Author name: sanjose

Saint Matilda

Saint Matilda, also referred to as Matilda of Ringelheim, founded several spiritual institutions and women’s convents. She was considered to be extremely pious, righteous and charitable.

Saint Matilda was born in around 892, and was raised by her grandmother. In 909, she married the Duke of Saxony who later became East Franconian King. As queen, she took an interest in women’s monasteries and is said to have had an influence on her husband’s reign by having a strong sense of justice.

After Henry’s death 936 in Memleben, he was buried in Quedlinburg, where Queen Matilda founded a convent the same year. Quedlinburg Abbey became the most important center of prayer and commemoration of the dead in the East Franconian empire.

After a long illness, Queen Matilda died on 14 March 968. Throughout her life, Matilda was dedicated to charity and her spiritual foundations – as expressed several times in her two hagiographies.

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2 Corinthians 5:1

Verse:

 “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” - 2 Corinthians 5:1

To Perceive Animals as God's Gifts

God Our Heavenly Father, You created the world to serve humanity's needs and to lead them to You. By our own fault we have lost the beautiful relationship which we once had with all Your creation. Help us to see that by restoring our relationship with You we will also restore it with all Your creation. Give us the grace to see all animals as gifts from You and to treat them with respect for they are Your creation. We pray for all animals who are suffering as a result of our neglect. May the order You originally established be once again restored to the whole world through the intercession of the Glorious Virgin Mary, the prayers of St. Francis and the merits of Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ Who lives and reigns with You now and forever.
Amen.

Sources:

 

 

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Saint Leander of Seville

The next time you recite the Nicene Creed at Mass, think of today’s saint. For it was Leander of Seville who, as bishop, introduced the practice in the sixth century. He saw it as a way to help reinforce the faith of his people and as an antidote against the heresy of Arianism, which denied the divinity of Christ. By the end of his life, Leander had helped Christianity flourish in Spain at a time of political and religious upheaval.

Leander’s own family were staunch Christians: his brothers Isidore and Fulgentius were named bishops, and their sister Florentina became an abbess. Leander entered a monastery as a young man and spent three years in prayer and study. At the end of that tranquil period he was made a bishop. For the rest of his life he worked strenuously to fight against heresy. The death of the anti-Christian king in 586 helped Leander’s cause. He and the new king worked hand in hand to restore orthodoxy and a renewed sense of morality. Leander succeeded in persuading many Arian bishops to change their loyalties.
Leander died around 600. In Spain, he is honored as a Doctor of the Church.

Sources:

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-leander-of-seville/

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Third Sunday of Lent

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: Ex 17:3-7

In those days, in their thirst for water,
the people grumbled against Moses,
saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?
Was it just to have us die here of thirst
with our children and our livestock?”
So Moses cried out to the LORD,
“What shall I do with this people?
a little more and they will stone me!”
The LORD answered Moses,
“Go over there in front of the people,
along with some of the elders of Israel,
holding in your hand, as you go,
the staff with which you struck the river.
I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb.
Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it
for the people to drink.”
This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel.
The place was called Massah and Meribah,
because the Israelites quarreled there
and tested the LORD, saying,
“Is the LORD in our midst or not?”

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9

Response– If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts

Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R– If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts

Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R– If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts

Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R– If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts

Second Reading: Rom 5:1-2, 5-8

Brothers and sisters:
Since we have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have gained access by faith
to this grace in which we stand,
and we boast in hope of the glory of God.

And hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
For Christ, while we were still helpless,
died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,
though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die.
But God proves his love for us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

Verse Before the Gospel: Jn 4:42, 15

Lord, you are truly the Savior of the world; give me living water, that I may never thirst again.

Gospel: Jn 4: 5-42

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar,
near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Jacob’s well was there.
Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well.
It was about noon.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her,
“Give me a drink.”
His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.
The Samaritan woman said to him,
“How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”
—For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.—
Jesus answered and said to her,
“If you knew the gift of God
and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘
you would have asked him
and he would have given you living water.”
The woman said to him,
“Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep;
where then can you get this living water?
Are you greater than our father Jacob,
who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself
with his children and his flocks?”
Jesus answered and said to her,
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again;
but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst;
the water I shall give will become in him
a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him,
“Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty
or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Jesus said to her,
“Go call your husband and come back.”
The woman answered and said to him,
“I do not have a husband.”
Jesus answered her,
“You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’
For you have had five husbands,
and the one you have now is not your husband.
What you have said is true.”
The woman said to him,
“Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.
Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain;
but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”
Jesus said to her,
“Believe me, woman, the hour is coming
when you will worship the Father
neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You people worship what you do not understand;
we worship what we understand,
because salvation is from the Jews.
But the hour is coming, and is now here,
when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth;
and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.
God is Spirit, and those who worship him
must worship in Spirit and truth.”
The woman said to him,
“I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ;
when he comes, he will tell us everything.”
Jesus said to her,
“I am he, the one speaking with you.”

At that moment his disciples returned,
and were amazed that he was talking with a woman,
but still no one said, “What are you looking for?”
or “Why are you talking with her?”
The woman left her water jar
and went into the town and said to the people,
“Come see a man who told me everything I have done.
Could he possibly be the Christ?”
They went out of the town and came to him.
Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.”
But he said to them,
“I have food to eat of which you do not know.”
So the disciples said to one another,
“Could someone have brought him something to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“My food is to do the will of the one who sent me
and to finish his work.
Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’?
I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.
The reaper is already receiving payment
and gathering crops for eternal life,
so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.
For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’
I sent you to reap what you have not worked for;
others have done the work,
and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”

Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him
because of the word of the woman who testified,
“He told me everything I have done.”
When the Samaritans came to him,

they invited him to stay with them;
and he stayed there two days.
Many more began to believe in him because of his word,
and they said to the woman,
“We no longer believe because of your word;
for we have heard for ourselves,
and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”

The Readings and Gospel were sourced from:

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Luke 12:32

Verse:

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” - Luke 12:32

Prayer to St. Joseph

O Blessed Saint Joseph, faithful guardian and protector of virgins, to whom God entrusted Jesus and Mary, I implore you by the love which you did bear them, to preserve me from every defilement of soul and body, that I may always serve them in holiness and purity of love. Amen.

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Blessed Angela Salawa

Blessed Angela Salawa served Christ and Christ’s little ones with all her strength. Born in Siepraw, near Kraków, Poland, she was the 11th child of Bartlomiej and Ewa Salawa. In 1897, she moved to Kraków where her older sister Therese lived. Angela immediately began to gather together and instruct young women domestic workers. During World War I, she helped prisoners of war without regard for their nationality or religion. The writings of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross were a great comfort to her.

Blessed Angela Salawa gave great service in caring for soldiers wounded in World War I. After 1918, her health did not permit her to exercise her customary apostolate. Addressing herself to Christ, she wrote in her diary, “I want you to be adored as much as you were destroyed.” In another place, she wrote, “Lord, I live by your will. I shall die when you desire; save me because you can.”
At her 1991 beatification in Kraków, Pope John Paul II said: “It is in this city that she worked, that she suffered and that her holiness came to maturity. While connected to the spirituality of Saint Francis, she showed an extraordinary responsiveness to the action of the Holy Spirit” (L’Osservatore Romano, volume 34, number 4, 1991).

Sources:

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/blessed-angela-salawa/

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Jeremiah 17:14

Verse:

“Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.” - Jeremiah 17:14

Prayer For A Friend In Need Of Healing

Father, please forgive me for wanting to give up and turn away from You. I am so tired and so hurt. Please give me the strength to go on. Today, I choose Your healing power to work in my life. I will guard my heart against bitterness and anger. I will not retreat. I choose to believe that the pain of today is the foundation of tomorrow's victory. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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Saint Vindicianus

Saint Vindicianus was a bishop of Cambrai-Arras. He succeeded Bishop Aubert around 668.

The events of his life after this date (686) are unknown. According to legend, In 673 Vindicianus supervised the translation of the body of St. Maxellende to Caudry. In the same year he consecrated the monastery of Honnecourt-sur-Escaut, which was given in 685 to St. Bertin. In 675, he signed a charter of donation in favour of the abbey at Maroilles, rendered illustrious by St. Humbert (Emebertus). In the same year he consecrated the church at Hasnon.

In 681, he claimed for his diocese the honour of possessing the body of St. Léger, the unfortunate victim of the political strife which was then filling Neustria with blood, but he did not succeed, the remains of St. Léger being confided to Ansoald, Bishop of Poitiers.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vindicianus
Van der Essen, Léon. "St. Vindicianus." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 2 December 2021
Decraene, Claire. "Visit Mont-Saint-Eloi", Arras Pays d’Artois Tourisme

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Saint Anastasia the Patrician

Saint Anastasia the Patrician, also referred to as Anastasia Patricia, was a lady-in-waiting to the Byzantine empress. She later on left for Alexandria in Egypt.

She founded a monastery in Pempton. She then left for Scetis, looking for help from Abba Daniel, hegumen of the monastery at that time. She took up the life of a hermit at a time when this was only permitted of men. Abba Daniel visited her every week and ensured that one of his disciples supplied her with jugs of water. Anastasia dwelt in seclusion for twenty-eight years.

In 576, aware of her approaching death, she wrote several words for Abba Daniel on a piece of broken pottery and placed it at the entrance to the cave. The disciple found an ostracon with the words “Bring the spades and come here.” When Daniel heard this, he knew Anastasia was near death. He went to visit her with his disciple and to give her communion and hear her last words. Daniel revealed the full details of her story to his disciple after her death.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasia_the_Patrician
Coptic Orthodox Church Network. 'Commemorations For Toba 26,' Lives Of The Saints.
Laura Swan, The Forgotten Desert Mothers (2001, ISBN 0809140160), pages 72-73
Anne Commire, Deborah Klezmer. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia (1999, ISBN 0787640808), page 274.
Coquin, Rene Georges. "Anastasia, Saint", The Coptic Encyclopedia, Vol. I, MacMillan (1991)

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