Saint Flannan
Saint Flannan was an Irish saint who lived in the 7th century and was the son of an Irish chieftain, Toirdhealbhach of Dál gCais. He entered Mo Lua’s monastery at Killaloe, where it is believed he became an Abbot. He is remembered as a great preacher.
He made a pilgrimage to Rome where Pope John IV consecrated him as the first Bishop of Killaloe, of which he is the Patron Saint. He also preached in the Hebrides. His feast day is 18 December.
2 Peter 3:9
Verse:
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” - 2 Peter 3:9
Prayer To God to Guide Our Steps
Lord, I miss the way we used to be. It’s my fault, I know. I haven’t had the patience to rest at your feet and meditate on your Word. I’ve been too impatient to wait on your will. I’ve gotten used to making things happen right now instead of waiting on you to guide my steps. Bring me back to those days when I hungered for your plans. Give me the patience to linger in your presence. Pause my racing thoughts and self-imposed time limits. Thank you for being the only one who can truly take away my urge to do life by myself. Thank you for showing me that putting you first is what’s best for me.
Sources:
Original version of the prayer: https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/prayer/10-prayers-for-patience.html
Saint Olympias
Saint Olympias is described as the ‘beloved daughter’ born to Seleucus and Alexandra. At eighteen years of age, Olympias married Nebridius, a nobleman who served as prefect of Constantinople. She was widowed after two years of marriage. Having refusing many offers of marriage, she dedicated her life to the church, serving as a deaconess. She would later become a friend of Saint John Chrysostom.
Her good works included building a hospital and an orphanage and looking after monks who had been led in exile from Nitria. This led John Chrysostom to tell her that she had done almost too much.[12] Her support for Chrysostom led to her exile in 404. Having lost her house, she lived the rest of her life in Nicomedia, dying on July 25, 408, after a long illness.
Revelation 3:19
Verse:
“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.” - Revelation 3:19
Prayer To Ask For Atonement
Oh God, I thank You that You are my advocate and that You sent Your only Son as an atoning sacrifice for my sins. God, I have sinned against You and I ask for Your forgiveness and that you will cleanse me of all impurities and sinful nature. Thank You for Your unconditional love and Your conviction that leads me back to you God. I put my faith in You and I pray that I will always remain in Your presence, Amen.
Sources:
riginal version of the prayer: https://connectusfund.org/7-good-prayers-for-repentance-and-faith
Saint Adelaide
Adelaide of Italy, also called Adelaide of Burgundy, was Holy Roman Empress by marriage to Emperor Otto the Great. She was crowned with him by Pope John XII in Rome on 2 February 962. She was the first empress designated consors regni, denoting a “co-bearer of royalty” who shared power with her husband. She was essential as a model for future consorts regarding both status and political influence. She was regent of the Holy Roman Empire as the guardian of her grandson in 991–995.
She became involved from the beginning in the complicated fight to control not only Burgundy but also Lombardy. The battle between her father Rudolf II and Berengar I to control northern Italy ended with Berengar’s death, and Rudolf could claim the throne
Adelaide had constantly devoted herself to the service of the church and peace, and to the empire as guardian of both; she also interested herself in the conversion of the Slavs. She was thus a principal agent — almost an embodiment — of the work of the pre-schism Church at the end of the Early Middle Ages in the construction of the religious culture of Central Europe. Some of her relics are preserved in a shrine in Hanover. Her feast day, 16 December, is still kept in many German dioceses.
Isaiah 55:6
Verse
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” - Isaiah 55:6
Prayer For God’s Help
Father, Right our hearts to place You at the helm. Bless our minds to run to You for solutions to problems that put our backs up against walls. Help us to resist gossip and slander, blame and unnecessary attacks on the character of others… When we are in trouble, help us to remember the cross. In the direst situation of all, Christ conquered death… We’re not promised this world will be easy or fair, but You guarantee Your presence and Your love. Grant us the courage to stick to Your standards. You are good, all the time. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Sources:
Original version of the prayer: https://justdisciple.com/christian-prayer-help/#:~:text='Fear%20not%2C%20for%20I%20am
Saint Mary Di Rosa
Saint Mary Di Rosa, birth name Paola Francesca Di Rosa, was born on 6 November 1813 in Brescia as one of nine children born to the rich industrialist Clemente Di Rosa and Countess Camilla Albani.
Di Rosa was educated by the Visitation Sisters in their convent in Brescia; She left school after her mother died in 1824. She began working in her father’s large spinning mill in Acquafredda where she took an instant notice of the working conditions; she became the manager when she turned nineteen. She began caring for the female workers and devoted herself to looking after their material and spiritual needs which was something that her father encouraged her to do. Di Rosa lived at home for the next decade increasing her involvement in various forms of social work.
Di Rosa died at a hospital in Brescia on 15 December 1855 after suffering from a prolonged illness.
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Matthew 10:28
Verse:
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” - Matthew 10:28
Prayer For Starting Your Day
Lord God, I pray for Your protection as I begin this day. You are my hiding place, and under Your wings I can always find refuge. Protect me from trouble wherever I go, and keep evil far from me. No matter where I am, I will look to You as my Protector, the one who fights for me every day. Your love and faithfulness, along with Your goodness and mercy, surround me daily, so I will not fear whatever might come against me. My trust is in You, God, and I give thanks to You for Your love and protection. Amen
Saint John of the Cross
John is a saint because his life was a heroic effort to live up to his name: “of the Cross.” The folly of the cross came to full realization in time. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34b) is the story of John’s life. The Paschal Mystery—through death to life—strongly marks John as reformer, mystic-poet, and theologian-priest.
Ordained a Carmelite priest in 1567 at age 25, John met Teresa of Avila and like her, vowed himself to the primitive Rule of the Carmelites. As partner with Teresa and in his own right, John engaged in the work of reform, and came to experience the price of reform: increasing opposition, misunderstanding, persecution, imprisonment. He came to know the cross acutely—to experience the dying of Jesus—as he sat month after month in his dark, damp, narrow cell with only his God.
Yet, the paradox! In this dying of imprisonment John came to life, uttering poetry. In the darkness of the dungeon, John’s spirit came into the Light. There are many mystics, many poets; John is unique as mystic-poet, expressing in his prison-cross the ecstasy of mystical union with God in the Spiritual Canticle.
But as agony leads to ecstasy, so John had his Ascent to Mt. Carmel, as he named it in his prose masterpiece. As man-Christian-Carmelite, he experienced in himself this purifying ascent; as spiritual director, he sensed it in others; as psychologist-theologian, he described and analyzed it in his prose writings. His prose works are outstanding in underscoring the cost of discipleship, the path of union with God: rigorous discipline, abandonment, purification. Uniquely and strongly John underlines the gospel paradox: The cross leads to resurrection, agony to ecstasy, darkness to light, abandonment to possession, denial to self to union with God. If you want to save your life, you must lose it. John is truly “of the Cross.” He died at 49—a life short, but full.
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