Wednesday 27 August 2014

Saint Monica, Confession of Augustine, free-audio-book-saint-augustine-hippo-




http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/free-audio-book-saint-augustine-hippo-%E2%80%9Cconfessions%E2%80%9D

Free audio book: Saint Augustine of Hippo, “Confessions”

Via this link you can download the audio book "Confessions" by Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) from LibriVox.

SECOND READING

From the Confessions of Saint Augustine, bishop
(Lib. 9, 10-11: CSEL 33, 215-219)

Let us gain eternal wisdom


The day was now approaching when my mother Monica would depart from this life; you know that day, Lord, though we did not. She and I happened to be standing by ourselves at a window that overlooked the garden in the courtyard of the house. At the time we were in Ostia on the Tiber. And so the two of us, all alone, were enjoying a very pleasant conversation, forgetting the past and pushing on to what is ahead. We were asking one another in the presence of the Truth—for you are the Truth—what it would be like to share the eternal life enjoyed by the saints, which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, which has not even entered into the heart of man. We desired with all our hearts to drink from the streams of your heavenly fountain, the fountain of life.

That was the substance of our talk, though not the exact words. But you know, O Lord, that in the course of our conversation that day, the world and its pleasures lost all their attraction for us. My mother said, “Son, as far as I am concerned, nothing in this life now gives me any pleasure. I do not know why I am still here, since I have no further hopes in this world. I did have one reason for wanting to live a little longer: to see you become a Catholic Christian before I died. God has lavished his gifts on me in that respect, for I know that you have even renounced earthly happiness to be his servant. So what am I doing here?”

I do not really remember how I answered her. Shortly, within five days or thereabouts, she fell sick with a fever. Then one day during the course of her illness she became unconscious and for a while she was unaware of her surroundings. My brother and I rushed to her side, but she regained consciousness quickly. She looked at us as we stood there and asked in a puzzled voice: “Where was I?”

We were overwhelmed with grief, but she held her gaze steadily upon us, and spoke further: “Here you shall bury your mother.” I remained silent as I held back my tears. However, my brother haltingly expressed his hope that she might not die in a strange country but in her own land, since her end would be happier there. When she heard this, her face was filled with anxiety, and she reproached him with a glance because he had entertained such earthly thoughts. Then she looked at me and spoke: “Look what he is saying.” Thereupon she said to both of us, “Bury my body wherever you will; let not care of it cause you any concern. One thing only I ask you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be.” Once our mother had expressed this desire as best she could, she fell silent as the pain of her illness increased.

RESPONSORY
1 Corinthians 7:29, 30, 31; 2:12


The time is growing short,
so we must rejoice as though we were not rejoicing;
we must work in the world yet without becoming immersed in it,
 for the world as we know it is passing away.

We have not adopted the spirit of the world. 
 For the world as we know it is passing away.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Let us pray.

God of mercy,
comfort of those in sorrow,
the tears of Saint Monica moved you
to convert her son Saint Augustine to the faith of Christ.
By her prayers, help us to turn from our sins
and to find your loving forgiveness.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with your and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
 Amen.
     ++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
COMMENT:

 Fw: Monica several uTubes
Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)    
Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk 
|
domdonald.org.uk 
On Wednesday, 27 August 2014, 9:49, 
Donald wrote:
Dear Anne Marie,
Thank you. Good to explore your additional possibilities.
 At the moment, I am looking the lazy easy YOUTUBE.
Already I learned to insert on the Blogspot, brilliantly easy.
Saint Monica Youtube online not quite for I want. The iBreviary Reading is beautiful.
I ought to get Fr. Hugh to record his voice.

 Even more interesting is to discover about Saint Ninian Pilgrim Sunday 31 Aug 2014. 

Are you going????
See:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4Aj71vqYEk  
Attached  
I'd love to stay in Ninian's Cave for the weekend.
fr. Donald



  COMMENT: Multiple-story
I can hardly travel thoughts and prayer are accompanied with these days of the St. Ninian Pilgrimage.
In fact, the whole scene of St. Ninian's Cave lying above the pebble beach, the sounds of the waves, the horizon of never  changing the skies, already is my place of feelings, sentiments, and uplifts in hermit's solitary (Ninian) cave.
 Roman Catholic Church Whithorn
  1997
The National Pilgrimage for us was a multiple-story.
1.      It was the 16th Centenary of St. Ninian, 1997.
2.      7 or 8 of Nunraw travelled to the celebration..
3.      The Presbytery of the Wigton Church welcomed to hospitality overnight.
4.      Early morning, on the drive, BBC Radio had the NEWS, “DianaPrincess of Wales, is killed after her car crashes in a Paris underpass - the driver and her friend Dodi Fayed are also dead”, Spoken by Cardinal Winning.
5.     That ‘story’ remains with us and the memory of Princess Diana. 

Tuesday 26 August 2014

Saint Ninian Pilgrimage to Whithorn Sunday the 31st August 2014


Saint of the day: 26th August
St Ninian
Diocesan Pilgrimage to St. Ninian's Cave, Whithorn
Our Annual pilgrimage to the Cradle of Christianity in Scotland, St. Ninian's Cave, Whithorn will take place on the last Sunday in August, this year Sunday the 31st (not on Sunday 24th as mistakenly stated in the Scottish Ordo). Mass at the Cave will be at 4pm and in the Parish Church at 4:45pm as usual. All very welcome.

St. Ninian's Cave, Scotland





Roman Catholic Church
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH WHITHORN
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4Aj71vqYEk 
++++++++++++++++

Saint Ninian Window St Mary's Parish Church Dundee Scotland


Published on 10 Jan 2013
Tour Scotland video of the Saint Ninian stained glass window in St Mary's Parish Church on visit to Dundee.




Saint of the day: 26th August

St Ninian

A 5th century British bishop and apostle in Whithorn and Galloway, St Ninian  is traditionally also the apostle of the Picts.

A number of inscribed Christian stones have been discovered by archeologists around Galloway, which indicate that St Ninian lived there. Bede refers to him living at a monastery in the area near a church painted white. An anonymous 8th century poet wrote about him and the 12th century Ailred of Rievaulx wrote a life of this Scottish saint.

His shrine was a popular pilgrimage place for centuries,  surviving up to the Reformation. By that time his cult had also spread to Kent and Denmark.  In recent years pilgrims have again begun returning to Whithorn on this day.  Since 1984, excavations have revealed a site of major importance.

LUI ET MOI 1947

COMMENT:
25 Aug 2014
HE And i Gabrielle Bossis
1947 and tranlation LUI ET MOI
1947 13 Novembre
The Post:   23 August 2014 Smileys Emoticons O thank Me for your creation. "The source of happiness"follows the 'HE AND i' quotation below, 
 'He's always asking me for inward smiles.’
Could you believe that even though I am God I need the smiles of My children, because your happiness is essential to Me? 
The sense of associations leads to Emoticons Regular MSM.
Feelings, smiles, emotions echo in the quotation, "You are thinking". ...
http://cool-smileys.com/category/happy-smileys/page/2 
25 Aug 2014
HE And i Gabrielle Bossis
1947 
November 13  -  "You are all so ignorant of the power of your God.

Are you afraid to know Him, you who seek Him so little.
And yet the joy of your souls lies in constant communion with your Creator and Saviour in the Christ - consciousness.


Abandon yourselves to God no matter what He does.
Let His breath blow you along, fanned by your fervour.
Come to Him eagerly, My child, since He has the answers to all your needs: of tenderness, rest and intelligence.
Your thoughts are short, but at least prolong your desires so that you can reach a higher plane  -  the new heights where the Spirit is waiting for you to help you to climb even higher.

And season everything with joy.
It adds to God's glory.
Would the father of a family be happy if his children came to serve him in fear, with long faces? When you approach Me, My little girl, be full of joy like a happy child. You are thinking, 'He's always asking me for inward smiles.’
Could you believe that even though I am God I need the smiles of My children, because your happiness is essential to Me? Who can comprehend this? Who can even bear such a thought? But believe.
For it is My love that speaks, and you must listen to My voice in a way that you listen to no other. "

25 Aug 2014
HE And i Gabrielle Bossis
1947
November 13  -  "You are all so ignorant of the power of your God.

Are you afraid to know Him, you who seek Him so little.
And yet the joy of your souls lies in constant communion with your Creator and Saviour in the Christ - consciousness.

Abandon yourselves to God no matter what He does.
Let His breath blow you along, fanned by your fervour.
Come to Him eagerly, My child, since He has the answers to all your needs: of tenderness, rest and intelligence.
Your thoughts are short, but at least prolong your desires so that you can reach a higher plane  -  the new heights where the Spirit is waiting for you to help you to climb even higher.

And season everything with joy.
It adds to God's glory.
Would the father of a family be happy if his children came to serve him in fear, with long faces? When you approach Me, My little girl, be full of joy like a happy child. You are thinking, 'He's always asking me for inward smiles.’
Could you believe that even though I am God I need the smiles of My children, because your happiness is essential to Me? Who can comprehend this? Who can even bear such a thought? But believe.
For it is My love that speaks, and you must listen to My voice in a way that you listen to no other. "


LUI ET MOI
1947




Monday 25 August 2014

'You did not choose me, it was I who chose you' (John Chrysostom) John 15:16

Monday 25 August 2014



You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you; and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Mass Introduction.

Fr. Raymond took the theme from the Night Office from St. John Chrysostom saying, “You did not choose me, it was I who chose you”.

God chose each of us in the three great moments.
1. When he called out of nothing by creating us.
2. When he called us to the Christian Faith at Baptism.
3. When he called us to dedicate our lives to Him more closely in the monastic life.
[The divine chosen by creation,
we are chosen by Christ,
religious profession we have not chosen,
it is Christ who chose us].

A Word in Season Readings for the Liturgy of the Hours
Augustine Press 1999

TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
MONDAY
Year II
First Reading
Titus 2:1-3:2
Responsory           Ps 16:7-8; Mt 19:17
I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, who even at night directs my heart. I keep the Lord always before me:+ since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.           .
V. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments. + Since he is ...
Second Reading
From a homily of Saint John Chrysostom (Horn. lnedite: Revue des Etudes Byznntines 29 [1971J 127-129)
You did not choose me, it was I who chose you
"The grace of God has appeared, as our teacher." Then, stand up! For we are again opening our treasure chest and again displaying our pearls. Therefore let no one fail to observe the beauty of the words: Grace has appeared.
Why did the apostle not say: "grace has been given"? To make you understand that before grace appeared human nature was living in darkness. For Christ appears to those living in darkness, as indeed the prophet also foretold, when he said: The people living in darkness have seen a great light. The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation. Do you see the agreement of apostle and prophet? The people living in darkness. For such is the nature of darkness that wherever it overtakes humanity it immediately holds us down and stops us from going any further; our way becomes slippery and dangerous. Therefore it was also to guide
ur idle nature in the direction of virtue that the prophet said: The people living in darkness have seen a great light.
But it is not only this that the apostle's use of the word "appeared" shows us, there is something else as well. It is precisely this: it is not we who looked for the light and found it, but the light that has appeared to us; we did not go to him, he came to us.
hrist's own words also make this clear: You did not choose me, it was I who chose you. We are constantly told that it is not our deeds that have won us salvation, but we have all been saved by divine grace. And that too is implied in the apostle's words: The grace of God has appeared.
56
What kind of grace? For there is both the grace of former times and the grace that John referred to, saying: We have received grace upon grace. For even the grace of old was real grace, which freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and countless other evils. But this grace is greater. For in the past it freed the people from the Egyptians, but now it has freed them from the tyranny of evil spirits; then it freed them from Pharaoh's rage, but now it is from the devil's grasp; then through Moses, now through the only Son; then by means of a staff, not by a cross; then through the Red Sea, but now through the water of rebirth; then it led the people out of their clay and brick-making, but now out of death and sin; then it led them to a land flowing with milk and honey, now to the kingdom of heaven.

Responsory Lv 20:7.26
Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. Keep my laws and obey them, for + it is I, the Lord, who make you holy.
V. You must be holy to me, because I, the Lord, am holy.+ It is I ...

+++++++++++++++++++++++++
A Word in Season Readings for the Liturgy of the Hours
Augustine Press 1999
One this day, two alternative Reading are give below.
SainClement of Alexandria, Juliaof Norwich (Revelations oDivinLove63)

Saturday 23 August 2014

Smileys Emoticons O thank Me for your creation. "The source of happiness".

COMMENT 22 Aug.2014: The yesterday Blog Post by 'HE AND i' filled my thought beginning " "Do you at last believe with all your heart that I created you in order to make you eternally happy?"  
My face should reflect the feeling of smilies.  
That prompted the messages as Secret Emoticons for MSN Messeneger!
 Following the Night Office Second Reading  echoed the title The source of happiness! 
The rare Patristic writer Gregory of Agrigento embellished beyond the simplicity words of 'HE AND i' in the quotation of the yesterday Post.
.............our Lectionary had a second reading of Gregory Agrigento during the week.

Gregory of Agrigento (late 6th century) was born in Agrigento and ordained a deacon by the Patriarch of Jerusalem shortly after his pilgrimage to Palestine. He was later made the Bishop of Agrigento near Sicily. A lengthy biography on Gregory was written by Leontius, prior of the monastery of Saint Sabas in Rome, which was modified by Simon Metahrastes


TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME FRIDAY
Year II
First Reading
Ecclesiastes 8:5-9:10
Responsoru           1 Cor 2:9-10; Eccl8:17
No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him;+ these things God has revealed to us through his Spirit, who searches everything. even the depths of God.
V. Man stands bewildered before the mystery of all God's works. + These things God ...

Second Reading
From a commentary by Gregory of Agrigento (In Eccles. VIlI, 6; PG 98,1071-1074)

I will rejoice in the Lord
Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart, because it is now that God favours your works. If we want to explain this sentence in an obvious and ordinary way, we rightly assert that it appears as a just exhortation by which Ecclesiastes admonishes us to embrace a simple rule of life dedicated to sincere faith in God and joyfully eat bread and drink wine in peace of mind; not to slip into evil conversations, nor wander into roundabout paths; but rather to dwell always on good things and, insofar as we can, benevolently and kindly come to the aid of the poor and needy. We must abandon ourselves precisely to those sentiments and actions in which God himself takes delight.

However, the anagogical explanation brings us to a higher knowledge and teaches us to consider the celestial and mystical bread which has come down from heaven and brought life to the world; and with a right heart to drink the spiritual wine, namely, that which issued from the side of the true vine immediately at the moment of his saving passion. Concerning these, the gospel of our salvation says: Taking bread and giving thanks, Jesus said to his disciples and apostles: Take this and eat it: this is my body, which is sacrificed for you in remission of sins. Similarly, he took the cup and said: All of you must drink from it, for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, to be poured out on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. Hence, those who eat this bread and drink this mystical wine really rejoice and exult and can exclaim in a loud voice: "You put gladness into my heart."

Furthermore, I believe that even in the Book of Proverbs the Wisdom of God subsisting in himself, namely, Christ our Saviour, referred to this bread and wine when he said: "Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed," indicating the mystical participation in the Word. Indeed, those to whom these words are to be applied, because of their merits, at all times present their vestments as works of light no less resplendent than the light itself, as the Lord says in the gospels: Your light must shine before all so that they may see goodness in your acts and give praise to your heavenly Father. In this way, oil may perpetually be poured out over their heads, that is, the Spirit of truth, who protects and preserves them from any sinful offense.

Responsory          Ps 91:11-12; Heb 12:1
He will chargehis angels to guard you wherever you go; + they will bear you upon their hands that you may not strike your foot against a stone.
V. Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run with resolution the race that lies before us, our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. +

**********************
TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - SATURDAY

Alternative Reading
From a commentary by Gregory of Agrigento (In Eccles. X, 2: PG 98, 1138-1139)

The source of happiness
For if light were to fail, the world would no longer be the world, and life would be lifeless; that is why Moses, the Lord's seer said:
God saw how good the light was.

It is good for us to meditate on the great, true, and eternal light which gives light to every person, that is, Christ the Saviour and Liberator of the world! After revealing himself to the gaze of the prophets, he became man and tasted the very depths of the human condition.

It is about him that the prophet David says: Sing to God, chant praise to his name, extol him who rides upon the clouds, whose name is the Lord; exult before him. And Isaiah adds his great voice to this:
People seated in darkness, look at this light. Upon you who dwell in the land of gloom, a light will shine.

Indeed, this light is sweet, and this sun of glory is good for the eyes that look upon him. At the time of his divine incarnation he said: I am the light of the world. No follower of mine shall ever walk in darkness; no, he shall possess the light of life. And again: The judgement of condemnation is this: the light came into the world.
In this way, therefore, the light of the sun seen by our eyes of flesh announced the spiritual Sun of justice, who was the most sweet sun that had risen for those who at that time had the good fortune to be instructed by him and to see him face to face with their eyes of flesh while he dwelt among men as an ordinary man. But all the time he was not only an ordinary man but was born true God capable of giving sight to the blind, letting the lame walk, enabling the deaf to hear, and bringing the dead to life by means of a single word.

But even now there is nothing more pleasant than to fix on him our spiritual eyes in contemplation and the vision of his prodigious and divine beauty; there is nothing more pleasant than to be enlightened and adorned by this participation and his communion in the light, to have the heart rendered milder, to have the soul sanctified, and to be filled with divine joy all the days of this life. This is the meaning of this word from Ecclesiastes: However many years a man may live, he enjoys them all. For in truth this Sun of justice is, for all who look upon him, the source of happiness, according to this prophecy of David: The just rejoice and exult before God; they are glad and rejoice; and again: Exult, you just, in the Lord.

Responsory Is 55:8-9; Heb 11:2
My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. + For as the heavens are high above the earth, so are my ways above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts. V. It was for their faith that the people of former times won God's approval. + For as the heavens ...

Friday 22 August 2014

O thank Me for your creation. Turn your life toward Me. Never cease to look at My love enfolding you; and feeling loved, love Me.


 22 Aug 2014
HE And i Gabrielle Bossis

1940 November 4  -   Nantes. Recreation time.

 "Do you at last believe with all your heart that I created you in order to make you eternally happy? 
It was out of pure love that I made you  -  not for My own interest but for yours: to give you infinite bliss.

O thank Me for your creation. 
Turn your life toward Me. 
Never cease to look at My love enfolding you; and feeling loved, love Me.

You know how much more intensely one loves when one feels loved. 
It's like an animated conversation. 
Only in this one there is no need of any words. 
We love; that's all. 
And I am so much yours that you don't even feel that I come down or that you rise up, but it seems quite simple to you that we talk to each other on the same level, share as equals, even exchange our two hearts, since for Bridegroom and bride everything is in common, and although you give yourself utterly, you keep your personality and only enhance it the more. "