SS. Nazarius, Celsus, and Victor, MARTYRS, and Innocent, POPE AND CONFESSOR A.D. about 68, and 201, 417.
by VP
Posted on Sunday July 28, 2024 at 01:00AM in Saints
"THE first two lived soon after the apostles. Nazarius having been baptized by St. Linus, who succeeded St. Peter, and taking with him Celsus, a youth whom he had instructed in the Christian faith, went to Treves, where in the persecution of Nero, they were both cast into the sea, But being miraculously delivered they came to Milan; where, for preaching the gospel,
they were beheaded. Their bodies were found many years after by St.
Ambrose, with their blood yet fresh as if they had been then taken out of the executioner's hands.
Pray for a like zeal for the faith of Christ. Let neither fear nor shame hinder you from doing good to others. To contribute to the salvation of your neighbour, is the most effectual way of securing your own. Be not sparing of your
pains in a cause for which so many have laid down their lives. And
remember, that whilst vice and liberty have so many abettors, you cannot
want opportunities of practising this charity. Others are bold in evil; why should not you be so in all that is good? The devil has many apostles; be you one of Jesus Christ.
Victor, bishop of Rome, was a prelate zealous in maintaining the faith received, and the discipline of the Church. He died in the year 201, after he had sat ten years. It is not certain that he died a martyr, though he is usually styled so; perhaps on account of the continual persecutions which he suffered.
"All Ecclesiastical matters throughout the world are, by divine right, to be referred to the apostolic see, that to St. Peter, the author of its name and honor" Pope Innocent I Source: The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Butler
Innocent was bishop of the same holy see in the time of St. Jerome and St. Augustin, who make mention of his great sanctity. Having faithfully discharged all the duties of a good pastor, he made a happy end in the year 417. Pray for the present head of the Church, that God would assist him with all grace necessary for his great charge. Pray for all the pastors in Christ's Church, that being animated with the spirit of the primitive times, they may spend their lives for the good of their flock." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
HOW TO PRAY
by VP
Posted on Sunday July 28, 2024 at 01:00AM in Sermons
“O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”—LUKE Xviii. 13.
1. One prayed and offended God; the other prayed and was justified. Why?
2. Not that we are as bad as the Pharisee; but it would be better for us to be more like the Publican.
3. Perhaps we resent being classed with him, a sinner. 4. How did the saints pray?
How many of us at times have wondered why our Blessed Lord spoke only of two kinds of prayer, the Pharisee's and the Publican's. Where do we come in —we ordinary, everyday kind of Catholics? Surely we are scarcely as proud and presumptuous as the Pharisee, whose very prayer was turned into sin and offended God; and, on the other hand, perhaps in our own hearts, we almost resent being classed with the Publican. And yet our Lord, divine truth and wisdom, made no reference to such as we think we are --not so bad as either.
Let us not be too complacent. Our Lord describes a man who was well instructed, outwardly irreproachable, a model man as he thought himself, and yet he knew not how to pray. He mistook vainglory, boastfulness, attitudinizing, as prayer; he disdains his neighbour, he praised himself instead of the Almighty! Whereas the other, humble in the consciousness of his sinfulness and frailty, besought the mercy of God. Short was his prayer, but it was from the heart. He found mercy and was justified. It was mercy that he needed; mercy that he longed for and prayed for; and mercy that was granted him.
The Pharisee knew not how to pray, because he did not realize his need of God's mercy, but trusted in his own self-righteousness. The Publican knew his need of God's mercy, prayed for it and obtained it. According, then, to our realizing our need of mercy, our prayer will be acceptable and blessed. If we resent in our hearts being classed with sinners, needy and weak and prone to evil, we are not in the state of humility, which longs for and receives the mercy of our Father from heaven. Without prayer we cannot be saved, and there can be no genuine prayer unless we realize our need of grace and mercy. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity" (1 John i. 8, 9). They need not be glaring sins, that the world looks askance at; but whose heart has not been defiled in thought, word, or deed ? Have we never disobeyed a commandment through self-seeking, self-indulgence, or wilful negligence? Then do we not need to pray that such sins should be forgiven, and for grace lest again we relapse and forfeit God's friendship?
Our need of grace and mercy is evident, and the means to obtain every blessing is humble prayer. "By all prayer and supplication, praying at all times,” says St. Paul (Eph. vi. 18). And David teaches us to pray: "Help me, O Lord my God, save me according to Thy mercy" (Ps. cix. 26). Thou art plenteous in mercy to all that call upon Thee" (Ps. xxxv. 5). And God's mercy is not only to forgive, but to keep us safe and strengthen us to be faithful. In answer to prayer there is God's constant watchfulness and the care of a loving Father. Prayer makes us mindful of God's mercy and anxious to correspond to His graces, and be faithful in observance. It makes us grateful for our Father's care and solicitude. And gratitude merits a continuation of God's favours. The kindness of God is revealed to us in prayer. How does the Scripture describe the goodness of God? "Thou, O Lord, art a God of compassion, and merciful: patient, and of much mercy" (Ps. lxxxv. 15). The Lord is gracious, merciful, patient, and plenteous in mercy. The Lord is sweet to all; and His tender mercies are above all His works" (Ps. cxliv. 9).
It is prayer that creates this peace and trustfulness in God; that made the austerities of the saints a foretaste of the joys of heaven. They were wisely humble enough to know that they could not do without the mercy of God, and yet trustful that they could obtain it and every grace if they prayed for it. How different our prayers would be if we realized our need of the mercy of God, and how prayer would always obtain it for us, if we humbly sought it. The saints did, and constant was their earnest, humble prayer. Who are we to dare to be self-sufficient, and imagine we need not pray for forgiveness of the past? Pray to make a good beginning once again; pray to persevere, for without it we cannot hope to persevere, a day or an hour, in doing good.
Let us recall a prayer of St. Gertrude. It reads as if a poor sinner, like the Publican, had composed it; and not a great saint, who was favoured with the gift of miracles, had frequent visions of our Blessed Lord, and who was the first to introduce devotion to the Sacred Heart. This is the prayer: "O sweet mercy of God, full of tenderness and clemency, behold, in the sorrow and pressing need of my heart, I seek safety in Thy loving Will, for Thou art my whole hope and trust. Thou hast never despised one sad and sorrowful. Thou hast never rejected the vilest sinner. Thou hast never abandoned one seeking help. Thou hast never passed by one in grievous trouble without a look of mercy. The needy and poor Thou dost always assist, as a mother her child. To all invoking Thy most holy name Thy loving assistance is given. And even unworthy me, Thou wilt not cast from Thee on account of my sins and my unworthy life" (Exer. c. vii.). Let us implore our Lord to grant us the spirit of such prayer as this. We shall not then be ashamed to use the prayer of the Gospel, "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." Frequently and from our heart let us say it, and we shall be justified in the sight of God." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Rev. Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey OSB 1922 (10th Sunday after Pentecost)
Novena for Priests to St. John Vianney Day 3
by VP
Posted on Sunday July 28, 2024 at 01:00AM in Prayers
St. John Vianney, Adorer of the Blessed Sacrament holy Priest of Ars,
you had such an overwhelming
love for Christ in the Blessed Sacrament that you prayed for hours in
His presence. You said that when our Lord sees them coming eagerly to
visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament, He smiles upon them. They come with
that simplicity which pleases Him so much. O Saint of the Eucharist, may
your example enkindle in Father ___ a deeper love for Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament. By your prayers, never let him doubt Christʼs Real
Presence, but obtain for him a firm faith rooted in the Eucharist. Help
him not to be afraid to defend or preach Christʼs Real Presence in the
Blessed Sacrament. Obtain for him the grace to approach our Lord with
simplicity of heart as he lays his soulʼs innermost thoughts before
Jesusʼ Sacred Heart. Keep Father ___ under your continual protection,
that he may be supported by your example and assistance and be
faithfully devoted to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. May his life
reflect the belief of our Lordʼs abiding presence with us. O St. John
Vianney, by the power of your intercession, give us Priests devoted to
the holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Novena Prayer:
O holy Priest of Ars, St. John Marie Vianney, you loved God and served
Him faithfully as His Priest. Now you see God face to face in heaven.
You never despaired but persevered in your faith until
you died. Remember now the dangers, fears and anxieties that surround
Father ___ and intercede for him in all his needs and troubles
especially console him in his most difficult moments, grant him
serenity in the midst of crisis, and protect him from evil. O St. John
Vianney, I have confidence in your intercession.
Pray for Father ___ in a special way during this novena.
