Saint of the day and Feast days.

[odhiambo]

The relic of Saint Don Bosco is here in Nairobi on display at Don Bosco Catholic Church.
The faithfuls are lining up in their numbers to go and pray/honor the saint.
I hope that I too, can make it there.

[odhiambo]

6th December

Today is the Memorial of
Saint Nicholas
Among many other saints.

[odhiambo]

Ho! Ho! Ho!
Merry Christmas!
Yes, it is Saint Nicholas
Bishop of Myra
Nicholas was born in 265 A.D. at Patara in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) He was born to wealthy parents. His parents died when he was quite young. Later in life, he gave his wealth to the poor and went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Later still, he was made Bishop of Myra by acclamation.
During the persecution of the Christians under the Roman Emperor, Diocletian, Nicholas was imprisoned for the faith from 303 to 311.
He was freed when the Emperor Constantine came to power.
He was one of 318 bishops who attended the great Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.
Legends tell of Nicholas’ love for the poor and the oppressed, and his ability to appear from great distances to rescue anyone who invoked his name.
Works of art depict Nicholas holding three gold balls which symbolize three bags of gold given secretly to a poor family.
Nicholas died in 334 A.D.
In 1087 A.D. the remains of St. Nicholas were removed from his tomb at Myra and were transferred to Bari on the southeast coast of Italy where they were interred in a crypt of the Basilica that bears his name. His remains are venerated there to this day.
Saint Nicholas is the Patron saint of children, sailors and travelers
Saint Nicholas,
Pray for us!

[Patricia]

The relic of Saint Don Bosco is here in Nairobi on display at Don Bosco Catholic Church.

The relics were in Bombay a few months back and my brother could go venerate them. I am hoping the relics will travel to Texas close to my place, hopefully. Odhiambo, if you can don't miss this blessed opportunity.

[odhiambo]

The relic of Saint Don Bosco is here in Nairobi on display at Don Bosco Catholic Church.

The relics were in Bombay a few months back and my brother could go venerate them. I am hoping the relics will travel to Texas close to my place, hopefully. Odhiambo, if you can don't miss this blessed opportunity.

You know Patricia, I was almost resigned to missing this once in a life time opportunity; the relic is here for only a few days and Sunday was by far the best chance I had of going to venerate but I failed to go. Now after reading your post Patricia, I feel I still have a chance; whatever it takes!  
Thanks, will give it a go today after work.

[odhiambo]

7th December
Today is the Feast day of
Saint Ambrose
Among many other saints

[odhiambo]

Saint Ambrose
Father and Doctor of the Church.
St. Ambrose was born around 339 in what is now France. His father was the Roman prefect of Gaul. Following in his father's footsteps, Ambrose embarked upon a career in law and politics and by 370 AD; he had become the Imperial governor of Northern Italy.
When the Episcopal see of Milan became vacant in 374, the people demanded that Saint Ambrose be made their bishop. The neighboring bishops and the Emperor convinced him to accept this call as the will of God, and so the catechumen Ambrose was baptized and ordained first deacon, then priest, then bishop, all in a single week!
Ambrose was very much aware of his lack of preparation for this great responsibility. He began his episcopacy by giving up all his worldly goods and titles and then educating himself in the Scriptures and in the writings of the Fathers of the Church. He maintained a vigorous schedule of prayer, including night vigils. He also kept his door open to the poor and needy.
His deep spirituality and love of God's Word, together with the oratorical skill acquired in law and politics made St. Ambrose one of the greatest preachers of the early church.

St. Ambrose proved to be a fierce opponent of heresy, paganism, and hypocrisy. He battled to preserve the independence of the Church from the state and courageously excommunicated the powerful Catholic Emperor Theodosius I for a massacre of innocent civilians in Thessalonica. St. Ambrose also had a significant impact on sacred music through the composition of hymns and psalm tones that are known to this day as Ambrosian chant. Besides numerous sermons and treatises on the spiritual life, Saint Ambrose is responsible for two of the first great theological works written in Latin, De Sacramentis on the Sacraments and De Spiritu Sancto on the Holy Spirit.
Around 385, an ambitious professor of public speaking named Augustine came to hear Saint Ambrose preach in order to study his technique, and in the process, was attracted to the Catholic faith. In 386 Augustine was baptized by St. Ambrose and went on to become bishop of Hippo in North Africa. Ambrose and his pupil, Augustine, together with St. Jerome and St. Gregory the Great, make up the four original Doctors of the Latin Church.
Saint Ambrose, the great bishop of Milan, died on Holy Saturday, April 4 in the year 397 AD.
Saint Ambrose
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

Prayer.
From the Roman liturgy for the Feast of St. Ambrose:

"Lord, you made Saint Ambrose an outstanding teacher of the Catholic faith and gave him the courage of an apostle. Raise up in your Church more leaders after your own heart, to guide us with courage and wisdom. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.
 Amen." !

[odhiambo]

God by nature is uncompounded, joined to nothing, composed of nothing, to whom nothing happens by accident; but only possessing in His own nature that which is divine, enclosing all things, Himself closed out of nothing, penetrating all things, Himself never penetrable, everywhere complete, everywhere present at the same time, whether in heaven or on earth or in the depths of the sea, incapable of being seen or measured by our senses, to be followed only by faith and venerated in our religion.

    (De Fide, 1.16, as quoted in Loci Theologici, Vol. I, p. 58)
Saint Ambrose

[Shin]

I hope you get to see it odhiambo!

I am appreciating much that St. Ambrose quote!

It reminds me of St. Maximos!

'Ages, times and places belong to the category of relationship, and consequently no object necessarily associated with these things can be other than relative. But God transcends the category of rela­tionship; for nothing else whatsoever is necessarily associated with Him. Therefore if the inheritance of the saints is God Himself, he who is found worthy of this grace will be beyond all ages, times and places: he will have God Himself as his place, in accordance with the text, "Be to me a God who is a defender and a fortified place of my salvation" (Ps. 71:3. LXX).'

St. Maximos the Confessor

[Shin]

'Do you want the Lord to give you many graces? Visit Him often. Do you want Him to give you few graces? Visit Him rarely. Do you want the devil to attack you? Visit Jesus rarely in the Blessed Sacrament. Do you want him to flee from you? Visit Jesus often. Do you want to conquer the devil? Take refuge often at the feet of Jesus. Do you want to be conquered by the devil? Forget about visiting Jesus. My dear ones, the Visit to the Blessed Sacrament is an extremely necessary way to conquer the devil. Therefore, go often to visit Jesus and the devil will not come out victorious against you.'

St. John Bosco

'Never read books you aren't sure about. . . even supposing that these bad books are very well written from a literary point of view. Let me ask you this: Would you drink something you knew was poisoned just because it was offered to you in a golden cup?'

St. John Bosco

[odhiambo]

Hey Shin, I was not quite ready to change that personalised picture you uplifted. I wanted to check out the Holy cards and somehow, I lost it! Sorry, Will stay with Little Jesus now.

[Shin]

Haha! I love Little Jesus!

But I think the one you want is in the Misc. section. 

[Patricia]

Did you make it to the relics, Odhiambo? If you go to the 'Saint John Bosco' thread you can read about a miracle that happened in India during the visit of the relics.

[odhiambo]

Did you make it to the relics, Odhiambo? If you go to the 'Saint John Bosco' thread you can read about a miracle that happened in India during the visit of the relics.

I tried Patricia, albeit, unsuccessfully. After work I took a cab to the Church where the relic of the Saint had been on display. I was so full of anticipation I almost ran. Unfortunately, on reaching the Church, I was informed the relic was no longer there; it was on its way to Tanzania!
I was so deflated, I walked away dejectedly. After a while I consoled myself that it was not meant to be. Some consolation 

[Shin]

Ah well, St. John Bosco appreciates that you made the trip no doubt, console yourself with that!