In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You. Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference’s by which He is offended. And by the infinite merits of his most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners.
Catechism 391-395
II. THE FALL OF THE ANGELS
391 Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy. [266] Scripture and the Church’s Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called “Satan” or the “devil”.
[267] The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: “The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing.” [268]
392 Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels. [269] This “fall” consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the tempter’s words to our first parents: “You will be like God.” [270] The devil “has sinned from the beginning”; he is “a liar and the father of lies”. [271]
393 It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels’ sin unforgivable. “There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death.” [272]
394 Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls “a murderer from the beginning”, who would even try to divert Jesus from the mission received from his Father. [273] “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” [274] In its consequences the gravest of these works was the mendacious seduction that led man to disobey God.
395 The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot prevent the building up of God’s reign. Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries – of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature – to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history. It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but “we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him.” [275]
Today on the liturgical calendar:
Saint Bernardette of Lourdes
Oldest of six children and grew up very poor. Hired out as a servant from age 12 to 14. Shepherdess. On 11 February 1858, around the time of her first Communion, she received a vision of the Virgin; her own account of it is in the Readings section in the show notes. She received seventeen more in the next five months, and was led to a spring of healing waters. She moved into a house with the Sisters of Nevers at Lourdes where she lived, worked, and learned to read and write. The sisters cared for the sick and indigent, and at age 22 they admitted Bernadette into their order since she was both. Always
sick herself, and often mistreated by her superiors, she died with a prayer for Mary’s aid. Since the appearances of Mary to young Bernadette in 1858, more than 200 million people have visited the shrine of Lourdes.
Born * 7 January 1844 at Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrénées, France
Died * [Saint Bernadette of Lourdes] 16 April 1879, Nevers, Nièvre, France of natural causes
* body incorrupt
* the sisters covered the body in wax, and it is on display in Nevers
Venerated * 18 November 1923 by Pope Pius XI (decree on heroic virtues)
Beatified * 14 June 1925 by Pope Pius XI
Canonized * 8 December 1933 by Pope Pius XI
Name Meaning * brave as a bear
Patronage
* against bodily ills
* against illness
* against poverty
* against sickness
* Lourdes, France
* people ridiculed for their piety
* poor people
* shepherdesses
* shepherds
* sick people
Blessed John of Fiesole
Fra Angelico
The patron of Christian artists was born around 1400 in a village overlooking Florence. He took up painting as a young boy and studied under the watchful eye of a local painting master. He joined the Dominicans at about age 20, taking the name Fra Giovanni; taught to illuminate missals and manuscripts. His works can be seen in Cortona, Fiesole, Florence, and the Vatican. His dedication to religious art earned him the title Angelico. He eventually came to be known as Fra Angelico, perhaps a tribute to his own angelic qualities or maybe the devotional tone of his works.
Born 1387 in Vicchio di Mugello near Florence, Italy as Guido di Pietro
Died 18 February 1455 in the Dominican convent at Rome, Italy of natural causes
Name Meaning anglico = angelic; beato = blessed
Beatified 3 October 1982 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized pending; if you have information relevant to the canonization of Fra Angelico, contact:
Pp. Domenicani
Via del Beato Angelico, 35
00186 Roma, ITALY
Patronage artists
Also visit saints.sqpn.com to view other Saints/beati celebrated today.
Mother of Perpetual Help, we call upon your most powerful name. Your very name inspires confidence and hope. May it always be on our lips, especially in time of temptation and at the hour of our death. Blessed Lady, help us whenever we call on you. Let us not be content with merely pronouncing your name. May our daily lives proclaim that you are our Mother and our Perpetual Help.
Numbers 6:24-26
24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee; 25 The LORD make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
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