Saint of the day and Feast days.

[Brigid]

For example in the mid 350’s the city of Jerusalem was hit with drastic food shortages at which point church historians Sozomen and theodoret reported “Cyril secretly sold sacrament ornaments of the church and a valuable holy robe, fashioned with gold thread that the emperor Constantine had once donated for the bishop to wear when he performed the rite of Baptism”

This seems to be an unScriptural action, as the story of the woman washing Jesus' feet in expensive perfume and Jesus response to it shows.

[Shin]

Hmm. That's one that takes some thought about to figure out I am thinking, yes. 

Three quotes:

'Be careful that you do not lose anything of the Body of the Lord. If you let fall anything, you must think of it as though you cut off one of the members of your own body. Tell me, I beg you, if someone gave you kernels of gold, would you not guard them with the greatest care and diligence, intent on not losing anything? Should you not exercise even greater care and vigilance, so that not even a crumb of the Lord's Body could fall to the ground, for It is far more precious than gold or jewels?'

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

'Our actions have a tongue of their own; they have an eloquence of their own, even when the tongue is silent. For deeds prove the lover more than words.'

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

'Keep careful watch, to ensure that the enemy does not make off with any who are off guard or remiss; and that no heretic may pervert part of what you have been given. Accepting the faith is like putting into the bank the money we have given you; God will ask you for an account of this deposit.'

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

[Brigid]

Those quotes would seem to validate my theory, however maybe I'm missing something.

[odhiambo]

19 March

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

[Shin]

Perhaps if we went to Sozomen and Theodoret there would be more details to help.

Hmm.

[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]

A very important day in a very important month.

And right after St. Patrick's.

[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!

[Shin]

In that house of very strict observance.

 

[Patricia]

He always walked barefoot, scourged himself daily, and kept long and rigorous fasts.

I wonder who observes these strict austerities nowadays?

[Shin]

Too few I fear. . .  :'(

I always try to encourage people to greater mortification.

Step by step. Little step by step.


'We give our youth to the devil, and the remains of our life to the Good God, who is so good that He deigns to be content with even that. . . but, happily, everyone does not do so. A great lady has been here, of one of the first families in France; she went away this morning. She is scarcely three-and-twenty, and she is rich-very rich indeed. . . She has offered herself in sacrifice to the good God for the expiation of sins, and for the conversion of sinners. She wears a girdle all armed with iron points; she mortifies herself in a thousand ways; and her parents know nothing of it. She is white as a sheet of paper. Hers is a beautiful soul, very pleasing to the good God, such as are still to be found now and then in the world, and they prevent the world from coming to an end.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

. . . and they prevent the world from coming to an end.

[odhiambo]

He always walked barefoot, scourged himself daily, and kept long and rigorous fasts.

I wonder who observes these strict austerities nowadays?

I doubt that it is practiced or even encouraged anymore.  These days Christians just pray and try to follow the 10 Commandments  . I am open to correction of course.

[odhiambo]

Too few I fear. . .  :'(

I always try to encourage people to greater mortification.

Step by step. Little step by step.

Reining in our appetite, yes. Flogging??

[Patricia]

Us post-Vatican ll Catholics have gotten too soft.     I admit I'm soft too. 

[Shin]

Oh the orders still use the hair shirt, the cilice and the discipline, but one hears little about it, no doubt for a variety of reasons.

Corporal mortification is essential, to some degree.


'Without mortification nothing can be done.'

'Where there is no great mortification there is no great sanctity.'

St. Philip Neri


I could do a concordance I suppose.

If you want to be like Jesus.. you have to follow the Way of the Cross after all. There has to be a good deal of pain one way or another. There's no cross without pains.

And generally, people nowadays are simply.. hmm.. worldly in their reaction to such things. They do not understand taking on pains for the sake of Christ directly in this way, even though they see nothing wrong with taking on pains for worldly reasons.