24 February: Blessed Josefa Naval Girbés
February 24
BLESSED JOSEFA NAVAL GIRBĂS
Virgin
Optional Memorial
Josefa Naval GirbĂ©s was born at Algemesi in the Archdiocese of Valencia, Spain, on December 11, 1820. As a very young woman, she consecrated herself to the Lord by a perpetual vow of chastity. Josefaâs life was simple. She stood out for her ardent love, and she made progress along the way of prayer and evangelical perfection while dedicating herself generously to apostolic works in her parish community. In her own home, she opened a school where she taught needlework, prayer, and the evangelical virtues. She formed many young girls and women and shared with them her wisdom and spiritual understanding. She was a member of the Third Order Secular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Teresa of Jesus and had a special love for the Virgin Mother of God. Her holy death took place on February 24, 1893. She is buried in her parish church of Saint James in her native city.
From the common of virgins
Office of Readings
Second Reading
From the Decree regarding the heroic virtues of Josefa Naval Girbés
(Valentina, January 3, 1987)
She regarded her parish as her Mother in the faith
Since parishes in a certain way represent the visible Church established on the earth, Josefa, the Servant of God, regarded her parish as her Mother in faith and in grace, and as such she loved her and served her with humility and with a spirit of sacrifice. And for that reason, she showed her parish priest sincere veneration and entrusted herself to his spiritual direction. She looked after the making of liturgical furnishings and she saw that they were kept clean and well cared for, and the altars as well. Each day she went to the parish church to take part in the Eucharistic sacrifice. But she was especially notable for her intelligent and fruitful apostolate, which she always carried out with the consent of her pastors, to whom she professed absolute respect and obedience.
Convinced as Josefa was that Christians ought to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, she was not content to practice the virtues at home. Rather she wanted to fulfill completely the command of the Lord who said, Let your light shine before men in order that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. And so she sought every opportunity to proclaim Christ by word and deed both to non-believers, in order to draw them to the faith, and to the faithful, in order to instruct and confirm them and encourage them to live more fervently. With that in view, she taught the poor and counseled all who came to her. She restored peace in broken families. She organized meetings for mothers in her own house in order to help them in their Christian formation. She brought back to the way of virtue women who had gone astray, and she prudently admonished sinners. However, the work on which she most focused her care and energy was that of instructing young people in the things of life and in the faith. For their sake, she opened in her house a free embroidery school which was well attended. Her workshop became a place of fraternal gatherings. It was a center of prayer, where God was praised and where the Sacred Scriptures and eternal truths were explained and developed.
Like a loving mother, the Servant of God watched over her followers and prepared them for life. She was a model of fervent love for God. She was a lamp that gave forth light and warmth and a shining example in so many ways of a living and contagious faith, of unflagging love, and of joyous submission to the will of God and of her superiors. Josefa is remembered for her unbounded solicitude for the salvation of souls. She stood out for her singular prudence, and for the humility, poverty, silence, and patience that she always practiced, even amidst setbacks and difficulties. The fervor with which she cultivated the interior life of prayer and meditation and her patience under trial were well known, as was her love for the Eucharist and for the Virgin Mary and the saints. In this way, the Servant of God helped to build up her parish community.
Responsory
R/. Put into practice all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable and worthy of praise: * and the God of peace will be with you.
V/. Direct your thoughts wholly to what is decent and meritorious, * and the God of peace will be with you.
Prayer
O God,
through the new leaven of the Gospel,
you call men and women
and empower them to serve you faithfully in secular life.
Grant that they may fervently imitate the example of Blessed Josefa,
and, through her intercession,
work tirelessly as true Christians to build up your kingdom
by fulfilling their duties in the world.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.
Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.
#BlessedPepa #JosefaNavalGirbés #Liturgy #optionalMemorial #SecularCarmelites #virgin
4 February: Blessed Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus Grialou
February 4
BLESSED MARIE-EUGENE OF THE CHILD JESUS GRIALOU
Priest
Optional Memorial
Henri Grialou was born in Aubin, in Aveyron (France), on December 2, 1894. After his priestly ordination on February 4, 1922, he was captivated by the doctrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and St. John of the Cross and decided to join the Discalced Carmelites. After serving as superior in France, in 1937 he was elected to serve as a General Definitor of the Order in Rome. In 1948, he was appointed Apostolic Visitor of the Discalced Carmelite nuns in France and religious assistant to their federations. From 1955 he was able to devote himself full-time to the secular institute Notre Dame de Vie, which he started in 1932. He died in Venasque on March 27th, 1967, the feast day of the institute. He was beatified in 2016 by Pope Francis.
From the common of pastors or of holy men (religious)
Office of Readings
Second Reading
I Am A Daughter of the Church, Fides, Notre Dame Indiana 1955, 665-666
From the writings of Blessed Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, priest
The saint in the whole Christ
It is especially in their common work that the Holy Spirit glorifies the instruments He has chosen. The Holy Spirit makes Himself lowly with saints in order to glorify them. Inspirer of the work by His light, efficacious agent by His omnipotence, yet He hides Himself under the human traits of the apostle. Anyone wanting to analyze the character of the works could, in fact, find the raison dâĂȘtre of each one of them in the personality of the saint. The manifold works and institutions in which the Spirit has put His leaven of immortality and in which the Church takes just pride, show forth admirably the gifts, the desires, the diverse genius of their founder. The Holy Spirit appears in this world under a thousand human faces that reflect the power and grace of His hidden presence. The Spirit never repeats Himself in the exterior forms He chooses. Is this not the reason why Saint John of the Cross asks us never to take a saint for our model? This would be to expose oneself to failure in suppleness, in fidelity to the movement of the Spirit, who manifests His power and perfection as Spirit in the variety of His works and the perfection of His incarnation in each one of His instruments.
The delicate charms of this loving collaboration of God and the soul, these playings of the love that unites them, in turn, brilliant and hidden, all these splendors of lowliness and of power are only beauties of here below, a reflection that reaches us from the beauty of the work the Holy Spirit is building. This work is the Spouse who comes up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her Beloved; this is the masterpiece of Divine Mercy, the whole Christ in whom God has brought together and orientated all things. For the beauty of the Church of God, Jesus gave His blood; and the Spirit continues to immolate His victims after filling them with the marvelous gifts of His grace. We are all dedicated to the consummation of this work. Our gaze must rest on it lovingly and there remain fixed.
The saint is such only because he has entered by transforming union in the whole Christ. Identified with Christ Jesus, he continues Christâs priestly prayer for union. With the Spirit of Love, he groans within himself, âwaiting for the adoption as sonsâ; and under Loveâs captivation, works to consummate in unity all those whom God has âpredestined to become conformed to the image of his Son.â
Responsory
R/. We have the first fruits of the Spirit; * as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
V/. For in this hope we were saved. * As we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Canticle of Zechariah
Ant. What you say of me does not come from yourselves; it is the Spirit of my Father speaking in you.
Prayer
God, rich in mercy,
you gave Blessed Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus
the grace and light to guide your people
along the paths of contemplative prayer
and missionary witness toward the fullness of Christ.
Grant us through his intercession
to grow in submission to the Holy Spirit
and to work, in faith, for the coming of your Kingdom.
Through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Canticle of Mary
Ant. This is a faithful and wise steward: the Lord entrusted the care of his household to him, so that he might give them their portion of food at the proper season.
Blessed Marie-Eugene making a visitationThis is a provisional English translation of the proper office for the optional memorial of Blessed Marie-EugĂšne of the Child Jesus Grialou, published by the Secular Institute Notre Dame de Vie pursuant to the Decree of the Congregation of Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments (Prot. N. 638/16) dated 14 January 2019, its effective date. This translation was submitted to the General Secretary for Information of the Discalced Carmelite Order.
#BlessedMarieEugeneOfTheChildJesus #HenriGrialou #Liturgy #NotreDameDeVie #optionalMemorial #priest
27 January: St. Henry de OssĂł y CervellĂł
January 27
SAINT HENRY DE OSSĂ Y CERVELLĂ
Priest
Optional Memorial
Henry was born at Vinebre, Catalonia, Spain, on October 16, 1840, and was ordained a priest on September 21, 1867. He was an apostle to young people in teaching them about their faith and inspired various movements for the teaching of the Gospel. As a spiritual director, he was fascinated by St. Teresa of Jesus, the great teacher in the ways of prayer and Daughter of the Church who is better known in the English-speaking world as St. Teresa of Avila. In the light of her teaching, he founded the Society of St. Teresa of Jesus (1876) dedicated to educating women in the school of the Gospel and following the example of St. Teresa. He gave himself to preaching and the apostolate through the printing press. He underwent many severe trials and sufferings. He died at Gilet, Valencia, Spain, on January 27, 1896.
He was canonized on June 16, 1993, in Madrid, by St. John Paul II.
From the Common of Pastors
Office of Readings
The Second Reading
(A Month in the Heart of Jesus, Prologue, EEO III, Rome, 1977, pp. 456-458)
From the writings of Saint Henry de OssĂł, Priest
Identification with Jesus Christ
This is our main endeavor: to think, to feel, to love as Christ Jesus, to act and to speak as He â in a word, to conform our whole life to Christâs. No one can be saved unless they are formed in the image of Christ. To conform our life to Christâs, we need, above all, to study His life, know it, and meditate upon it, not only in its outward appearance, but by immersing ourselves in the thoughts, feelings, hopes, and dreams of Jesus Christ so as to do everything in union with Him. In His goodness, Jesus Himself invites us, both in word and in action, to do this. For example, if we do not know the sentiments of His heart so as to put them into practice, how can we learn from His gentleness and humility? Or, how can we come into His presence each time we act in order to imitate Him? Christ lived, ate, slept, spoke, kept silent, walked, worked, sweat, got tired, rested, was hungry, thirsty, and poor; in a word, He suffered and died for us and for our salvation.
Why is it, then, that we cannot make or imagine Jesus as real and down to earth, but only in theory and as the ideal, which is the reason we do not love and imitate Him in everything, as we must? Jesus is our brother, flesh of our flesh, blood of our blood, bone of our bones. This is who our Jesus is, true God and true Man, alive, personal, and intimate. He let Himself be seen; He lived and spoke with us. For our salvation, being the eternal Word of God, He descended from heaven, became flesh, suffered, died, rose, ascended into heaven, and remained among us until the end of time to be our companion, our consolation, and our food in the Blessed Sacrament.
Eternal life, then, our only happiness in time and eternity, consists in knowing Jesus more intimately. How happy will be the person who learns this lesson and lives it daily. What an inspiring thought! I will live, sleep, speak, listen, work, sufferâI will do everything, I will suffer everything in union with Jesus, with the same divine intention and sentiments that Jesus had and with which He suffered, which is what Jesus wants of me.
Whoever does thisâand all of us are called to do itâwill live in this life the life of the world to come and will be transformed into Jesus, able to say with St. Paul: âI live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me.â
Responsory
R/. I rejoice in the trials I bear and make up in my flesh that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ * for the sake of His body which is the Church.
V/. I have been crucified with Christ, and now I no longer live but Christ lives in me: * For the sake of His body which is the Church.
Prayer
Lord God,
in your priest Saint Henry de OssĂł
you wonderfully combined
the ideals of the apostolic community:
a life of continual prayer
and of untiring apostolic activity.
By his intercession may we persevere in the love of Christ
and serve your Church by word and deed.
We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Read more about the life of St. Henry de OssĂł on the website of the Teresian Sisters
Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.
#Liturgy #optionalMemorial #priest #StHenryDeOssoYCervello #TeresianSisters
The person reading Acts this morning pronounced Ananias as "Anus-sy".
(I'm no expert on 1st century Palestinian names but I have always pronounced it "Anna-NI-as")
And honestly it made my morning.
Compline
Since the early days of the Church, there has been a tradition of praying the psalms throughout the day, which evolved to the current Liturgy of the Hours. The tradition has mostly centered over the centuries in monastic communities, particularly in those that follow the Rule of St. Benedict. Christian monasticism existed for generations before St. Benedict was born near 480 in Italy, primarily in the Eastern tradition (pre-Schism, of course), though his Rule and the monastery he founded earned him the title of Father of Western Monasticism. While he was aware of other Rules, that is, guides for monks to follow in living a monastic life, he sought to write down his observations. Mostly expanding from the Rule of the Master, which was a pretty harsh rule written a couple of decades before Benedict's. In his Rule, Benedict sought to find a happy ground between providing structure and flexibility. For Benedict, he saw the role of the monk is to do two things: work and pray. Or phrased differently, work and work. He saw the regular cycle of praying the psalms, along with the Mass and other forms of prayer that make up the monk's life as the Work of God or Opus Dei (the actual Latin translation of the phrase, not the relatively new group within the church that spun up all of those conspiracy theories). I've been attracted to monastic ideas for as long as I've been religious for a whole host of reasons; one of the major reasons being the Liturgy of the Hours. [âŠ]
My pastor surmised that I was likely the only lector wearing a rose jacket on Gaudete Sunday in any Holy Cross parish in the US. (Today is one of two days in the Church that rose vestments are worn.)
https://kraft.blog/photo/rose/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social
My pastor surmised that I was likely the only lector wearing a rose jacket on Gaudete Sunday in any Holy Cross parish in the US. (Today is one of two days in the Church that rose vestments are worn.)
https://kraft.blog/photo/rose/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social
Irina
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