo.

Thanks be to God for His angels and His saints and all His work.

Salve Regina!

 

[odhiambo]

19 March

Today is the Feast day of
Saint Joseph
Among many other saints.

 

[odhiambo]

Saint Joseph
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Foster Father of Jesus
Patron of the Universal Church.

All what we know about Saint Joseph, come from the Scripture. He figures in the Infancy
Narrative of both Matthew and Luke. From the Genealogy of Jesus, we learn that Joseph was a descendant of the royal house of David. Despite his royal descent, Joseph was not a rich man. He was a carpenter and lived in the town of Nazareth. He was betrothed to Mary but before they lived together, he learned that she was with child. The Bible tells us that since Joseph was “a righteous man” , he decided to divorce her quietly rather than bring shame on her. It was then that he was visited by an angel in a dream, who informed him that her pregnancy was “by the Holy Spirit” and that he should not be afraid to take Mary home as his wife. Joseph, the man of faith who was obedient to whatever God asked of him, immediately and without question or concern for gossip, took Mary to his home as his wife. . When the angel came again to tell him that his family was in danger, he immediately left everything he owned, all his family and friends, and fled to a strange country with his young wife and the baby. He waited in Egypt without question until the angel told him it was safe to go back (Matthew 2:13-23).

Joseph loved Jesus. His one concern was for the safety of this child entrusted to him. Not only did he leave his home to protect Jesus, but upon his return settled in the obscure town of Nazareth out of fear for his life. When Jesus stayed in the Temple we are told Joseph (along with Mary) searched with great anxiety for three days for him (Luke 2:48). We also know that Joseph treated Jesus as his own son, for the people of Nazareth say of Jesus, “Is this not the son of Joseph?” (Luke 4:22)

Since Joseph does not appear in Jesus’ public life, at his death, or resurrection, many historians believe Joseph probably had died before Jesus entered public ministry.

Joseph is the patron of the dying because, assuming he died before Jesus’ public life, he died with Jesus and Mary close to him, the way we all would like to leave this earth.
Joseph is also patron of the universal Church, fathers, carpenters, and social justice.
We celebrate two feast days for Joseph: March 19 for Joseph the Husband of Mary and May 1 for Joseph the Worker.
Joseph is depicted in liturgical art as an elderly man with a lily and is sometimes portrayed with the Christ Child or with the symble of the carpenter’s trade.

Saint Joseph
Pray for us

 

[Shin]

I like that scripture you quoted Reginator.

 

[odhiambo]

Congratulations on reaching part 2 odhiambo.

Thanks be to God for His angels and His saints and all His work.

Salve Regina!

Thanks Shin.

 

[Shin]

There’s nothing like the happiness of being thankful for being part of a work of God well done.

 

[odhiambo]

I like that scripture you quoted Reginator.

Same here.

 

[The_Reginator]

Thank-you ever so much for all your hard work -]Florence/-] odhiambo.
Now part two, just in time for the saint I chose as my patron – I, too, am a father and a worker. (Now I actually have a second patron (Andre of Montreal) but I haven’t enlisted him too often yet.)

View attachment 9995
Here is an wonderful web site: St. Joseph
(Protector of the Universal Church)

From
An Ancient Prayer to Saint Joseph
A Powerful Novena:

By Scott P. Richert, About.com Guide
This novena to Saint Joseph, the foster father of Christ, is often distributed on prayer cards with the following text: “This prayer was found in the 50th year of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In 1505, it was sent from the pope to Emperor Charles when he was going into battle. Whoever shall read this prayer or hear it or keep it about themselves shall never die a sudden death or be drowned, nor shall poison take effect on them—neither shall they fall into the hands of the enemy or be burned in any fire or be overpowered in battle. Say for nine mornings for anything you desire. It has never been known to fail, provided that the request is for one’s spiritual benefit or for those whom we are praying for.”

An Ancient Prayer to Saint Joseph

O St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in thee all my interests and desires. O St. Joseph, assist me by thy powerful intercession and obtain for me all spiritual blessings through thy foster Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord, so that, having engaged here below thy heavenly power, I may offer thee my thanksgiving and homage.

O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating thee and Jesus asleep in thine arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near thy heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.

St. Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for me.

I love the above prayer, but I just found this short thread about the claims made:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=321745

Dominus tecum, Reg.

 

[The_Reginator]

I have a request.
Could you(s) provide some prayer, encouragement, and guidance (as if there isn’t enough already!) on how we can best relate to our holy brethren in heaven?
As a convert (almost 13 years now) I still am having difficulty remembering to talk to our Saints. I guess it still seems a little odd.
That sounds a little silly to me as I type it, but I do notice that I do not make much use of the communion of the saints in my daily life.
How do other people relate to various saints, patrons or others.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. (Maybe I’ll ask Joseph and Andre about that too.)

Reg.

 

[Shin]

Today’s a good day to read a book like the Divine Favors Granted to St. Joseph. The love of God for Joseph shows the love of God for man and inspires love.

*'Our Lord has said that if anyone love Him, he will be loved by the Father, and that both will come and make their abode in the breast of that man. Never was this promise verified more completely than in the innocent heart of Joseph, who, besides the general love common to all the servants of Jesus Christ, enjoyed the special love due to a guardian, a governor, a master, and a father.

Great were also the graces which Joseph derived from his constant communion with his most holy spouse. His eyes were always directed towards her and Jesus, studying their conduct, imitating, so to speak their every action. He treasured up in his heart all the eminent perfections which he observed in theirs. Open the heart of Joseph, and you will find therein the faithful copies, the perfect imitations of the sublime virtues of his adopted son Jesus, and of his blessed spouse Mary. The hands of those who always work with balm become as odoriferous as if they themselves were made of balm.’*

I think the best way to relate to the saints is to love them.

In prayer try to gain an idea of what it might be like to talk to such holiness face to face, to witness the love of God within them. Each shining with all virtues, but each a different person in the Communion of Saints and hierarchy of Heaven.

In describing how in Heaven the angelic hierarchy communicates, an example not unfitting to the saints too, Fr. R.P. Thomas Pegues, O.P. says:

'Do the pure spirits or the angels also act one upon the other?

Yes.

What is this action of one angel upon another called?

It is called illumination (CVI. i).

Why is it called illumination?

Because angels act one upon the other only for the reason of transmitting the light (knowledge) they receive from God concerning the course of His government (ibid.).

Is this light, imparted by God to angels, communicated to them in some graduated and ordered scale?

Yes.

What is meant by this?

By this is meant that God imparts this light first of all to those who are nearer to Him, and these in their turn impart the light to other angels; thus, from the highest to the lowest the light is communicated in such wise that the first imparts it to the last by the action of those who are midway (CVI. 3).
*
There is then in this action of the angels whereby they communicate one to the other the light imparted by God to them the subordination offirst, midway, and last?*

Yes (CVIII. 2).

Is it possible to give some illustration of this subordination of this action of pure spirits one upon the other whereby they communicate the light imparted to them by God?

One might compare it to a stream of light which falls translucently from rock to rock, and is fed everlastingly by the waters of some beautiful lake situate in the heights of the mountain.’

• Fr. R.P. Thomas Pegues, O.P. - Catechism of the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas

A person who prays to the angels and saints should consider himself receiving the this heavenly water and light falling down from the Heavens.

And a soul that burns with the fire of the love of God, and the love of God in all His Heaven, will turn this water and light into steam and incense like a hot coal touched by it, and that incense will rise up on the wings of the angels, again, returning to the Heavens.

 

[odhiambo]

Thank-you ever so much for all your hard work -]Florence/-] odhiambo.
Now part two, just in time for the saint I chose as my patron – I, too, am a father and a worker. (Now I actually have a second patron (Andre of Montreal) but I haven’t enlisted him too often yet.)

View attachment 9995
Here is an wonderful web site: St. Joseph
(Protector of the Universal Church)

From
An Ancient Prayer to Saint Joseph
A Powerful Novena:

I love the above prayer, but I just found this short thread about the claims made:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=321745

Dominus tecum, Reg.

Thanks for the prayer. As someone said in the short thread you gave a link to, it is a beautiful prayer and I have taken note of it. I have never come across before.

 

[odhiambo]

I have a request.
Could you(s) provide some prayer, encouragement, and guidance (as if there isn’t enough already!) on how we can best relate to our holy brethren in heaven?
As a convert (almost 13 years now) I still am having difficulty remembering to talk to our Saints. I guess it still seems a little odd.
That sounds a little silly to me as I type it, but I do notice that I do not make much use of the communion of the saints in my daily life.
How do other people relate to various saints, patrons or others.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. (Maybe I’ll ask Joseph and Andre about that too.)

Reg.

Shin has answered your question on how we can best relate to the saints. I want to add that we also try to be best friends with whichever saint we love to have close to us. It is normal to want to know everything there is to know about a friend; it therefore follows that you would find out as much as possible about your particular saint; You would love them as Shin says and ask for their intercession, same way you ask your friends here on earth to pray for you when you are asking God for a special favor.

 

[odhiambo]

20 March

Today is the Feast day of
Saint Salvator of Horta
Among many other saints

 

[odhiambo]

Saint Salvator of Horta.

Salvator was born at Santa Columba in the diocese of Gerona in Spain in 1520. His family was poor. He was orphaned at a young age. When he became a teenager, he moved to town and found work as a shoemaker in Barcelona. His heart, however was set on the religious life.
At age 20. Salvatore joined the Franciscan Order in Barcelona as a lay brother. He was employed in the kitchen and worked for many years as a humble cook in the friary of Horta near Tortosa. Salvatore hungered for greater austerity, and so he moved on, first to the convent of St. Mary of Jesus at Tortosa, and then to the solitude of St. Mary of the Angels at Horta in the same diocese. In that house of very strict observance, he made a protracted stay but eventually he returned to Barcelona. His supernatural gifts attracted much notice.The blind, the lame and the deaf came to him to be healed.
He always walked barefoot, scourged himself daily, and kept long and rigorous fasts. He was specially devoted to our Lady and to St. Paul who is said to have appeared to him on several occasions, notably on his death-bed.

Saint Salvatore had gone to Sardinia in obedience to orders given by his superiors .While there, he was taken seriously ill. He died at Cagliari, Sardinia on March 18, 1567(1567-03-18). He was forty-seven years old.
St. Salvatore is usually described as “of Horta” because he spent many years in the Franciscan Friary of that place.

He was beatified on 5 February 1606 by Pope Paul V and canonized in 1938 by Pope Pius XI

Saint Salvator
Pray for us!

N.B

 

[odhiambo]

“Death of Salvador de Orta” on display at the Viceregal Museum of Zinacantepec.

 

[odhiambo]

21 March

Today is the Feast day of
Blessed John of Parma
Among many other Saints and Blesseds

 

[odhiambo]

**John of Parma
**
Franciscan, and
Minister General of the Friars Minor

Also known as
Giovanni di Parma
John Buralli

John was born in Parma, Italy, in 1209. His family name was Buralli. He was educated by an uncle who was chaplain of the church of St. Lazarus at Parma. He progressed very quickly and soon became a professor of philosophy.
Around the year 1223, John left his teaching career and entered the Order of Friars Minor or the Franciscan Order, as it is more familiarly known these days.
After his profession John was sent to Paris to complete his theological studies. He was ordained priest, then was appointed to teach theology at Bologna, then Naples and finally Rome

In 1245, Pope Innocent IV called a general council in the city of Lyons, France. Crescentius, the Franciscan minister general at the time, was ailing and unable to attend. In his place he sent Father John, who made a deep impression on the Church leaders gathered there. Two years later, when the same pope presided at the election of a minister general of the Franciscans, he remembered Father John well and recommended him as the man best qualified for the office.

And so, in 1247, John of Parma was elected to be minister general. As general of the Order John traveled on foot, accompanied by one or two companions, to practically all of the Franciscan convents in existence. Sometimes he would arrive and not be recognized, remaining there for a number of days to test the true spirit of the brothers.
The pope called on John to serve as legate to Constantinople, where he was most successful in winning back the schismatic Greeks. Upon his return he asked that someone else take his place to govern the Order. St. Bonaventure, at John’s urging, was chosen to succeed him. John took up a life of prayer in the hermitage at Greccio.

Many years later, John learned that the Greeks, who had been reconciled with the Church for a time, had relapsed into schism.
He was about 80 years old by then. His advanced age not withstanding, John obtained permission from Pope Nicholas IV to return to Greece in an effort to restore unity once more. He however, traveled only as far as Camerino (in the Marches of Ancona), where he died in the convent of the friars on 19 March 1289. Many miracles were soon reported at his tomb.

John was beatified in 1777.

Blessed John of Parma
Pray for us!

 

[Shin]

March 21st is also St. Nicholas of Flue’s day, the Patron Saint of Switzerland.

‘My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.
My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you.
My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.’

St. Nicholas of Flue

From various sources:

'After receiving a mystical vision of a lily eaten by a horse, which he recognized as indicating that the cares of his worldly life (the draft horse pulling a plough) was swallowing up his spiritual life (the lily, a symbol of purity) he decided to devote himself entirely to the contemplative life. In 1467, he left his wife and his ten children with her consent and set himself up as a hermit in the Ranft chine in Switzerland, establishing a chantry for a priest from his own funds so that he could assist at mass daily. He survived for twenty years with no food or drink, except for Holy Communion, as was carefully established by investigation.

He wore neither shoes nor cap, and even in winter was clad merely in a hermit’s gown. In 1468 he saved the town of Sarnen from a conflagration by his prayers and the sign of the cross. God also favored him with numerous visions and the gift of prophecy. Distinguished persons from nearly every country of Europe came to him for counsel in matters of the utmost importance. At first he lived in a narrow hut, which he himself had built with branches and leaves, and came daily to Mass either at Sachseln or at Kerns. Early in 1469 the civil authorities built a cell and a chapel for him, and on 29 April of the same year the chapel was dedicated by the vicar-general of Constance, Thomas, Bishop of Ascalon. In 1479 a chaplain was put in charge of the chapel, and thenceforth Nicholas always remained in the Ranft.

When in 1480 delegates of the Swiss confederates assembled at Stans to settle their differences, and civil war seemed inevitable, Henry Imgrund, the pastor of Stans, hastened to Nicholas, begging him to prevent the shedding of blood.

The priest returned to the delegates with the hermit’s counsels and propositions, and civil war was averted.’

 

[odhiambo]

March 21st is also St. Nicholas of Flue’s day, the Patron Saint of Switzerland.

‘My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.
My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you.
My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.’

St. Nicholas of Flue

From various sources:

'After receiving a mystical vision of a lily eaten by a horse, which he recognized as indicating that the cares of his worldly life (the draft horse pulling a plough) was swallowing up his spiritual life (the lily, a symbol of purity) he decided to devote himself entirely to the contemplative life. In 1467, he left his wife and his ten children with her consent and set himself up as a hermit in the Ranft chine in Switzerland, establishing a chantry for a priest from his own funds so that he could assist at mass daily. He survived for twenty years with no food or drink, except for Holy Communion, as was carefully established by investigation.

He wore neither shoes nor cap, and even in winter was clad merely in a hermit’s gown. In 1468 he saved the town of Sarnen from a conflagration by his prayers and the sign of the cross. God also favored him with numerous visions and the gift of prophecy. Distinguished persons from nearly every country of Europe came to him for counsel in matters of the utmost importance. At first he lived in a narrow hut, which he himself had built with branches and leaves, and came daily to Mass either at Sachseln or at Kerns. Early in 1469 the civil authorities built a cell and a chapel for him, and on 29 April of the same year the chapel was dedicated by the vicar-general of Constance, Thomas, Bishop of Ascalon. In 1479 a chaplain was put in charge of the chapel, and thenceforth Nicholas always remained in the Ranft.

When in 1480 delegates of the Swiss confederates assembled at Stans to settle their differences, and civil war seemed inevitable, Henry Imgrund, the pastor of Stans, hastened to Nicholas, begging him to prevent the shedding of blood.

The priest returned to the delegates with the hermit’s counsels and propositions, and civil war was averted.’

‘*My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you.
My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you.
My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.’

St. Nicholas of Flue*
A beautiful prayer that.

Everything that distances us from God is “the flesh”, is that not so Shin? That post on Saints Forum just came to mind when I read that