Saint of the day and Feast days.

[odhiambo]

Saint of the day and Feast days.
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.”
 From today,therefore let  us daily honor Our God in His very many Saints.

[odhiambo]

7 March

Today is the Feast day of
Saints Perpetua and Felicity
Among many other saints.

Saints Perpetua and Felicity.

Perpetua and Felicity lived in Carthage, North Africa, in the third century.
At the time of this record, Perpetua was twentytwo years old, young, beautiful, and well-educated. She was a noblewoman.the daughter of a rich nobleman. She had three brothers, two were living but one, named Dinocrates, had died at the age of seven. Perpetua’s father was a pagan, but, her mother and one of her brothers were Christians. The second brother was still a catechumen. Perpetua was married to a man of good standing and had a baby. She had a maid called Felicity who was a Christian. Felicity was a former slave. The two women were great friends despite the differences in their stations.
It was then that in Carthage, Africa, in the year 202, when the Emperor Severus issued an anti-Christian law forbidding anyone to be baptized and become a Christian. Perpetua was a catechumen then, studying to become a Christian. She was arrested along with four other catechumens,.. Those arrested were Revocatus, his fellow-slave Felicity, who was heavy with child, Saturninus, Secundulus and Vivia Perpetua. All were tried and sentenced to be thrown to the wild beasts in the amphitheater during a national holiday. Their deaths were scheduled along with sports events and various games.
Perpetua kept a diary during her last days, while she awaited her execution. Her diary, along with an eyewitness's account of her death, is one of the oldest, most reliable histories of a martyr's sufferings. This account was not just passed down to encourage other Christians to witness to the world with their lives—to teach others that greater than life itself is knowing Jesus and being loyal to him, the account publicly read in the churches of Africa, and were in fact so highly esteemed that St. Augustine found it necessary to issue a protest against their being placed on a level with the Holy Scriptures!

During the days before their execution, their teacher Saturus voluntarily joined the catechumens so that he might die for Christ with them. It seems too that the catechumens were baptized while awaiting their martyrdom. Perpetua's father, now an ald man pleaded with her to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods so she could be free, but she refused. She said, “Father do you see this water jar, or whatever it is, standing here? Could one call it by any other name than what it is? Well, in the same way I cannot be called by any other name than what I am—a Christian.”

She comforted her father in his grief over her decision saying, “It shall happen as God shall choose, for assuredly we depend not on our own power but on the power of God.“

Hand in hand, Perpetua and Felicity bravely faced martyrdom together. They were mauled by wild beasts and then beheaded on 7 March 203 at Carthage, North Africa.

Saint Perpetua
Pray for us!
Saint Felicity,
Pray for us!

[Shin]

You don't have to work so hard odhiambo unless you truly feel you have the time!

It's great to read about St. Perpetua and Felicity. They are two of my favorites.

I love reading the account of their martyrdom.. and I love the quote about the water. If only people would always speak so simply, in these corrupt times it seem as if simple statements such as this are often no longer said. .

[Shin]

It's great to have you here!! Welcome!!! 

[Shin]

'When she was thrown into the air by a savage bull in the amphitheatre at Carthage, her first thought and action when she fell to the ground was to rearrange her dress to cover her thigh, because she was more concerned for modesty than pain.'

Pope Pius XII, Allocution to the Girls of Catholic Action, speaking of St. Perpetua

[Patricia]

I read this quote to my 8 year old and she went ' Wow!'

[odhiambo]

It's great to have you here!! Welcome!!! 

Thank you Shin. , Great to be here. Still trying to find my way about the place; not even crawling yet.
Since I am posting at the Saints---thread, I thought I'd post the same this side.

[odhiambo]

8 March

Today is the Feast day of
Saint John of God
Among many other saints

[odhiambo]

Saint John of God.

John was born in Portugal on March 8, 1495. His given name was Juan Ciudad. His parents were poor but very devout Christians. He reportedly ran away as a boy from his home in Portugal. He earned a living as a shepherd in Spain until he was about 22 years old. Then in 1522, he enlisted in the army and fought in the war against the French, and later on in Hungary against the Turks. John at this point in his life had lost all fear of offending God and had given up the practices of devotion his parents had instilled in him. When John was 40 years old, something happened that was a turning point in his life. He heard a sermon by Saint John of Avilla, a profound lecture that left him filled with remorse for his past and resolved to change his life and do penance for his sins.
He went back to Spain and rented a house. In it he gathered all the sick, the poor and the homeless of the town of Granada. Often he would carry the sick to his home on his own back. He washed them, dressed their wounds if any, and begged food for them. He brought many people back to God. Kind people began helping him in his work. John then founded a religious Order to assist him in this work of charity. Called John of God by Bishop Sebastian Ramirez de Fuenleal of Tuy Spain, he won approval for his Order called The Brothers of the Hospitallers of Saint John of God or the Hospitaller Order( H.O.), or simply fhe Brothers of Saint John of God.

his motto was " labor without stopping; do all the good works you can while you still have the time".
Worn out by 10 years of constant service, John became very ill. On 8 March, 1550, he was found kneeling before a crucifix, his face resting on the feet of Jesus. He apparently died of heart failure and as such is honored as the patron saint of heart patients. John left the world on the same day and the same month that he entered , 8 March!
John was canonized in 1690 by Pope Alexander VIII. He was declared by Pope Leo XIII IN 1886 to be patron of hospitals and the sick. He is also considered patron of booksellers and printers
Saint John of God
Pray for us!
__________________

[martin]

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.”
 From today,therefore let  us daily honor Our God in His very many Saints.

AMEN.

Welcome odhiambo. Great to have you here. 

[Brigid]

do all the good works you can while you still have the time

 


Welcome and glad to see you odhiambo!

[Shin]

It's great to have you here!! Welcome!!! 

Thank you Shin. , Great to be here. Still trying to find my way about the place; not even crawling yet.
Since I am posting at the Saints---thread, I thought I'd post the same this side.

It's good to read!

[Shin]

Today is also St. Paul the Simple's day.

[odhiambo]

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.”
 From today,therefore let  us daily honor Our God in His very many Saints.

AMEN.

Welcome odhiambo. Great to have you here. 

Thanks martin 
Would have introduced myself but hadn't a clue where to do so 

[odhiambo]

do all the good works you can while you still have the time

 


Welcome and glad to see you odhiambo!

Thanks Brigid. Glad to be here 

[Shin]

'If we look forward to receiving God’s mercy, we can never fail to do good so long as we have the strength. For if we share with the poor, out of love for God, whatever he has given to us, we shall receive according to his promise a hundredfold in eternal happiness. What a fine profit, what a blessed reward! With outstretched arms he begs us to turn toward him, to weep for our sins, and to become the servants of love, first for ourselves, then for our neighbors. Just as water extinguishes a fire, so love wipes away sin.

So many poor people come here that I very often wonder how we can care for them all, but Jesus Christ provides all things and nourishes everyone. Many of them come to the house of God, because the city of Granada is large and very cold, especially now in winter. More than a hundred and ten are now living here, sick and healthy, servants and pilgrims. Since this house is open to everyone, it receives the sick of every type and condition: the crippled, the disabled, lepers, mutes, the insane, paralytics, those suffering from scurvy and those bearing the afflictions of old age, many children, and above all countless pilgrims and travelers, who come here, and for whom we furnish the fire, water, and salt, as well as the utensils to cook their food. And for all of this no payment is requested, yet Christ provides.

I work here on borrowed money, a prisoner for the sake of Jesus Christ. And often my debts are so pressing that I dare not go out of the house for fear of being seized by my creditors. Whenever I see so many poor brothers and neighbours of mine suffering beyond their strength and overwhelmed with so many physical or mental ills which I cannot alleviate, then I become exceedingly sorrowful; but I trust in Christ, who knows my heart. And so I say, “Woe to the man who trusts in men rather than in Christ.”'

 - from a letter written by St. John of God

"labor without stopping; do all the good works you can while you still have the time"

Is a splendid motto. Considering how much depends on every moment.