#St Paul the Hermit

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Paul the Hermit 227-342 Feast day: January 15 Patronage: basket weavers, clothing industry, hermits, weavers

Saint Paul the Hermit, also called Paul of Thebes, a well educated Egyptian, was the first Christian hermit, embracing the life of solitude and penance. He fled to the desert to circumvent the Christian persecution of Decius and from plans of his brother to report him to authorities to gain control of his property. Paul lived as a vegetarian, using the leaves of a Palm tree for clothing. It’s said that a raven supplied him with bread. St. Anthony of Egypt was good friends with him and buried him, wrapped in a cloak given by St. Athanasius. St. Jerome wrote his biography.

{website}

[tinyshe]

"The Desert Fathers were early Catholic hermits in the 3rd century whose ascetical life in the Egyptian desert formed the basis of Christian monasticism. This EWTN original docudrama profiles their intense spirituality."

During this past year I was privileged to work with Writer and Director Robert Duncan and a great group of people on this docudrama about St Paul the Hermit as seen through the eyes of St. Anthony of the Desert and told through the biography written by St. Jerome. I hope you enjoy it!

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (January 15)

On January 15, the Catholic Church remembers Saint Paul of Thebes, whose life of solitude and penance gave inspiration to the monastic movement during its early years.

Surviving in the Egyptian desert on a small amount of daily food, St. Paul the Hermit lived in close communion with God.

Before the end of his life at age 113, he met with St. Anthony the Great, who led an early community of monks elsewhere in the Egyptian desert.

Born in approximately 230, the future hermit Paul received a solid religious and secular education, but lost his parents at age 15.

During the year 250, the Roman Emperor Decius carried out a notorious persecution of the Church, executing clergy and forcing laypersons to prove their loyalty by worshiping idols.

The state used torture, as well as the threat of death, to coerce believers into making pagan sacrifices.

Paul went into hiding during the Decian persecution but became aware of a family member's plan to betray him to the authorities.

The young man retreated to a remote desert location, where he discovered a large abandoned cave that had once been used as a facility for making counterfeit coins.

He found that he could survive on water from a spring. A raven brought him half a loaf of bread daily.

Forced into the wilderness by circumstance, Paul found he loved the life of prayer and simplicity that it made possible.

Thus, he never returned to the outside world, even though he lived well into the era of the Church's legalization and acceptance by the Roman Empire.

Later on, his way of life inspired Catholics who sought a deeper relationship with God through spiritual discipline and isolation from the outside world.

One of these faithful was Anthony of Egypt, born in the vicinity of Cairo around 251, who also lived to an old age after deciding during his youth to live in the desert out of devotion to God.

Paul of Thebes was known to posterity because Anthony, around the year 342, was told in a dream about the older hermit's existence and went to find him.

A similar knowledge about Anthony had been mysteriously given to the earlier hermit.

Thus, when he appeared at Paul's cave, they greeted each other by name, though they had never met.

Out of contact with the Roman Empire for almost a century, Paul asked about its condition and whether paganism was still practiced.

He told Anthony how, for the last 60 years, a bird had brought him a ration of bread each day – a mode of subsistence also granted to the Old Testament prophet Elijah.

After 113 years, most of them spent in solitary devotion, Paul understood that he was nearing the end of his earthly life.

He asked Anthony to return to his own hermitage and bring back a cloak that had been given to the younger monk by the bishop St. Athanasius.

That heroically orthodox bishop had not yet been born when Paul first fled to the desert, and Anthony had never mentioned him or the cloak in question.

Amazed, Anthony paid reverence to Paul and set out to fulfill his request.

During the return trip, Anthony was shown a vision of St. Paul of Thebes' soul, glorified and ascending toward Heaven.

On returning to the first hermit's cave, he venerated the body of its inhabitant, wrapped him in Athanasius' cloak, and carried him outdoors.

Saint Jerome, in his “Life of St. Paul the First Hermit,” attests that two lions arrived, demonstrated their reverence, and dug a grave for the saint.

Having given him Athanasius' cloak, St. Anthony took back to his hermitage the garment, which St. Paul of Thebes had woven for himself from palm leaves.

Anthony passed on the account of his journey and the saint's life to his own growing group of monastic disciples.

It was written down by St. Jerome around the year 375 – approximately 33 years after the death of the first hermit.

Venerated on the same day by Roman Catholics, Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians, St. Paul of Thebes is also the namesake of a Catholic monastic order – the Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit – founded in Hungary during the 13th century and still in operation.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Today in Christian History

Today is Thursday, April 25th, 2024. It is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; Because it is a leap year, 250 days remain until the end of the year.

62: Death of Mark the Gospel writer while imprisoned in Alexandria in the eighth year of Nero, according to Vetus martyrologium romanum (an old Roman collation of martyr accounts).

799: Pope Leo III is attacked, his eyes stabbed, and his tongue torn. He recovers and later crowns Charlemagne as emperor.

1449: The ineffectual Council of Basel ends.

1479: Death of Sylvester of Obnorsk, a Russian Orthodox hermit who had lived off roots and bark. Eventually he had established a monastery.

1564: John Calvin, reformer of Geneva, dictates his last will and testament to notary Peter Chenalat.

1595: Death from a fever in the convent of St. Onofrio of Italian poet Torquato Tasso. Ironically, he was supposed to receive a laurel from the pope on this day in recognition of his epic poems, among which Jerusalem Delivered had been the most acclaimed.

1735: Death at Epworth, England, of Samuel Wesley, curate, author, and father of Methodist revival leaders John and Charles Wesley.

1800: Death at East Dereham, Norfolk, England, of English poet William Cowper (pictured above). Despite lifelong depression, he had produced enduring hymns, including, “Oh For a Closer Walk with God” and “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood.” Dementia had led him to believe he was damned.

1879: Consecration of J. B. Lightfoot as Bishop of Durham. A renowned English New Testament scholar, he had left Cambridge and a life of scholarship to devote the remaining ten years of his life to church administration.

1889: Death at Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, of Anzentia Igene Perry Chapman. A member of the Free Methodist Church, she wrote a number of hymns, including, “Thou Shalt Rest at Eve,” and “We’ll Never Say Goodbye.”

1917: Ordination of Paul Sasaki as a priest in the Anglican Church in Japan. He will become bishop of Nippon Sei Ko Kei (an independent church organization within the Anglican Communion), and suffer imprisonment for his refusal to bring Nippon Sei Ko Kei under the authority of a government-ordered church coalition.

[lecameleontv]

Captures de l’Ep. 4.10 : Simulations / Spin Doctor (2000) de la série Le Caméléon (V.O. : The Pretender)

Distribution : - Rex Linn, qui avait déjà croisé Paul Dillon dans le film L’Ile aux Pirates (1995) et le recroisera dans la série Les Experts : Miami (2004), et retrouvera Michael T Weiss dans l'Episode incursion 4.10 de la série Profiler; - Robert Davi, qui avait déjà croisé Richard Marcus dans l'Ep. 1.07 de la série Hôpital St. Elsewhere (1982), de la série Profiler qui a 3 épisodes incursion avec Michael T Weiss, et qui croisera Jason Brooks dans Alerte Astéroïde (2014); - Max Martini, qui croisera Jeffrey Donovan dans l'Ep. 2.07 de la série Burn Notice, qui participe également à l'incursion 4.10 de la série Profiler et avait déjà croisé Harve Presnell dans le film Il Faut sauver le Soldat Ryan (1998); - Jamie Luner, de la série Melrose Place, et qui croisera Jason Brooks dans le TVfilm N'oublie jamais (2017); ...

Todd Baxter : "Je veux faire quelque chose qui compte... C'est ok selon vous ?"

Jarod : "Hoquey.. ça c'est ... c'est un sport je crois ?"

journaliste : "La réponse se trouve derrière cette porte"

Jarod : "Pourquoi tu m'as aidé ?"

Todd Baxter (réfléchi) : " Mon coeur me dit que je peux te faire confiance... Ah attend (fouille dans une poche et lui tend un billet) Prend ça."

Jarod : "Ah non non non non non Je ne peux pas accepter, tu m'as déjà tellement aidé !

Todd Baxter (déposant le billet dans les mains de Jarod) : Si j'insiste. Tu dégusteras une glace à ma santé !"

Jarod (détaillant le billet, étonné) : "Déguster une glace ? ... Est-ce que c'est bon ?"

Todd Baxter (amusé, riant) : "Tout ce qu'il y a de délicieux ! ... Quelque chose me dit que tu as vécu en hermite Jarod... Si tu vas à Washington, passe me voir :)"

Jarod : "Avec plaisir.... Je te remercie."

B. Malone : "La Vérité ? C'est ce que tout le monde recherche."

M. Parker (insistant) : "Jarod reste l'avenir du Centre"

Mlle Parker (pas convaincue) : "Pourquoi ?"

M. Parker (crispé, fuyant) : " C'est notre plus bel exploit, un atout sans égal..."

Sydney : "Menteur ... ! TOUS DES MENTEURS !!! ... MEEENNNNTTTEEEUUUURRRRRRS !!!!!!!! "

Mlle Parker : "J'ai toujours su que c'était un savan fou"

Broots : "C'est le Centre qui nous rend fou."

Agent Linden : "On croit devoir abandonner la partie quand on sent qu'on n'a plus d'atout."

Il s'était déjà infiltré au F.B.I. dans :

source : imdb

Saison 4 : Episodes 01 - 03 - 04 - 05 - 07 - 08 - 09 - 10 - 11 - 13 - 15 - 16 - 18 - 19 - 20.

[orthodoxydaily]

SAINTS&READING: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2024

october 12_october 26

St MARTIN THE MERCIFUL, BISHOP OF TOURS (France_397)

Saint Martin the Merciful, Bishop of Tours, was born at Sabaria in Pannonia (modern Hungary) in 316. Since his father was a Roman officer, he also was obliged to serve in the army. Martin did so unwillingly, for he considered himself a soldier of Christ, though he was still a catechumen.

At the gates of Amiens, he saw a beggar shivering in the severe winter cold, so he cut his cloak in two and gave half to the beggar. That night, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the saint wearing Martin’s cloak. He heard the Savior say to the angels surrounding Him, “Martin is only a catechumen, but he has clothed Me with this garment.” The saint was baptized soon after this, and reluctantly remained in the army.

Two years later, the barbarians invaded Gaul and Martin asked permission to resign his commission for religious reasons. The commander charged him with cowardice. Saint Martin demonstrated his courage by offering to stand unarmed in the front line of battle, trusting in the power of the Cross to protect him. The next day, the barbarians surrendered without a fight, and Martin was allowed to leave the army.

He traveled to various places during the next few years, spending some time as a hermit on an island off Italy. He became friendly with Saint Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers (January 14), who made Martin an exorcist. After several years of the ascetic life, Saint Martin was chosen to be Bishop of Tours in 371. As bishop, Saint Martin did not give up his monastic life, and the place where he settled outside Tours became a monastery. In fact, he is regarded as the founder of monasticism in France. He conversed with angels, and had visions of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29) and of other saints. He is called the Merciful because of his generosity and care for the poor, and he received the grace to work miracles.

After a life of devoted service to Christ and His Church, the saint fell ill at Candes, a village in his diocese, where he died on November 8, 397. He was buried three days later (his present Feast) at Tours. During the Middle Ages, many Western churches were dedicated to Saint Martin, including Saint Martin’s in Canterbury, and Saint Martin-in-the-Fields in London.

In 1008, a cathedral was built at Tours over the relics of Saint Martin. This cathedral was destroyed in 1793 during the French Revolution, together with the relics of Saint Martin and Saint Gregory of Tours (November 17). A new cathedral was built on the site many years later. Some fragments of the relics of Saint Martin were recovered and placed in the cathedral, but nothing remains of Saint Gregory’s relics.

Saint Martin’s name appears on many Greek and Russian calendars. His commemoration on October 12 in the Russian calendar seems to be an error since ancient sources give the November date.

VENERABLE SYMEON, THE NEW THEOLOGIAN (1021)

Saint Simeon the New Theologian was born in 949 in Galatea (Paphlagonia) and educated at Constantinople. His father prepared him for a career in court, and the youth occupied a high position in the imperial court for a while. When he was fourteen, he met the renowned Elder Simeon the Pious at the Studion Monastery, who would majorly influence his spiritual development. He remained in the world for several years, preparing himself for the monastic life under the Elder’s guidance, and finally entered the monastery at the age of 27.

Saint Simeon the Pious recommended to the young man the writings of Saint Mark the Ascetic (March 5) and other spiritual writers. He read these books attentively and tried to put into practice what he read. Three points made by Saint Mark in his work “On the Spiritual Law” (see Vol. I of the English Philokalia) particularly impressed him. First, you should listen to your conscience and do what it tells you if you wish your soul to be healed (Philokalia, p. 115). Second, only by fulfilling the commandments can one obtain the activity of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, one who prays only with the body and without spiritual knowledge is like the blind man who cried out, “Son of David, have mercy upon me” (Luke 18:38) (Philokalia, p. 111). When the blind man received his sight, however, he called Christ the Son of God (John 9:38).

Saint Simeon was wounded with a love for spiritual beauty, and tried to acquire it. In addition to the Rule given him by his Elder, his conscience told him to add a few more Psalms and prostrations, and to repeat constantly, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me.” Naturally, he heeded his conscience.

During the day, he cared for the needs of people living in the palace of Patricius. At night, his prayers grew longer and he remained praying until midnight. Once, as he was praying in this way, a most brilliant divine radiance descended upon him and filled the room. He saw nothing but light all around him, and he was not even aware of the ground beneath his feet.

It seemed to him that he himself became light. Then his mind rose upward to the heavens, and he saw a second light brighter than the light which surrounded him. Then, on the edge of this second light, he seemed to see Saint Simeon the Pious, who had given him Saint Mark the Ascetic to read.

Seven years after this vision, Saint Simeon entered the monastery. There he increased his fasting and vigilance, and learned to renounce his own will.

The Enemy of our salvation stirred up the brethren of the monastery against Saint Simeon, who was indifferent to the praises or reproaches of others. Because of the increased discontent in the monastery, Saint Simeon was sent to the Monastery of Saint Mamas in Constantinople.

There he was tonsured into the monastic schema, and increased his spiritual struggles. He attained to a high spiritual level, and increased his knowledge of spiritual things through reading the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Fathers, as well as in conversation with holy Elders.

Around the year 980, Saint Simeon was made igumen of the monastery of Saint Mamas and continued in this office for twenty-five years. He repaired and restored the monastery, which had suffered from neglect, and also brought order to the life of the monks.

The strict monastic discipline, for which Saint Simeon strove, led to great dissatisfaction among the brethren. Once, after Liturgy, some of the monks attacked him and nearly killed him. When the Patriarch of Constantinople expelled them from the monastery and wanted to hand them over to the civil authorities, Saint Simeon asked that they be treated with leniency and be permitted to live in the world.

About the year 1005, Saint Simeon resigned his position as igumen in favor of Arsenius, while he himself settled near the monastery in peace. There he composed his theological works, portions of which appear in the Philokalia.

The chief theme of his works is the hidden activity of spiritual perfection, and the struggle against the passions and sinful thoughts. He wrote instructions for monks: “Theological and Practical Chapters,” “A Treatise on the Three Methods of Prayer,” (in Vol. IV of the English Philokalia) and “A Treatise on Faith.” Moreover, Saint Simeon was an outstanding church poet. He also wrote “Hymns of Divine Love,” about seventy poems filled with profound prayerful meditations.

The sublime teachings of Saint Simeon about the mysteries of mental prayer and spiritual struggle have earned him the title “the New Theologian.” These teachings were not the invention of Saint Simeon, but they had merely been forgotten over time.

Some of these teachings seemed unacceptable and strange to his contemporaries. This led to conflict with Constantinople’s church authorities, and Saint Simeon was banished from the city. He withdrew across the Bosphorus and settled in the ancient monastery of Saint Makrina.

The saint peacefully fell asleep in the Lord in the year 1021. During his life he received the gift of working miracles. Numerous miracles also took place after his death; one of them was the miraculous discovery of his icon.

His Life was written by his cell-attendant and disciple, Saint Nicetas Stethatos.

Since March 12 falls during Great Lent, Saint Simeon’s Feast is transferred to October 12.

Ephesians 6:18-24

18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints- 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. 21 But that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother, and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you; 22 whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts. 23 Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ sincerely. Amen.

Luke 9:12-18

12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here." 13 But He told them, "You give them something to eat." And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish unless we go and buy food for all these people." 14 For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty." 15 And they did so and made them all sit down. 16 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17 So they all ate and were filled, and they took twelve baskets of the leftover fragments. 18 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him,

[anastpaul]

Our Lady of Prompt Succour, Notre-Dame de Banneux / Our Lady of Banneux, St Paul the Hermit, St Macarius of Egypt, St Maurus and all the Saints for 15 January

Our Lady of Prompt Succour, New Orleans, USA (1809) – 8 January and 15 January:Such wonderful miracles – read about the Marian Patron of Louisiana here:https://anastpaul.com/2019/01/08/memorials-of-the-saints-8-january/ Notre-Dame de Banneux / Our Lady of Banneux, Belgium (under 2 Titles – Notre Dame des Pauvres / Our Lady of the Poor and Reine des Nations / Queen of Nations) (15 January – 2…

[marsellabarsoum]

Youssef Antoun Makhlouf was born in 1828, in Bekaa Kafra (North Lebanon). He had a true Christian upbringing, which had given him a passion for prayer. Then he followed his two hermit uncles in the hermitage of the St Antonious Kozhaya monastery and was converted to monastic and hermetical life.

In 1851, he left his family village and headed for the Our Lady of Maifouk monastery to spend his first monastic year, and then he went to the St Maron monastery in Annaya, where he entered the Maronite Order, carrying the name Charbel, a name of one of the Antioch church martyrs of the second century. On November 1st. 1853, he exposed his ceremonial vows in St Maron’s monastery - Annaya. Then he completed his theological studies in the St Kobrianous and Justina monastery in Kfifan, Batroun.

He was ordained a priest in Bkerky, the Maronite Patriarchate, on July 23rd, 1859. He lived 16 years in the St Maron's monastery – Annaya. From there, he entered, on February 15th, 1875, the St Peter & Paul hermitage, which belongs to the monastery. He was a typical saint and hermit, who spent his time praying and worshipping. Rarely had he left the hermitage where he followed the way of the saintly hermits in prayers, life and practice.

St Charbel lived in the hermitage for 23 years. On December 16th, 1898 he was struck with an illness while performing the holy mass. He died on Christmas' eve, December 24th, 1898, and was buried in the St Maron monastery cemetery in Annaya.

Few months later, dazzling lights were seen around the grave. From there, his corpse, which had been secreting sweat and blood, was transferred into a special coffin. Hordes of pilgrims started swarming the place to get his intercession. And through this intercession, God blessed many people with recovery and spiritual graces.

In 1925, his beatification and canonization were proposed for declaration by Pope Pious XI. In 1950, the grave was opened in the presence of an official committee which included doctors who verified the soundness of the body. After the grave had been opened and inspected, the variety of healing incidents amazingly multiplied. A multitude of pilgrims from different religious facets started flocking to the Annaya monastery to get the saint's intercession.

Prodigies reached beyond the Lebanese borders. This unique phenomenon caused a moral revolution, the return to faith and the reviving of the virtues of the soul.

[silvestromedia]

Saint of the day August 22

ST. TIMOTHEUS,ROMAN MARTYR ON THE VIA OSTIENSE,

ST. SYNFORIANUS, MARTYR OF AUTUN,

St. John Kemble, 1679 A.D. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born in Herefordshire, England, in 1599, and studied at Douai, where he was ordained in 1625. Returning to England, John labored in missions for fifty-three years. At the age of eighty-one, he was arrested at Pembridge Castle, the home of his brother. He was falsely charged in the Titus Oates Plot and condemned for being a Catholic. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Hereford. Pope Paul VI canonized him in 1970.

St. John Wall, 1679 A.D. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He was born near Preston, England, and was educated at Douai and Rome and ordained in 1645. In 1651 he became a Franciscan, called Father Joachim of St. Anne, returning to Worcester, England, in 1656. There he was arrested in December 1678 and imprisoned for five months. He was martyred by being hanged, drawn, and quartered at Redhill. Pope Paul VI canonized him in 1970.

Bl. Richard Kirkman, 1582 A.D. English martyr. Born in Addingham, Yorkshire, he left England and studied at the famous Catholic school of Douai, France, the preparatory institution for English Catholics who would then return home and work for the reconversion of the isle. Ordained in 1579, in Reims, he sailed to England and served as a tutor for Richard Dymake’s family in Scrivelsby. Richard then went to Yorkshire and Northumberland and he was arrested near Wakefield. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered near York with Blessed William Lacey, on August 22, for denying the supremacy of Queen Elizabeth I as head of the Church of England

Bl. William Lacey, 1582 A.D. Martyr of England. Born in Horton, West Riding, Yorkshire, he distinguished himself as a lawyer and as an ardent Catholic, using his house as a refuge for the much oppressed Catholics of the time. Following the death of his second wife in 1579, he left England and studied at Reims, France, in preparation for his eventual ordination at Rome. William returned to England and worked in the area of Yorkshire until his arrest. He was arrested in York Prison while participating in the Eucharistic ceremony being sung in the cell of Blessed Thomas Bell. Condemned, he was executed at Knavesmaire, just outside of York with Blessed Richard Kirkman. William was beatified in 1886.

St. Gunifort. A martyr of Pavia, Italy. He was Irish, Scottish, or English.

St. Sigfrid. Sigfrid, who died in the year 690, was a deacon at Wearmouth Abbey. He was known for his knowledge of scripture and for his frail health. He was elected coadjutor abbot in 688 on the death of St. Erstwine while Abbot St. Benedict Biscop was in Rome. Sigfrid died soon after St. Benedict.

St. Andrew the Scot, 877 A.D. Archdeacon and companion of St. Donatus. Andrew and his sister, St. Bridget the Younger, were born in Ireland of noble parents. They were educated by St. Donatus, and when Donatus went on a pilgrimage to Italy, Andrew accompanied him. In Fiesole, through a miracle, Donatus was elected bishop. Andrew was ordained the archdeacon of Fiesole, serving Donatus for fortyseven years. He also founded a monastery in Mensola, Italy. Andrew died shortly after Donatus, but his sister, St. Bridget the Younger, was carried by an angel to his bedside, all the way from Ireland.

St. Arnulf, 9th century. Hermit, venerated at Arnulphsbury or Eynesbury, in England.

St. Ethelgitha. Benedictine abbess of Northumbria, England.

St. Antoninus (died 186) was a public executioner in Rome. It is believed that during the trial of St Eusebius he had a vision and converted to Christianity. The proclamation of faith cost his life and he was beheaded in 186. His feast day is 22 August.

ST. PHILIP BENIZI, PRIEST OF THE SERVANTS OF MARY

[whooolaanmo]

Feast Day of St. Paul, the First Hermit

Happy Fiesta, San Pablo 🎉✨️

🙏🏻🤍✨️

Jan. 15, 2024 05:33 pm

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Thecla of Iconium

1st Century AD

Feast Day: September 23

Saint Thecla, a virgin and native of Iconium was popular in the early Church. She was so impressed by St. Paul the Apostle’s preaching that she became his follower and a perpetual virgin. Legend has it that because she was a Christian, attempts were made to torture her by fire, rape, and eaten by wild beasts, yet she was miraculously protected all three times showing a martyr’s heroic faith. Eventually she lived as a hermit though persecuted until her death. She is called the protomartyr among women.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase. (website)

[hieromonkcharbel]

Can the Ladder, a work written by a hermit monk who lived 1,400 years ago, say something to us today? Can the existential journey of a man who lived his entire life on Mount Sinai in such a distant time be relevant to us?

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

After 20 Catecheses dedicated to the Apostle Paul, today I would like to return to presenting the great writers of the Church of the East and of the West in the Middle Ages. And I am proposing the figure of John known as Climacus, a Latin transliteration of the Greek term klimakos, which means of the ladder (klimax). This is the title of his most important work in which he describes the ladder of human life ascending towards God. He was born in about 575 a.d. He lived, therefore, during the years in which Byzantium, the capital of the Roman Empire of the East, experienced the greatest crisis in its history. The geographical situation of the Empire suddenly changed and the torrent of barbarian invasions swept away all its structures. Only the structure of the Church withstood them, continuing in these difficult times to carry out her missionary, human, social and cultural action, especially through the network of monasteries in which great religious figures such as, precisely, John Climacus were active.

John lived and told of his spiritual experiences in the Mountains of Sinai, where Moses encountered God and Elijah heard his voice. Information on him has been preserved in a brief Life (PG 88, 596-608), written by a monk, Daniel of Raithu. At the age of 16, John, who had become a monk on Mount Sinai, made himself a disciple of Abba Martyr, an "elder", that is, a "wise man". At about 20 years of age, he chose to live as a hermit in a grotto at the foot of the mountain in the locality of Tola, eight kilometres from the present-day St Catherine's Monastery. Solitude, however, did not prevent him from meeting people eager for spiritual direction, or from paying visits to several monasteries near Alexandria. In fact, far from being an escape from the world and human reality, his eremitical retreat led to ardent love for others (Life, 5) and for God (ibid., 7). After 40 years of life as a hermit, lived in love for God and for neighbour years in which he wept, prayed and fought with demons he was appointed hegumen of the large monastery on Mount Sinai and thus returned to cenobitic life in a monastery. However, several years before his death, nostalgic for the eremitical life, he handed over the government of the community to his brother, a monk in the same monastery.

John died after the year 650. He lived his life between two mountains, Sinai and Tabor and one can truly say that he radiated the light which Moses saw on Sinai and which was contemplated by the three Apostles on Mount Tabor!

He became famous, as I have already said, through his work, entitled The Climax, in the West known as the Ladder of Divine Ascent (PG 88, 632-1164). Composed at the insistent request of the hegumen of the neighbouring Monastery of Raithu in Sinai, the Ladder is a complete treatise of spiritual life in which John describes the monk's journey from renunciation of the world to the perfection of love. This journey according to his book covers 30 steps, each one of which is linked to the next. The journey may be summarized in three consecutive stages: the first is expressed in renunciation of the world in order to return to a state of evangelical childhood. Thus, the essential is not the renunciation but rather the connection with what Jesus said, that is, the return to true childhood in the spiritual sense, becoming like children. John comments: "A good foundation of three layers and three pillars is: innocence, fasting and temperance. Let all babes in Christ (cf. 1 Cor 3: 1) begin with these virtues, taking as their model the natural babes" (1, 20; 636). Voluntary detachment from beloved people and places permits the soul to enter into deeper communion with God. This renunciation leads to obedience which is the way to humility through humiliations which will never be absent on the part of the brethren. John comments: "Blessed is he who has mortified his will to the very end and has entrusted the care of himself to his teacher in the Lord: indeed he will be placed on the right hand of the Crucified One!" (4, 37; 704).

The second stage of the journey consists in spiritual combat against the passions. Every step of the ladder is linked to a principal passion that is defined and diagnosed, with an indication of the treatment and a proposal of the corresponding virtue. All together, these steps of the ladder undoubtedly constitute the most important treatise of spiritual strategy that we possess. The struggle against the passions, however, is steeped in the positive it does not remain as something negative thanks to the image of the "fire" of the Holy Spirit: that "all those who enter upon the good fight (cf. 1 Tm 6: 12), which is hard and narrow,... may realize that they must leap into the fire, if they really expect the celestial fire to dwell in them" (1,18; 636). The fire of the Holy Spirit is the fire of love and truth. The power of the Holy Spirit alone guarantees victory. However, according to John Climacus it is important to be aware that the passions are not evil in themselves; they become so through human freedom's wrong use of them. If they are purified, the passions reveal to man the path towards God with energy unified by ascesis and grace and, "if they have received from the Creator an order and a beginning..., the limit of virtue is boundless" (26/2, 37; 1068).

The last stage of the journey is Christian perfection that is developed in the last seven steps of the Ladder. These are the highest stages of spiritual life, which can be experienced by the "Hesychasts": the solitaries, those who have attained quiet and inner peace; but these stages are also accessible to the more fervent cenobites. Of the first three simplicity, humility and discernment John, in line with the Desert Fathers, considered the ability to discern, the most important. Every type of behaviour must be subject to discernment; everything, in fact, depends on one's deepest motivations, which need to be closely examined. Here one enters into the soul of the person and it is a question of reawakening in the hermit, in the Christian, spiritual sensitivity and a "feeling heart", which are gifts from God: "After God, we ought to follow our conscience as a rule and guide in everything," (26/1,5; 1013). In this way one reaches tranquillity of soul, hesychia, by means of which the soul may gaze upon the abyss of the divine mysteries.

The state of quiet, of inner peace, prepares the Hesychast for prayer which in John is twofold: "corporeal prayer" and "prayer of the heart". The former is proper to those who need the help of bodily movement: stretching out the hands, uttering groans, beating the breast, etc. (15, 26; 900). The latter is spontaneous, because it is an effect of the reawakening of spiritual sensitivity, a gift of God to those who devote themselves to corporeal prayer. In John this takes the name "Jesus prayer" (Iesou euche), and is constituted in the invocation of solely Jesus' name, an invocation that is continuous like breathing: "May your remembrance of Jesus become one with your breathing, and you will then know the usefulness of hesychia", inner peace (27/2, 26; 1112). At the end the prayer becomes very simple: the word "Jesus" simply becomes one with the breath.

The last step of the ladder (30), suffused with "the sober inebriation of the spirit", is dedicated to the supreme "trinity of virtues": faith, hope and above all charity. John also speaks of charity as eros (human love), a symbol of the matrimonial union of the soul with God, and once again chooses the image of fire to express the fervour, light and purification of love for God. The power of human love can be reoriented to God, just as a cultivated olive may be grafted on to a wild olive tree (cf. Rm 11: 24) (cf. 15, 66; 893). John is convinced that an intense experience of this eros will help the soul to advance far more than the harsh struggle against the passions, because of its great power. Thus, in our journey, the positive aspect prevails. Yet charity is also seen in close relation to hope: "Hope is the power that drives love. Thanks to hope, we can look forward to the reward of charity.... Hope is the doorway of love.... The absence of hope destroys charity: our efforts are bound to it, our labours are sustained by it, and through it we are enveloped by the mercy of God" (30, 16; 1157). The conclusion of the Ladder contains the synthesis of the work in words that the author has God himself utter: "May this ladder teach you the spiritual disposition of the virtues. I am at the summit of the ladder, and as my great initiate (St Paul) said: "So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love' (1 Cor 13: 13)!" (30, 18; 1160).

At this point, a last question must be asked: can the Ladder, a work written by a hermit monk who lived 1,400 years ago, say something to us today? Can the existential journey of a man who lived his entire life on Mount Sinai in such a distant time be relevant to us? At first glance it would seem that the answer must be "no", because John Climacus is too remote from us. But if we look a little closer, we see that the monastic life is only a great symbol of baptismal life, of Christian life. It shows, so to speak, in capital letters what we write day after day in small letters. It is a prophetic symbol that reveals what the life of the baptized person is, in communion with Christ, with his death and Resurrection. The fact that the top of the "ladder", the final steps, are at the same time the fundamental, initial and most simple virtues is particularly important to me: faith, hope and charity. These are not virtues accessible only to moral heroes; rather they are gifts of God to all the baptized: in them our life develops too. The beginning is also the end, the starting point is also the point of arrival: the whole journey towards an ever more radical realization of faith, hope and charity. The whole ascent is present in these virtues. Faith is fundamental, because this virtue implies that I renounce my arrogance, my thought, and the claim to judge by myself without entrusting myself to others. This journey towards humility, towards spiritual childhood is essential. It is necessary to overcome the attitude of arrogance that makes one say: I know better, in this my time of the 21st century, than what people could have known then. Instead, it is necessary to entrust oneself to Sacred Scripture alone, to the word of the Lord, to look out on the horizon of faith with humility, in order to enter into the enormous immensity of the universal world, of the world of God. In this way our soul grows, the sensitivity of the heart grows toward God. Rightly, John Climacus says that hope alone renders us capable of living charity; hope in which we transcend the things of every day, we do not expect success in our earthly days but we look forward to the revelation of God himself at last. It is only in this extension of our soul, in this self-transcendence, that our life becomes great and that we are able to bear the effort and disappointments of every day, that we can be kind to others without expecting any reward. Only if there is God, this great hope to which I aspire, can I take the small steps of my life and thus learn charity. The mystery of prayer, of the personal knowledge of Jesus, is concealed in charity: simple prayer that strives only to move the divine Teacher's heart. So it is that one's own heart opens, one learns from him his own kindness, his love. Let us therefore use this "ascent" of faith, hope and charity. In this way we will arrive at true life.

Vatican, Feb. 11, 2009

[cruger2984]

The Pretty Cures and its Saints: Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure

In celebration of the franchise’s 20th anniversary, I have to share with you all with their birthday corresponding with feast days that is honored and recognized by the Roman Catholic Church!

September 20 - Sora Harewataru (Cure Sky)

St. Andrew Kim Taegon: 19th century Korean martyr who was first Korean-born Catholic priest. In the late 18th century, Roman Catholicism began to take root slowly in Korea, and was introduced by scholars who visited China and brought back Western books translated into Chinese. Born of yangban (a part of the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon Dynasty), parents were converts and his father was subsequently martyred for practising Christianity, and after he baptized at 15, he studied at a seminary in Macau. Andrew also spent time in study at Lolomboy, Bocaue, Bulacan in the Philippines, where today he is also venerated. During his trip to Korea, Andrew is canonized as a saint by Pope St. John Paul II, along with 102 other Korean Martyrs, including Paul Chong Hasang on May 6, 1984.

July 16 - Mashiro Nijigaoka (Cure Prism)

Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Nuestra Señora del Carmen): A Marian title that is given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order (Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel), particularly within the Catholic Church. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the late 12th and early to mid-13th century. They built in the midst of their hermitages a chapel which they dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, whom they conceived of in chivalric terms as the 'Lady of the place.' Since the 15th century, popular devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel has centered on the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also known as the Brown Scapular. Traditionally, Mary is said to have given the Scapular to an early Carmelite named Simon Stock, a prior general of the order in 1251. She is honored as the patron of Chile, as well as protection from harm, dangerous situations and Purgatory.

May 21 - Tsubasa Yuunagi (Cure Wing)

St. Helena of Constantinople: 4th century empress and is known as the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, who is later a saint. Helena is honored as an important figure in the history of Christianity. In her final years, she made a religious tour of Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem, during which ancient tradition claims that she discovered the True Cross.

August 8 - Ageha Hijiri (Cure Butterfly)

St. Dominic de Guzmán: Spanish priest who is widely known as the founder of the Order of Preachers aka the Dominicans. According to one story, Dominic’s mother, Bl. Joan of Aza, made a pilgrimage to the Abbey at Silos, and dreamt that a dog leapt from her womb carrying a flaming torch in its mouth (it later becomes one of the saint’s attributes), and ’seemed to set the earth on fire.’ The spread of the Rosary, a Marian devotion, is attributed to Dominic’s teachings, and has it for centuries been at the heart of the Order. The Dominicans have been instrumental in spreading the rosary and emphasizing the Catholic belief in the power of the rosary for centuries. His major shrine can be found in Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna, and he is the patron of astronomers.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (January 28)

On January 28, the Roman Catholic Church celebrates Saint Thomas Aquinas, the 13th-century theologian who showed that the Catholic faith is in harmony with philosophy and all other branches of knowledge.

Then Blessed John Paul II, in his 1998 letter, “Fides et Ratio,” said:

"St. Thomas had the great merit of giving pride of place to the harmony, which exists between faith and reason, knowing that both the light of reason and the light of faith come from God … Hence there can be no contradiction between them.”

Thomas was born during 1225 into a noble family, having relatives among the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire.

His father Landulph was the Count of Aquino. His mother Theodora was the Countess of Teano.

At age five, Thomas was sent to study at Monte Cassino, the abbey founded by St. Benedict.

The boy's intellectual gifts and serious disposition impressed the monks, who urged his father to place him in a university by the time he was 10.

At the University of Naples, he learned philosophy and rhetoric while taking care to preserve his morals against corruption by other students.

It is said that a hermit, before Thomas' birth, told Theodora that she would have a son who would enter the Dominican Order, and "so great will be his learning and sanctity that in his day, no one will be found to equal him.”

In his adolescence, Thomas' friendship with a holy Dominican inspired him to join them.

His family, however, did not envision the brilliant young man as a penniless and celibate preacher.

His brothers kidnapped him from the Dominicans, took him to the family's castle, and at one point even sent a woman to seduce him – whom Thomas drove out by brandishing a poker from the fireplace.

Under pressure from both the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, Thomas' brothers allowed him to escape from captivity.

He traveled to Rome and received the Pope's blessing upon his vocation, which would soon take him to Paris to study with the theologian later canonized as Saint Albert the Great.

Thomas' silent demeanor caused other students to nickname him “the Dumb Ox.”

Albert, however, discovered that the young man was a brilliant thinker and proclaimed:

“We call him the Dumb Ox, but he will give such a bellow in learning as will be heard all over the world.”

By the time he was 23, Thomas was teaching alongside his mentor at the university of Cologne.

During 1248, he published his first commentaries on the pre-Christian Greek philosopher Aristotle, whose insights on nature, logic, and metaphysics would inform Thomas' approach to Catholic theology.

Around the middle of the century, Thomas was ordained to the priesthood in which he showed great reverence for the liturgy and skill as a homilist.

In keeping with the Dominican order's charism for preaching, he strove to bring his own family to a sincere practice of the faith and largely succeeded.

St. Thomas' best-known achievements, however, are his works of theology.

These include the Summa Contra Gentiles, the Compendium Theologiae, and the great Summa Theologica – which was placed on the altar along with the Bible at the 16th-century Council of Trent for easy reference during discussions.

In December 1273, however, the scholar proclaimed that he could write no more, following a mystical experience in which he said he had “seen things that make my writings look like straw.”

But he complied with a request to attend the Council of Lyon to help reunite the Latin and Greek churches.

On his way there, however, Thomas became ill and stopped at a Cistercian abbey.

The monks treated him with reverence, and it was to them that he dictated a final work of theology: a commentary on the Old Testament's Song of Songs.

The saint did not live to finish this commentary, however.

Nearing death, he made a final confession and asked for the Eucharist to be brought to him.

In its presence, he declared:

“I adore you, my God and my Redeemer … for whose honor I have studied, labored, preached, and taught.”

“I hope I have never advanced any tenet as your word, which I had not learned from you,” he told God, before making his last communion.

“If through ignorance I have done otherwise, I revoke everything of that kind and submit all my writings to the judgment of the holy Roman Church.”

His last words were addressed to one of the Cistercians who asked for a word of spiritual guidance.

“Be assured that he who shall always walk faithfully in (God's) presence, always ready to give him an account of all his actions, shall never be separated from him by consenting to sin,” he declared.

Thomas Aquinas died on 7 March 1274.

He was canonized by Pope John XXII on 18 July 1323 and made a Doctor of the Church in 1567.

St. Thomas Aquinas was considered the greatest of the Scholastic philosophers.

He produced a comprehensive synthesis of Christian theology and Aristotelian philosophy that influenced Roman Catholic doctrine for centuries and was adopted as the official philosophy of the church in 1917.

In 1965, the Second Vatican Council taught that seminarians should learn “under the guidance of St. Thomas in order to illumine the mysteries of salvation as completely as possible.”

[alennahmarieborra]

Laguna is one of the provinces in the Philippines, that rich with culture, art and history are found. Nature lovers love going to this province for Mount Banahaw and Mount Makiling are situated within its boundaries. It is also home for the lakes (Sampaloc and Palakpakin), falls (Majayjay Falls) and rivers. Old churches (St. John the Baptist Church in Liliw and St. James the Apostle Church in Paete) and Spanish houses are also part of the province’s charismatic beauty. Thankfully, I have roots in this beautiful province.

Sampaloc Lake is one of the seven beautiful lakes in San Pablo City in Laguna. It’s the largest among them, too. But what makes it a top tourist draw this side of the province is the gorgeous view it provides, as well as the various activities tourists can do around the area.

With a total circumference of 3.7 kilometers, the lake is popular with runners who want to work out a sweat while being close to nature. It’s easy to find, because it’s located very near the San Pablo City Hall.

Unfortunately, the water in Sampaloc Lake is not suitable for swimming. However, visitors can still enjoy lots of activities such as taking photos, eating street food (like isaw and kwek-kwek), renting bicycles, or sampling the local cuisine in one of the restaurants around the lake.

There are lots of tilapia, bangus, carp, and several species of shrimps that abound in the lake, so it’s likely that you’ll come across a vendor selling newly caught fish.

According to legend, the lake was created because an old woman, who happened to have a giant Sampaloc tree in her garden, drew away an old man (who is a diwata in disguise) seeking help for his grandson. After this, a thundering noise and heavy rain ensued, sinking the entire orchard, filling it with water, and turning it into a lake.

How to get here?

City of San Pablo is very accesible also to any type of land vehicle and if you own a vehicle and figure out where is the exact location of Lake Sampaloc, the lake is located beside Provincial Capitol of San Pablo and Dona Leonila Park. Just pin in to your navigation map “Old Capitol Building of San Pablo City” because if you will pin to your navigation map the lake sampaloc there is a big chance that you will take around the lake and reach a private property where there is no viewdeck to enjoy the nice scenery of the lake.

If you're interested to visit and take a tour at Lake Sampaloc, for those people from the north, take a Bus Ride or Van from Manila with the Sigboard Lucena/Tagkawayan/Lopez/Calauag/San Pablo and tell the driver or conductor to drop you at City of San Pablo where they can drop you at City Medical of San Pablo or San Pablo City Plaza or beside Cathedral Parish of Saint Paul the First Hermit, and from the drop off points you can rent a tricycle going to lake sampaloc. For those people from the south, take a bus ride or van with signboard LRT Buendia/Cubao/Alabang/Turbina and tell to the driver or conductor to drop you to City Of San Pablo and from there you drop by to City Medical of San Pablo or San Pablo City Plaza or beside Cathedral Parish of Saint Paul the First Hermit and don’t forget to pray before your planned trip here to the city of seven lakes and enjoy.

[lumierecharity]

SAINT CHARBEL AND PRAYER OF THE HOLY ROSARY

Saint Charbel was a Maronite monk and priest who lived in Lebanon. The community in Lebanon remembers the holy man for his miraculous healings. Fr Charbel (Saint Charbel) - in his latter years a holy hermit - went to Almighty God from this life on 24th December 1898. 

St Charbel was buried outside the monastery in a grave adjacent to the church wall. In the records of the Monastery of St Maroun in Annaya, Fr (Saint) Charbel's superior wrote that because of what Charbel would accomplish after his death, he had no need to write about his life but was satisfied with stating that Charbel had kept his vows like an angel and not like a human. 

Starting from the time of his burial, St Charbel's tomb emanated a bright light. As a result, the tomb was opened on April 15th 1899, four months after St Charbel's death. The saint's body was found to be intact with no signs of change, a miraculous sign. 

In 1950, St Charbel's tomb at the Maronite monks' monastery high on a mountain in Lebanon was opened yet again, because a light had frequently been seen in the vicinity. To the astonishment of all the body of the priest who had been buried there for fifty-two years was as though he had been merely asleep that half a century. Even his clothing was intact.

Why this Wonder?

People began to pray to St Charbel to ask his intercession with God on their behalf. The monastery began to keep records of miracles performed through the intercession of Fr Charbel from 1950 onwards. There are over 26,000 miracles attributed to the intercession of St Charbel Makhlouf since 1898. 

Saint Pope Paul VI beatified Charbel

At the closing of the Second Vatican Council, on December 5, 1965, St Charbel was beatified by Saint Pope Paul VI, who said:

"Great is the gladness in heaven and earth today for the beatification of Charbel Makhlouf, monk and hermit of the Lebanese Maronite Order. Great is the joy of the East and West for this son of Lebanon, admirable flower of sanctity blooming on the stem of the ancient monastic traditions of the East, and venerated today by the Church of Rome ... the holy monk of Annaya is presented as one who reminds us of the indispensable roles of prayer, hidden virtues and penance ... A hermit from the Lebanese mountain is enrolled among the blessed ... a new, eminent member of monastic sanctity is enriching the entire Christian people by his example and his intercession ... In a world largely fascinated with riches and comfort, he helps us understand the paramount value of poverty, penance, and ascetism to liberate the soul in its ascent to God ..." [1]

Canonisation

St Charbel was canonised in 1977 by Saint Pope Paul VI. At the time, Bishop Francis Zayek wrote, "St Sharbel is called the second St Anthony of the Desert, the Perfume of Lebanon, the first Confessor of the East to be raised to the Altars according to the actual procedures of the Catholic Church, the honor of our Aramaic Antiochian Church, and the model of spiritual values and renewal. Sharbel is like a Cedar of Lebanon standing in eternal prayer, on top of a mountain." [2]

Pilgrimage

St Charbel's tomb has been a site for millions of pilgrimages ever since his burial. 

Preparation for Holy Mass

St Charbel used to spend half a day preparing to celebrate Mass, and half a day in thanksgiving. During the Holy Mass he offered the Eucharist to the Holy Trinity for the conversion of sinners.

History of Saint Charbel

History of St Charbel can be accessed at http://saintcharbel.net.au/history/

Some healings which are attributed to St Charbel

Some healings which are attributed to St Charbel can be accessed at https://epicpew.com/6-incredible-miracles-saint-charbel/

Prayer to Saint Charbel

Saint Sharbel, vessel of sweet perfume, pray for me. O merciful God, who honored Saint Sharbel through the working of great miracles, have mercy on me and grant me what I ask through his intercession. To You be glory forever, Amen. 

Rosary

One of St Charbel's spiritual practices we can imitate is prayer of the Holy Rosary. 

[1] Saint Charbel http://saintcharbel.net.au/history/

[2] Charbel Makhlouf 

HOW TO PRAY THE ROSARY

Visit the following link

THE ROSARY

THE ROSARY

On the cross the Creed is prayed:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right Hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He shall come, to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen.

On the single beads the Our Father is prayed:

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name;  Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as It is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

On the sets of beads, the Hail Mary is prayed:

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

At the end of each set of beads, the Glory Be is prayed:

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.

This is followed by the Fatima prayer:

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy. Amen.

Many people recite five to fifteen mysteries of the Holy Rosary each day:

The Joyful Mysteries (always recited on Mondays and Thursdays)

1. The Annunciation

2. The Visitation

3. The Nativity

4. The Presentation

5. The finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple

The Sorrowful Mysteries (always recited on Tuesdays and Fridays)

1. The Agony in the Garden

2. The Scourging at the Pillar

3. The Crowning with Thorns

4. The Carrying of the Cross

5. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus on the Cross

The Glorious Mysteries (always recited on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays)

1. The Resurrection

2. The Ascension

3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles at Pentecost

4. The Assumption of Our Lady body and soul into Heaven

5. The Crowning of Our Lady as Queen of Heaven

At the end of the Rosary recite the Hail Holy Queen:

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary, pray for us now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Follow the Hail Holy Queen by:

Pray for us O Holy Mother of God

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ

LET US PRAY

O God, Who by Thy Life, Death and Resurrection didst purchase for us the rewards of eternal salvation

Grant, we beseech thee, that, while meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary

We may both imitate what they contain

And obtain what they promise through the same Christ our Lord

Amen.

JOIN ONLINE ROSARY AT

Link to online Rosary

With thanks to usccb.org, saintcharbel.net.au, epicpew.com, wikipedia.org, comepraytherosary.org and youtube