_edited.png){kind=logo}
Martyrology - 11th of March
On the morrow we keep the feast of the holy Confessor John of God, founder of the Order of Brethren Hospitallers of the Sick. Famous for his pity toward the poor, and for his lowly esteem of himself, whom the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIII declared the Patron in heaven of all the sick and those who nurse them, and of whom mention hath been made upon the 8th day of this present month of March.
Upon the same 11th day of March, were born into the better life:
At Carthage, the holy martyrs Heraclius and Zosimus.
At Alexandria, the holy martyrs Candidus, Piperion, and twenty others.
At Laodicea, in Syria, in the persecution under the Emperor Diocletian, the holy martyrs Trophimus and Thalus, who after many cruel torments gained crowns of glory.
At Antioch, are commemorated many holy martyrs, of whom some were laid upon beds of red-hot iron by command of the Emperor Maximian, not until they died, but until their flesh was cooked, so as to ensure their prolonged suffering and others were put to other most cruel torments, before they received the crown of martyrdom.
Likewise the holy martyrs Gorgonius and Firmus.
At Cordova, the holy Priest Eulogius, who deserved a place among the martyrs of the said city, in the persecution under the Saracens, by striving by his writings to rival their contendings for the faith, [in the year 859]
At Sardis, holy Euthymius, Bishop of that see, who for his honouring of holy images was banished by the Iconoclast Emperor Michael, and martyred under Theophilus.
At Jerusalem, holy Sophronius, Bishop of that see, [about the year 638.]
At Milan, holy Benedict, Bishop of that see, [about the year 725]
In the neighbourhood of Amiens, the holy Abbot Firmin.
At Carthage, the holy Confessor Constantine.
At Bauco, the holy Confessor Peter, eminent for the fame of his miracles. [A Spanish soldier who lived as a hermit in Italy.]
And elsewhere many other Holy Martyrs, Confessors and Holy virgins.
R. Thanks be to God
Morning Prayer
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Place Yourself in the Presence of God, and adore His holy Name.
Most holy and adorable Trinity, one God in three Persons, I believe that Thou art here present: I adore Thee with the deepest humility, and render to Thee, with my whole heart, the homage which is due to Thy sovereign majesty.
An Act of Faith
O my God, I firmly believe that Thou art one God in three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; I believe that Thy divine Son became man, and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, who canst neither deceive nor be deceived.
An Act of Hope
O my God, relying on Thy infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.
An Act of Love
O my God, I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because Thou art all-good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbour as myself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured.
Thank God for All Favours and Offer Yourself to Him.
O my God, I most humbly thank Thee for all the favours Thou hast bestowed upon me up to the present moment. I give Thee thanks from the bottom of my heart that Thou hast created me after Thine own image and likeness, that Thou hast redeemed me by the precious blood of Thy dear Son, and that Thou hast preserved me and brought me safe to the beginning of another day. I offer to Thee, O Lord, my whole being, and in particular all my thoughts, words, actions, and sufferings of this day. I consecrate them all to the glory of Thy name, beseeching Thee that through the infinite merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour they may all find acceptance in Thy sight. May Thy divine love animate them, and may they all tend to Thy greater glory.
Resolve to Avoid Sin and to Practice Virtue.
Adorable Jesus, my Saviour and Master, model of all perfection, I resolve and will endeavour this day to imitate Thy example, to be, like Thee, mild, humble, chaste, zealous, charitable, and resigned. I will redouble my efforts that I may not fall this day into any of those sins which I have heretofore committed (here name any besetting sin), and which I sincerely desire to forsake.
Ask God for the Necessary Graces.
O my God, Thou knowest my poverty and weakness, and that I am unable to do anything good without Thee; deny me not, O God, the help of Thy grace; proportion it to my necessities; give me strength to avoid anything evil which Thou forbiddest, and to practise the good which Thou hast commanded; and enable me to bear patiently all the trials which it may please Thee to send me.
The Lord’s Prayer...
The Hail Mary...
The Apostles’ Creed...
At this point, please go to the relevant text of Fr Hamon’s Meditation. Once I have read and meditated on the text, and its various points . I complete my meditation by saying:
Evening Prayer
Saturday in the Second Week: Lessons of Humility and of Detachment upon Thabor
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation
We will tomorrow terminate our meditations upon the Transfiguration by considering: first, the profound humility of Jesus Christ which is shown in this mystery; second, the universal detachment which this mystery reveals in the apostles. We will then make the resolution: first, to attach ourselves to God alone, without desiring anything else; second, never to say or do anything through self-love or human respect. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of St Paul: “Jesus Christ is everything to the heart” (Coloss. iii:11).
Meditation for the Morning
Let us prostrate ourselves in spirit at the feet of Jesus transfigured; let us there admire the humility which this mystery reveals to us in Jesus Christ, and the detachment which it reveals in the three apostles who were present upon Thabor. Let us beg of Him to infuse these dispositions into our souls.
The Transfiguration shows forth the profound humility of Jesus Christ
Jesus, in revealing the glory to which His holy humanity has a right in virtue of its hypostatic union with the Word, enables us thereby to understand the profound humility which led Him to keep constantly hidden so magnificent a privilege. It is the only occasion, during the whole course of His life, in which He allows a few rays of His glory to escape; and even then He does it only in order to strengthen the faith and sustain the courage of His apostles in the midst of the persecutions which await them; it is only in the presence of the three apostles, in a place apart and solitary, in order not to allow what might make Him the object of honour and praise to show itself more than was necessary; it was only during a few short moments, and immediately afterwards He resumes His poor, humble, and obscure state; and lastly He recommends His three apostles to keep secret what they had seen, to say nothing to anyone, and to leave Him the whole of His obscurity (Matt. xvii:9), O admirable humility! His transfiguration indubitably shows that He has at His disposition riches compared with which gold and precious stones are but as so much dust; and yet He leads the poorest of lives.
The foxes have holes and the birds of the air a nest, and He has no place where to repose His head! His transfiguration indubitably shows that He is great beyond all thought; that Moses and the prophets are only His servants and His messengers; and yet He hides Himself under the lowest and most humble exterior. He conceals from the eyes of the world all that is glorious in Him; and if, later on, He chooses Jerusalem as the most elevated theatre where He could show Himself, it will be only to suffer there, on the great day, opprobrium and confusion. His transfiguration indubitably shows that He possesses in Himself all the joys of heaven; and yet He delivers up His soul to anguish, His body to suffering, to hunger, to thirst, to fatigue, to suffering, and to death. What lessons of virtue! Let us prostrate ourselves, let us adore, let us love and imitate Him. Let us no longer seek to make a parade of what is an honour to us and to hide what humbles us.
The Transfiguration shows forth a universal detachment in the Apostles
The apostles are so ravished by the beauties which they discover in Jesus that they no longer desire anything else here below. “Lord” they exclaim, “it is good for us to be here;” with Thee alone we have all, and the heart has nothing more to desire here on earth. We have in the world relations, friends, acquaintances, a thousand things to which we cling; but, Lord, in Thee we have everything; for Thy sake we heartily consent to abandon everything; we esteem ourselves to be rich enough if we possess Thee; sufficiently happy if Thou art with us, honoured enough if we are in Thy company. Let us remain here (St Ambrose). It is thus that a soul which has appreciated Jesus, which has studied His beauties and His charms, is detached from all created things, says St Ambrose. Prosperity does not intoxicate it, adversity does not cast it down; whether it be praised or blamed, whether it be honoured or despised, whether it be rich or poor, it signifies little. Jesus alone is its all. Like the apostles upon Thabor, it sees nothing but Jesus in all things; it seeks only to please Jesus; it aspires to nothing but the esteem and love of Jesus; and with the eyes of its heart fixed upon Jesus, all the rest is nothing to it. Wherefore, it says, should I attach myself during life to that which death will take away from me? wherefore love during time what will be nothing to me during eternity? Is it thus that our heart is detached from all that passes away, and is fixed upon Jesus, who does not pass away?
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.
Comments