#stjosephfreinademetz

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The Second Feast of St Agnes and Memorials of the Saints - 28 January

The Second Feast of St Agnes and Memorials of the Saints – 28 January

The Second Feast of St Agnes:28 January is traditionally the day of the “Second Feast of St Agnes,” although this very ancient observance was reduced to a commemoration in 1931 and abolished in the post-Conciliar reform (1969). It is still kept in some Churches dedicated to St Agnes, most prominent among them, the Basilica built over the site of her burial, less than a mile and a half from the…

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Quote/s of the Day - 7 July - “Pray, hope and don’t worry.”

Quote/s of the Day – 7 July – “Pray, hope and don’t worry.”

Quote/s of the Day – 7 July – “Month of the Precious Blood” – Tuesday of the Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time, Readings: Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13, Psalm 115:3-10, Matthew 9:32-38

“And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night?”

Luke 18:7

“Prayer is an act of love, words are not needed. Even if sickness distracts from thoughts, all that is needed is the will to love.”

St Teresa of Jesus…

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Quote/s of the Day – 12 July – 'Cultivate serious study!'

Quote/s of the Day – 12 July – ‘Cultivate serious study!’

Quote/s of the Day – 12 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – The Fifteenth Sunday of the Year in Ordinary Time, Year A, Readings: Isaiah 55:10-11, Psalm 65:10-14, Romans 8:18-23, Matthew 13:1-23

“Not on bread alone is man to live but on every utterance that comes from the mouth of God.”

Matthew 4:4

“As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He…

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Quote/s of the Day - 28 October – He departed to the mountain to pray ... Luke 6:12

Quote/s of the Day – 28 October – He departed to the mountain to pray … Luke 6:12

Quote/s of the Day – 28 October – Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles and Martyrs, Readings: Ephesians 2:19-22, Psalms 19:2-3, 4-5, Luke 6:12-16

“In those days he departed to the mountain to pray and he spent the night in prayer to God.”

Luke 6:12

“Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against…

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Quote/s of the Day - 28 January - St Joseph Freinademetz “Fu Shenfu” – Lucky Priest

Quote/s of the Day – 28 January – St Joseph Freinademetz “Fu Shenfu” – Lucky Priest

Quote/s of the Day – 28 January – The Memorial of St Joseph Freinademetz SVD (1852-1908) “Fu Shenfu” – Lucky Priest

“The only language understood by people everywhere is the language of love.”

“Let us see life for what it really is: seed sown for eternity.”

“Let us remain unafraid in all dangers, trusting calmly, in the Divine Providence, that watches over us day and night.”

“Prayer is our…

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Quote/s of the Day - 8 February - Prayer

Quote/s of the Day – 8 February – Prayer

Quote/s of the Day – 8 February – The Memorial of Blessed Maria Esperanza de Jesus (1893-1983)

Speaking of:  Prayer

“The means to obtain grace and glory is prayer.”

Blessed Maria Esperanza de Jesus (1893-1983)

“Half an hour’s meditation each day is essential, except, when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Doctor of the Church

“Do not neglect prayer, however…

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One Minute Reflection - 28 January - "Grace is thicker than blood..."

One Minute Reflection – 28 January – “Grace is thicker than blood…”

One Minute Reflection – 28 January – Tuesday of the Third week in Ordinary Time, Year A, Readings: 2 Samuel 6:12-15, 17-19, Psalm 24:7-10, Mark 3:31-35 and the Memorial of Joseph Freinademetz SVD (1852-1908) “Fu Shenfu” – Lucky Priest-

“Here are my mother and my brethren! Whoever does the will of God, is my brother, and sister and mother.”…Mark 34-35

REFLECTION –“Grace is thicker than blood – As…

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Our Morning Offering - 28 January - Quarter-Hour Prayer

Our Morning Offering – 28 January – Quarter-Hour Prayer

Our Morning Offering – 28 January – Tuesday of the Third week in Ordinary Time, Year A and the Memorial of Joseph Freinademetz SVD (1852-1908) “Fu Shenfu” – Lucky Priest – Priest and Missionary of the Society of the Divine Word

On the Feast Day of St Joseph Freinademetz, let us pray St Arnold’s daily Quarter-Hour Prayer

Quarter-Hour Prayer By St Arnold Janssen (1837-1909), Founder of the…

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Quote/s of the Day – 22 May - Speaking of Joy

Quote/s of the Day – 22 May – Speaking of Joy

Quote/s of the Day – 22 May – “Mary’s Month” – Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 18: 9-18, Psalms 47: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, John 16: 20-23

Speaking of Joy

“You will be sorrowful but your sorrow will turn into joy.”

John 16:20

“Let us remain unafraid in all dangers, trusting calmly, in the Divine Providence, that watches over us day and night.”

St Joseph Freinademetz (1852-1908) “Fu Shenfu”…

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Saint of the Day – 28 January – Saint Joseph Freinademetz SVD (1852-1908) Priest and Missionary of the Society of the Divine Word, the First Saint to Ever Serve in Hong Kong, Missionary to China, St Joseph had an immense devotion to Eucharistic Adoration – born on 15 April 1852 in Pedraces in Val Gadena, the Tyrolean Alps, Italy and died on 28 January 1908 in Taikia, China of tuberculosis and typhus.   St Joseph is also known as Giuseppe Freinademetz, Joseph of Shantung, Jozef Freinademetz,  Ujoep (nickname), “the Saint of Charity” and his Chinese name “Fu Shenfu” – Lucky Priest.

Joseph Freinademetz was born on 15 April 1852, in Oies, a small hamlet of five houses situated in the Dolomite Alps of northern Italy.   The region, known as South Tyrol, was then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, it is now part of Italy.   He was Baptised on the day he was born and he inherited from his family a simple but tenacious faith.

Birthplace of St Joseph in Oies

While Joseph was studying theology in the diocesan seminary of Bressanone (Brixen), he began to think seriously of the foreign missions as a way of life.   He was ordained a priest on 25 July 1875 and assigned to the community of Saint Martin very near his own home, where he soon won the hearts of the people.   However, the call to missionary service did not go away.   Just two years after ordination he contacted Fr Arnold Janssen, the founder of a mission house which quickly developed into the Society of the Divine Word.

With his Bishop’s permission, Joseph entered the mission house in Steyl, Netherlands, in August 1878.   On 2 March 1879, he received his mission cross and departed for China with Fr John Baptist Anzer, another Divine Word Missionary.   Five weeks later they arrived in Hong Kong, where they remained for two years, preparing themselves for the next step.   In 1881 they travelled to their new mission in South Shantung, a province with 12 million inhabitants and only 158 Christians.

Those were hard years, marked by long, arduous journeys, assaults by bandits and the difficult work of forming the first Christian communities.   As soon as a community was just barely developed, an instruction from the Bishop would arrive, telling him to leave everything and start anew.

Soon Joseph came to appreciate the importance of a committed laity, especially catechists, for first evangelisation.   He dedicated much energy to their formation and prepared a catechetical manual in Chinese.   At the same time, together with Anzer (who had become Bishop) he put great effort into the preparation, spiritual formation and ongoing education of Chinese priests and other missionaries.   His whole life was marked by an effort to become a Chinese among the Chinese, so much so that he wrote to his family:  “I love China and the Chinese. I want to die among them and be laid to rest among them.”

In 1898, Freinademetz was sick with laryngitis and had the beginnings of tuberculosis as a result of his heavy workload and many other hardships.   So at the insistence of the Bishop and the other priests he was sent for a rest to Japan, with the hope that he could regain his health. He returned to China somewhat recuperated, but not fully cured.

When the Bishop had to travel outside of China in 1907, Freinademetz took on the added burden of the administration of the diocese.   During this time there was a severe outbreak of typhus.   Joseph, like a good shepherd, offered untiring assistance and visited many communities until he himself became infected.   He returned to Taikia, the seat of the diocese, where he died on 28 January 1908.   He was buried at the twelfth station on the Way of the Cross and his grave soon became a pilgrimage site for Christians.

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Freinademetz learned how to discover the greatness and beauty of Chinese culture and to love deeply the people to whom he had been sent.   He dedicated his life to proclaiming the gospel message of God’s love for all peoples and to embodying this love in the formation of Chinese Christian communities.   He animated these communities to open themselves in solidarity with the surrounding inhabitants.   And he encouraged many of the Chinese Christians to be missionaries to their own people as catechists, religious, nuns and priests.   His life was an expression of his motto:  “The language that all people understand is that of love.” … Vatican.va

He was beatified 19 October 1975 by Pope Paul VI and Canonised by St John Paul II on 5 October 2003, on which occasions he said:

” “And they went forth and preached everywhere” (Mk 16: 20).   The Evangelist Mark ends his Gospel with these words.   He then adds that the Lord never ceases to accompany the activity of the Apostles with the power of His miracles.   Echoing these words of Jesus, the words of St Joseph Freinademetz are filled with faith:  “I do not consider missionary life as a sacrifice I offer to God but as the greatest grace, that God, could ever have lavished upon me.”   With the tenacity typical of mountain people, this generous “witness of love” made a gift of himself to the Chinese peoples of southern Shandong.  For love and with love he embraced their living conditions, in accordance with his own advice to his missionaries:   “Missionary work is useless if one does not love and is not loved.”   An exemplary model of Gospel inculturation, this Saint imitated Jesus, who saved men and women by sharing their existence to the very end.”

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St Arnold Janssen’s life here: https://anastpaul.com/2020/01/15/saint-of-the-day-15-january-st-arnold-janssen-svd-1837-1909/

Saint of the Day – 28 January – Saint Joseph Freinademetz SVD (1852-1908) “Fu Shenfu” – Lucky Priest. Saint of the Day - 28 January - Saint Joseph Freinademetz SVD (1852-1908) Priest and Missionary of the Society of the Divine Word, the First Saint to Ever Serve in Hong Kong, Missionary to China, St Joseph had an immense devotion to Eucharistic Adoration - born on 15 April 1852 in Pedraces in Val Gadena, the Tyrolean Alps, Italy and died on 28 January 1908 in Taikia, China of tuberculosis and typhus.   

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Second Thought for the Day - 28 January - St Joseph Freinademetz - Man of Prayer

Second Thought for the Day – 28 January – St Joseph Freinademetz – Man of Prayer

Second Thought for the Day – 28 January – The Memorial of St Joseph Freinademetz SVD (1852-1908) “Fu Shenfu” – Lucky Priest

Man of Prayer

Freinademetz was what one would call a ‘great man of prayer’ and a ‘spiritual’ person. In his preparatory work for the first diocesan synod of South Shandong, his fundamental attitude became clear in the synod paper on “The Clergy.”   “Do you imagine you can…

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Memorials of the Saints - 28 January

Memorials of the Saints – 28 January

St Thomas Aquinas OP (1225-1274) Doctor angelicus (Angelic Doctor) and Doctor communis (Common Doctor) (Memorial) Biography: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/01/28/saint-of-the-day-28-january-st-thomas-aquinas-1225-1274-doctor-angelicus-angelic-doctor-and-doctor-communis-common-doctor/ AND: https://anastpaul.com/2019/01/28/saint-of-the-day-28-january-st-thomas-aquinas-op-1225-1274/

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Quote/s of the Day - 6 February - Speaking of: Discipleship

Quote/s of the Day – 6 February – Speaking of: Discipleship

Quote/s of the Day – 6 February – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time, Year A, Readings: 1 Kings 2:1-4, 10-12, Responsorial psalm 1 Chronicles 29:10-12, Mark 6:7-13

Speaking of:  Discipleship

“He charged them to take nothing for their journey, except a staff…”

Mark 6:8

“Go your way, behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”

Luke 10:3

“Heretics are to be converted by an example…