Sharing the Blessing of Lent - 7) St.Teresa of Avila

St.Teresa was an influential Spanish Saint who brought about the reformation of the Carmelite order.

She was born in Avila on 28^th March, 1515. Her mother and father were devout catholics and they wanted her to follow their lead. Her father was so strict that even the slightest mistake would mean a sin to him. Her mother though was different. She was religious too but she gave way to fun and frolic without compromising her faith. So St.Teresa always looked on to her and she was happy with her life.

When she was seven years old, she asked her elder brother to accompany her to go off to the monastery , serve God and beg there for food and spend the rest of their lives there. They had almost gone there when one of their uncles saw them and brought them back. Things were going on fine till her mother expired. She was not able to cope up with a very strict father and she eventually gave in to temptation. She started spending time with friends and all that a teenage fantasize and stopped praying. At the age of 16, her father sent her off to a convent to become a nun so that she would reform her ways.

The convent was way too lenient on her than her father and she started to actually enjoy her stay. They did not have stringent rules to follow and the prayer too was not satisfying to her. So she started practicing mental prayer and she was complete in harmony with the Lord. The people who saw her changes grew surprised and asked her to teach the mental prayer to them. She started to teach them to concentrate and spend time alone with God, the one you know who always loves you.

But things took a bad turn when she was asked to teach the prayer to the only people who can afford to give complements to the convent. She gave up teaching and spent time in solitude prayer. She was inflicted with malaria and she was almost knocked out for 4 days and people thought she actually died. When she woke up, she felt better and she claimed she saw visions and and spiritual experiences that made her feel better. But no one believed her and convinced her that these were delusions of the demon.

She refused to believe it but accepted for the sake of others. She convinced herself that she was too big a sinner now to ask for favours from God. This went on and she thought of praying and asking for something from God would be improper. When she was 41, she was convinced again by a monk to pray and she started praying with much vigor. She wanted to form her own order and to reform the convent. She met with so many dejections and humility all along the way till she formed her own order.

When she used to practice mental prayer she would sometimes levitate. Far from being happy, she used to feel embarrassed and plead god not to give on a show in front of others. Once she formed her order, she effectively led the way and went on being the light for so many people. She went about the whole of Spain setting up her order and spreading the word of God and finally breathed her last on October 4 at the age of 67.

Feast – October 15

Patron of – Body illness especially headache.

Prayer to St.Teresa

This is a simple poem written by St.Teresa herself and used as a prayer.

Let nothing disturb you,

Let nothing frighten you,

All things are passing away:

God never changes.

Patience obtains all things

Whoever had God lacks nothing;

God alone suffices.

Sharing the Blessing of Lent - 6) St.Cecilia

St. Cecilia is one of the famous martyrs of the Roman Catholic Church but there are not much of historical evidence about her life. She is believed to have born in the 2^nd century into a wealthy family. She was very beautiful but always wore sack clothes to avoid attention. She always fasted and prayed to the saints and angels to protect her virginity.

She was a virgin and a great devotee of the Lord and she was given in marriage to a young man named Valerian. As the ceremony was going on, she sang a song in her heart to the Lord. After she was wedded, she told her husband that she has taken a vow of celibacy and an angel was near her to protect her. He asked to see the angel himself to believe. She told him that he will able to see the angel only when he gets baptized.

He loved her so much that he developed faith for her sake and got baptized. Once he came back, he saw the angel near her and he got even more faith. Valerian’s brother saw these and he too wanted to serve the Lord and he got baptized. Both the brothers wanted to serve the Lord in their won way. They decided to give a decent and fitting burial to all the Priests and patrons preaching Christianity  who were killed by the then ruler, Turcius Almachius.

He came to know about this and called the brothers to his court. Once they refused to serve him, he beheaded them. After this, Cecilia grew even more close to God out of fear and remorse and was able to convert about four hundred people to the Lord. Cecilia was later arrested and was condemned to be suffocated. But after a day of suffocation too , St.Cecilia did not even sweat and was praying.

She was then ordered to be beheaded. The executioners did their job but she did not die immediately. Till 3 days she preached and prayed as she bled slowly to death. People came and collected her blood and preserved it. She is believed to have died in the 3^rd century. When she was exhumed in the year 1599, she was found in a silk satin cloth not decayed and a mysterious sweet odour was filled in her coffin box.

Feast Day – November 22

Patron of Music. As she was singing to the Lord when she was married and many of her prayers are in the form of song lyrics, the Parish have considered her to be the patron of music and musicians.

St.Cecilia’s Prayer

O glorious St. Cecilia, virgin and 
martyr, you won the martyr's crown
without renouncing your love for
Jesus, the delight of your soul. We 
ask that you help us to be faithful in
our love for Jesus, that, in the
communion of the saints, we may 
praise Him twice in our song of
rejoicing for the Blood that He shed
which gave us the grace to accomplish
His will on earth.
Amen.

Sharing the Blessing of Lent - 5) St. Anthony of Padua

St. Anthony was born in Lisbon, Portugal in the year 1195. When he was born he was christened Fernando Martins. He was born into a healthy family. He was sent to the Abbey of Santa Cruz to learn Theology. Thus started his ordination as a priest. There he learnt Latin too. At the abbey he was fully responsible for the hospitality.

When he saw the Franciscan priests settle a hermit for St.Anthony of Egypt, he felt tempted to join them. He asked permission and left the abbey. It was by then he converted his name to Anthony. He then started travelling to spread the word of God. Once when he was travelling to Morocco he fell ill and he was supposed to return to Portugal to recover.

But the party with him went off course and landed at sicily and reached the hermitage of San Paolo to care for his health. It was there once the Dominican priests came to visit. There was a small confusion on who should preach between the Dominican priests and the Franciscan priests and St.Anthony was asked to give the shermon at the end.

Though he initially hesitated he gave a inspiring speech and everyone was both awe struck and pleased.  And he grew close to St.Francis of Assisi through his work. The latter then made St.Anthony responsible for the pursuit of studies of the priests. St.Anthony started proving his worth as a great teacher. He had a book of Psalms in which he writes notes , comments and everything for teaching. Once a student stole the book and ran away from the order.

St.Anthony got sad but did not lose hope. He started praying and behold, the student returned the book back and also came back to the order with a renewed hope and faith. It was because of this incident, St.Anthony was termed the Patron for lost things. His teachings were very simple that even the illiterate could easily apprehend and came close to God.

Once St. Anthony was to teach to a set of non believers and they left the hall before he could even start the sermon. He then went to the pond nearby and started preaching. He was so gentle in his words and so easy to understand that even the fishes started to listen and they began to gather in numbers. The people were astonished to see this and they were ashamed to have treated him that way.

His constant travel and odd teaching hours without food and rest led to his death at the age of 36 in 1231. When he was exhumed after 336 years of his death, it was found that all organs were decayed but his tongue remained the same. The tongue was so powerful in helping people find their way to the Lord that maybe the tongue remained untouched. People were so overwhelmed and celebrated the miracle.

Feast Day – June 13

Patron – Lost things.

St. Anthony of Padua – Prayer

Holy Saint Anthony, gentle and powerful in your help, your love for God and charity for His creatures, made you worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers. Miracles waited on your word, which you were always ready to request for those in trouble or anxiety. Encouraged by this thought, I implore you to obtain for me [request]. The answer to my prayer may require a miracle. Even so, you are the Saint of miracles. Gentle and loving Saint Anthony, whose heart is ever full of human sympathy, take my petition to the Infant Savior for whom you have such a great love, and the gratitude of my heart will ever be yours. Amen.

Sharing the Blessing of Lent - 4) St. Catherine of Siena

St. Catherine of Siena is considered the Doctor of the Parish. She was born in Siena, Italy on March 25, 1347. When she was born there was a major outbreak of plague. She was born as the 25^th child of her mother when she was 40 years old. Most of her siblings perished in the plague. St. Catherine was herself a twin but her twin did not survive too.

When St. Catherine was 16 years old, her elder sister expired leaving her husband a widower. Her parents intended to marry her off to him but she was aghast. She began to fast and devoted her time to prayer to relieve from the family ties. She even chopped her hair to mar her appearance. She never disobeyed her parents or siblings but this one thing she was strongly against.

When her mother once inquired how she was able to follow this discipline of obedience, she replied that she considered her father as Jesus, her mother as Mary and her siblings as Apostles of Christ and this made her serve them in humility.

Though religious, she did not want to leave her parents. So she did not join a convent. She rather joined the Third Order of St.Dominic, which allowed her to serve the Lord staying with the family. She learnt to read and write there. She was continuously working when something came up at the age of 21.

She claimed to have a vision of Christ in a mystical marriage to her with a ring made of Jesus’ skin. Later she claimed the ring to be invisible. After that she was more into serving the sick and the poor outside the church too and mostly involved in leading the people to Christ.

She started travelling far to spread the word of God. She involved in the state politics too and made sure the states stay loyal to the Papacy. She was also the pioneer to start a crusade to the Holy Land.  She once visited a political prisoner as a last wish and she preached him and saved his soul. She then saw his soul being taken by the angels to heaven.

She then involved in restoring the Papacy rule at Rome and played a major role in making peace between the war making Italian states. She wrote many letters and petitioned for peace throughout. The works were so influential and actually worked in bringing back the Pope in Avignon back to Rome. That was the reason she was considered the Doctor of the Church. She also established  a monastery for Woman in 1377.

She fasted and traveled a lot due to which her health grew worse and she breathed her last on April 29 at the age of 33. The people of Siena wanted to take her body to Siena which the Pope refused grant. They tried to smuggle her body out but couldn’t. Finally they made a plan and cut the head alone and took it in a bag. When the soldiers checked it, it was full of rose petals. Once back in Siena, when they opened the bag it was her head again. That is the reason she is always portrayed holding a bouquet of flowers.

Feast Day – April 29

Patron – Against Fire, miscarriages, sexual temptation, Italy.

St. Catherine of Siena Prayers

1)      Eternal God, eternal Trinity, You have made the Blood of Christ so precious through His sharing in Your Divine nature. You are a mystery as deep as the sea; the more I search, the more I find, and the more I find the more I search for You. But I can never be satisfied; what I receive will ever leave me desiring more. When You fill my soul I have an ever-greater hunger, and I grow more famished for Your light. I desire above all to see You, the true light, as you really are.

2)      In your nature, eternal Godhead, I shall come to know my nature. And what is my nature, boundless love? It is fire, because you are nothing but a fire of love. And you have given humankind a share in this nature, for by the fire of love you created us. And so with all other people and every created thing; you made them out of love. O ungrateful people! What nature has your God given you? His very own nature! Are you not ashamed to cut yourself off from such a noble thing through the guilt of deadly sin? O eternal Trinity, my sweet love! You, light, give us light. You, wisdom, give us wisdom. You, supreme strength, strengthen us. Today, eternal God, let our cloud be dissipated so that we may perfectly know and follow your Truth in truth, with a free and simple heart. God, come to our assistance! Lord, make haste to help us!

Sharing the Blessing of Lent - 3) St. Patrick

St.Patrick is one of the Most Popular Saints in Christianity and he is the reason for the reach of Christianity in Ireland. He was born in the year 387 in Great Britain. When he was around 14, he was kidnapped by Irish Pirates and sold as a slave in Ireland to tend the sheep. He used to roam around the forests and mountains and mind the herd. It was by then out of fear and longing for hope , he turned to Christianity himself.

He used to pray for day and night together at all seasons too. He never gave up and he used to say, the weather don’t frighten me when I pray as the Lord is with me. It was by then he got a vision of the Lord asking him to step out of Ireland by the coast and he obliged. He was rescued by a group of merchants and he was safely brought home.

He then grew even more righteous. He saw a vision of a man coming straight to him with many letters and when he came near, he handed one to him. It said, “The Voice of the Irish” and he swore he could hear voices shouting at him in Irish language, “We appeal to you , holy servant boy, to come and Walk among us.”

He realized that God had chosen him to take the Gospel to Ireland which was a pagan nation. He then turned his studies to Priesthood and was ordained by St.Germanus and then later ordained as a Bishop and was sent to Ireland. Initially he faced many issues and he was almost killed by the tribal people there. He prayed and prayed and brought about the conversion of a chief of a tribe in Ireland. There started his mission. He walked Ireland and spread the word of God as far as he could and brought about reformation in the minds of thousands of people. Word of God reached many hopeless individuals and brought about a faithful flock.

He never got any money for himself and lived in dire poverty. Though illness fawned on him he never gave up and kept on travelling till Ireland was filled with the word of God. He later retired to Saul where he built his first church at Ireland. He breathed his last there in 461.

He often used a three leaf plant Shamrock to explain people about trinity and he used to have the leaves always at hand. The Shamrock is now used as a central symbol for Patrick’s Day.

Feast Day – March 17

Patron of Ireland.

St.Patrick’s Prayer

This was written by St.Patrick himself in 433 for getting hope and strength when he was preaching the Irish king Leoghaire and his subjects to convert to Christianity from paganism.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In the predictions of prophets,
In the preaching of apostles,
In the faith of confessors,
In the innocence of holy virgins,
In the deeds of righteous men.

I arise today, through
The strength of heaven,
The light of the sun,
The radiance of the moon,
The splendor of fire,
The speed of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of the sea,
The stability of the earth,
The firmness of rock.

I arise today, through
God's strength to pilot me,
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptation of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
afar and near.

I summon today
All these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel and merciless power
that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul;
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.

Sharing the Blessing Of Lent - 2) St. Christopher

St. Christopher is one of the heroes of Christian Faith. He is listed as a martyr. Not much of his life is known to us except the stories that are carried on from one generation to another. St. Christopher is believed to be named as Reprobus and later came to known as Christopher. He was a cannanite and was exceptionally tall and strong. He was termed as the giant in some references.

He wanted to serve the biggest master and went on to serve the king and he was astonished to find the King fear for the devil. So he thought the devil is the biggest and went in search of him. As he was still wandering in his search, he saw a bunch of thieves whose leader called himself the devil. So he went and served him for a while. This ‘devil’ actually feared for a Christian monk and this surprised St. Christopher. So he left the gang and joined the Christian faith.

He learnt all the teachings of Christ and wanted to serve him. The monk used to observe fasts and rituals and serve the Lord which St. Christopher found very difficult to follow. So the monk had another idea. They had a forest which had a very big river flowing through. It was difficult for the elderly and the weak to cross without help. The monk advised the saint to help people in distress to help cross.

He obliged and was doing the work faithfully for quite some time when one day a child asked his help to cross the river. He accepted and carried the child on his shoulder. As they were half way, the child grew more and more heavy and the saint couldn’t easily cross the river. With much difficulty, finally they crossed the river. On enquiry about this strange predicament, the child replied that he was the Lord Jesus and the heaviness was due to the fact the entire world’s weight which rested on him. The child then vanished.

It was after this incident, that St. Christopher’s world completely changed. He grew even more faithful and he wanted to travel places to spread the word of God. Travel was by foot those days and the meek and weak couldn’t achieve it. So the Word of God couldn’t reach many people. So he took this responsibility and since he was strong and heavy, he travelled easily against all the odds and ends.

These travel brought him to Roman Emperor Decius, in 251 AD where he was compelled to offer sacrifice to the king. The Saint refused and then he was tempted with food and woman. He didn’t budge and finally he was beheaded.

Feast Day is on July 25.

He is Patron of bachelors, transportation, traveling, and storms.

St. Christopher’s Prayer

Dear Saint Christopher,
protect me today
in all my travels
along the road’s way.
Give your warning sign
if danger is near
so that I may stop
while the path is clear.
Be at my window
and direct me through
when the vision blurs
From out of the blue.
Carry me safely
to my destined place,
like you carried Christ
in your close embrace.

Amen.

Sharing the Blessing of Lent - 1) St.Francis of Assisi

Hi Friends,

Happy to Greet you to another year of lent. This year lets share the blessing of the Lord by sharing info about various Saints.

St.Francis of Assisi

Born to a Wealthy merchant and a devoted mother, St.Francis was born in Late 1881 or Early 1882. He was christened Giovanni, but his father did not like him to be called after a saint and he called him Francesco. He had a very lavish and spoilt childhood. He had everything he wanted and did whatever he wished. Everybody abided by his thoughts. He too had an upper hand in the business like his dad and finally grew ultra rich. But he wanted to be a knight.

So when he was called for war, he went and gave his best. He was so happy about it but at the end he was imprisoned and left the prison after one year for a huge ransom. But he refused to change ways after that too. He was always whiling away the time when suddenly he had the call.

He was called away for the second time to war and he was so happy to go and made a golden armour to protect himself but God had other plans. He told Francis not to go. Francis obeyed to everyone’s astonishment. From that day he used to spend time alone and pray and wept for his sins. One day he came face to face with a leper and he choose to kiss the leper’s hand without disgust. After going a distance, he found the leper vanish in a trance. It was by then he realized it was not just a leper but the maker.

He started to pray even more. Once when he was praying God advised him to renovate the church. He thought the church he was praying needs to be repaired and he started collecting goods from his father and sold them to give to the church. This infuriated his father and he denounced his son. He became even free now and started praying more. Now he started to preach too.

His preach was so good that once a hundred birds stood still till he finished. And he spoke so softly that a wolf which once killed many for its food was made a pet to an entire village and it was provided for its living. Everything was going on well till he realized many people were seeking his guidance. He collectd them and formed a brotherhood, the Franciscan Order.

He went to Pope Innocent and asked his permission to preach which was denied immediately. Then God appeared in the dream of the Pope to grant him the rights to preach and then he started preaching. He was so soft to the nature too that once when he was to be treated by fire, he spoke to it for a long time and when the treatment was over, he swore the fire did no harm.

He was a patron of animals, ecology and merchants. At the end of his days he decided to share the passion of Christ, the pain of crucifixion through prayers and he shared the pain delightfully. Finally he breathed his last in 1226.

He was conferred Saint in the year 1228.

Feast Day is on 4 October.

The Peace Prayer of Francis of Assisi :

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith ;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.