“I WILL SUFFER FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND FOR THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS”

20th FEBRUARY: SS. FRANCISCO AND JACINTA MARTO

Francisco Marto, born 1908 and his sister Jacinta, two years his junior together with Lucia dos Santos, their cousin, from the Fatima area in Portugal, witnessed several apparitions of an angel and of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1916/17 while tending their parents’ sheep.

Following the onset of the apparitions, the two siblings commenced a life of prayer and penance to console the Lord Jesus for the sins of the world, and for the conversion of poor sinners. In August 1918, Francisco and his sister both became gravely ill during the dreaded influenza epidemic, and died not long after. They had been prepared for this by Our Lady during one of her apparitions. The siblings were canonised in 2017.

---

THE INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC THAT SWEPT THE WORLD IN 1918

“I will take Jacinta and Francisco soon,” our Lady had said to Lucia on June 13. The final illness of the two children began with the influenza epidemic that swept the world in 1918. [“Spanish ‘flu epidemic”]. They were both stricken. Complications set in, and neither recovered, although Jacinta lingered on longer than her brother.

“FOR THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS”

One day when Lucia came to visit her sick cousins, Jacinta had great news for her.

“Lucia,” she cried, “our Lady came to see us and said she was coming soon for Francisco. She asked me whether I wanted to convert more sinners. I said yes. Our Lady wants me to go to two hospitals, but it is not to cure me. It is to suffer more for the love of God, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the offences committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She told me that you would not be with me. My mother will take me there, and afterward I am to be left there alone.

Jacinta was happy to undergo any sacrifice for the conversion of sinners. Francisco, too, underwent great suffering without the least complaint. His desire was to console our Lord and our Lady. It seemed to him that they were very sorrowful.

FRANCISCO’S FIRST COMMUNION

In April, Francisco asked to be allowed to make his First Communion. His request was granted. It was also his last Communion. He died April 4, 1919. He was not yet ten years old.

DON’T BE AFRAID. I’LL PRAY A LOT FOR YOU IN HEAVEN

Jacinta missed her brother very much even though she knew he was happy in heaven. “I think of Francisco and how I’d love to see him,” she told Lucia. “But I also think of the war that is going to come. So many people will die, and so many will go to he’ll. Many cities will be burned to the ground, and many priests will be killed. Look, Lucia, I am going to heaven. But when you see that night illumined by the strange light, you also run away to heaven.”

Lucia said that would be impossible, and Jacinta agreed. “But don’t be afraid. I’ll pray a lot for you in heaven, and for the Holy Father also, and for Portugal, for the war not to come here and for all the priests.”

Her influenza grew worse and an abscess formed on her chest. Her suffering was great, but she was glad she could offer it for the conversion of sinners. She was taken to a hospital at Ourem, but the doctors there could do nothing for her. After two months she was returned to her home.

“I WONDERED WHETHER OUR LADY HAD MADE THE SAME PROMISE TO JACINTA”

A priest who visited her at her home said: “She was all bones. It was a shock to see how thin her arms were. She was running fever all the time. Pneumonia, then tuberculosis and pleurisy, ate away her strength. I remembered as I saw her, that our Lady had promised Bernadette of Lourdes that she would not be happy in this world but in the next. I wondered whether our Lady had made the same promise to Jacinta.”

We know now that the Lady had made the same promise, in slightly different words. She had said, “You will have much to suffer.” She had also promised that Jacinta would go to heaven.

Despite her illness she made several painful trips to the Cova, and she also went to Mass.

“Don’t try to come to Mass,” Lucia said one day. “It’s too much for you. Besides, it isn’t Sunday.”

“That doesn’t matter. I want to go in place of the sinners who don’t go even on Sundays.”

“TELL EVERYONE THAT OUR LORD GRANTS US ALL GRACES THROUGH THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY”

These words from the lips of a favoured child of Mary remind us that the desecration of the Sabbath was one of the sins against which our Lady had protested at La Salette.

“Look, Lucia,” Jacinta continued, “our Lord is so sad and our Lady told us that He must not be offended any more. He is already offended very much, and no one pays any attention to it. They keep committing the same sins.”

This also recalls Mary’s words at La Salette: “And as for you, you take no heed of it.”

Another time Jacinta said to Lucia:

“Soon I shall go to heaven. You are to stay here to reveal that the Lord wants to establish throughout the world the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When you start to reveal this, don’t hesitate. Tell everyone that our Lord grants us all graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; that all must make their petitions to her; that the Sacred Heart of Jesus desires that the Immaculate Heart of Mary be venerated at the same time. Tell them that they should all ask for peace from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as God has placed it in her hands. Oh, if I could only put in the heart of everyone in the world the fire that is burning in me and makes me love so much the Heart of Jesus and the Heart of Mary.”

FINALLY, SHE WAS GIVEN A ROOM IN AN ORPHANAGE

The Blessed Virgin appeared to Jacinta again and told her that she would die in a hospital in Lisbon. Soon after that a specialist told her parents that she should be taken to a hospital in Lisbon. They protested that there was no point in making such a trip if the Blessed Virgin had told her that she was going to die. The doctor replied that the only way they could be sure the Blessed Virgin wanted to take the girl was to go to all lengths to save her. This argument convinced them, and so they took her to Lisbon.

The hospital had no vacant room, and no one wanted to take such a sick girl into a private home. Finally, she was given a room in an orphanage. A chapel adjoined the orphanage and Jacinta was happy to be under the same roof with the Blessed Sacrament. The superior, Mother Godinho, was very kind to the girl. Our Lady appeared to Jacinta several times during her stay at the orphanage.

Jacinta made statements that were far beyond the ordinary girl of her years. Mother Godinho kept a record of them. She asked Jacinta where she learned these things and was told that our Lady taught her some of them and that others she had thought out for herself. “I like to think very much.”

“IF PEOPLE ONLY KNEW WHAT ETERNITY IS, THEY WOULD DO EVERYTHING TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES”

“Wars are only punishments for the sins of the world,” she said one time. “Our Lady cannot stay the arm of her beloved Son upon the world any more. It is necessary to do penance. If the people amend themselves, our Lord shall still come to the aid of the world. If they do not amend themselves, punishment shall come.”

Again one is struck by the similarity between Jacinta’s words and the words of Our Lady of La Salette. “If my people will not submit, I shall be forced to let go the hand of my Son.”

“If men do not amend their lives,” said Jacinta on another occasion, “Almighty God will send the world, beginning with Spain, a punishment such as never has been seen.” She spoke of “great world events” that were to take place around 1940. She cried when she thought of the catastrophe that was coming and when she thought of the way men were offending Jesus and Mary.

“My dear Mother,” she said at another time, “the sins that bring most souls to hell are the sins of the flesh. Certain fashions are going to be introduced which will offend our Lord very much. Those who serve God should not follow these fashions. The Church has no fashions… If people only knew what eternity is, they would do everything to change their lives. People lose their souls because they do not think about the death of our Lord and do not do penance.

“Many marriages are not good; they do not please our Lord and are not of God.

“IF GOVERNMENTS LEFT THE CHURCH IN PEACE… THEY WOULD BE BLESSED BY GOD”

“Pray a great deal for governments. Pity those governments which persecute the religion of our Lord. If the governments left the Church in peace and gave liberty to the Holy Religion, they would be blessed by God.

“Do not give yourself to immodest clothes. Run away from riches. Love holy poverty and silence. Be very charitable, even with those who are unkind. Never criticise others and avoid those who do. Be very patient, for patience brings us to heaven. Mortifications and sacrifices please our Lord a great deal.

“The Mother of God wants a large number of virgin souls to bind themselves to her by the vow of chastity. I would enter a convent with great joy, but my joy is greater because I am going to heaven. To be a religious one has to be pure in soul and in body.”

“Do you know what it means to be pure?” Mother Godinho asked.

“Yes, I do. To be pure in body means to preserve chastity. To be pure in soul means to avoid sin, not to look at what is sinful, not to steal, never lie and always tell the truth even when it is hard. Whoever does not fulfil promises made to our Lady will not be blessed in life.”

“PITY DOCTORS. THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT AWAITS THEM”

On February 2, 1920, Jacinta was admitted to the hospital. She was examined by many doctors. Most of these were concerned only with science and medicine and had no thought of God. Jacinta knew this and the thought saddened her. “Pity doctors. They have no idea what awaits them. Doctors do not know how to treat their patients with success because they have no love of God.”

In these three sentences ten-year-old Jacinta protested against the materialism of our times. She saw that men were putting their entire trust in science and ignoring God. But she was not angry with them; she pitied them.

ALL OF JACINTA’S WORDS ARE WORTH GREAT CONSIDERATION

All of Jacinta’s words are worth great consideration. We are not bound to believe private revelations, and some of Jacinta’s remarks were not even private revelations. The Blessed Virgin told her some things, and others she “thought out” for herself. We do know, however, that Jacinta was very saintly and that she had been promised by our Lady that she would go to heaven. Her words are not to be dismissed lightly. And her prediction of a great punishment being visited on the world, beginning with Spain, came only too true!

So when Jacinta tells us that “the sins that bring most souls to hell are the sins of the flesh” her words carry great weight. And there seems little reason to doubt them, when we behold the Sixth Commandment held up to ridicule in Broadway plays, in magazine fiction and in best-selling novels; when in some parts of the United States one marriage in three ends in a divorce, a flagrant disregard of God’s laws.

“Certain fashions are going to be introduced which will offend our Lord very much” seems meant for our own day. Was Jacinta thinking of us when she uttered those words back in 1920?

“Wars are only punishments for the sins of the world” is a sentence that should be broadcast to the world. Our day-to-day actions are more important to the keeping of the peace than all the manouverings of the world’s diplomats.

THE PRIEST HEARD HER CONFESSION AND SAID HE WOULD BRING HER COMMUNION IN THE MORNING

On February 10, two of Jacinta’s ribs were removed. Because of her weakness, she could not be given a general anaesthetic, and the local one did not take away her pain. “It is for love of You, my Jesus,” she murmured. “Now You can convert many sinners, for I suffer much.”

For six days the agonising pain lasted. Then on the night of February 16, our Lady appeared to her and told her that her suffering was at an end. The pain stopped. On February 20, she asked for the Last Sacraments. The priest heard her confession and said he would bring her Communion in the morning. She asked him to bring it at once because she was going to die soon. She died before her wish was fulfilled. A young nurse, Aurora Gomes, was the only person present when Jacinta quietly breathed her last.

“THE LITTLE SAINT”

Crowds flocked to the undertaking parlour where Jacinta was laid out in her white First Communion dress with a blue sash, our Lady’s colours. The people were sure that Jacinta was already in heaven with our Lord and our Lady, and they wanted to see “the little saint.”

Although her body had been filled with poison, she was beautiful in death. Her lips were red, her cheeks rosy and a pleasant aroma came from her body. “I have seen many bodies, in my business, young and old,” the undertaker said later. “Never did a thing of this sort happen to me before or since.”

Jacinta’s body was placed at first in a vault at Ourem. In 1935 the Bishop of Leiria requested that it be taken to Fatima and buried in the church yard beside the body of Francisco. Her casket was opened at that time and the body was found to be whole and incorrupt.

In April, 1951, the remains of Francisco and Jacinta were moved to the basilica which had risen above the Cova da Iria. Jacinta’s body was examined again. It was found to be partly corrupted but still in a remarkable state of preservation.

From: “The Woman Shall Conquer” by Don Sharkey, Prow Books/Franciscan Marytown Press, Libertyville, IL, 1954

 

SS. TIMOTHY AND TITUS, BISHOPS

26th JANUARY: SAINTS TIMOTHY AND TITUS, BISHOPS

Timothy and Titus were disciples and co-workers of St Paul. Timothy accompanied Paul on his travels. He was put in charge of the Church at Ephesus. Titus was Paul’s messenger to various Christian communities where disputes arose, and he was in charge of the Church at Crete. To these two Paul wrote his pastoral epistles.

PRAYER:

God our Father,
You gave Your saints Timothy and Titus
the courage and wisdom of the apostles:
may their prayers help us to live holy lives
and lead us to heaven, our true home.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

 

PRAYER ON THE FEAST DAY OF ST STEPHEN

We give You thanks,
O Lord of glory,
for the example
of the first martyr
who looked up to Heaven
and prayed
for his persecutors
to Your Son Jesus Christ,
who stands at
Your right hand,
where He lives and reigns
with You and
the Holy Spirit, One God,
in glory everlasting.
Amen.

 

ST STEPHEN, PROTOMARTYR – A VERY BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

According to the Acts of the Apostles, Stephen was one of the seven deacons chosen to serve the gentile community. He was tried before the Sanhedrin for blasphemy and stoned to death c. 34-36. The account mentions that Saul of Tarsus, later Saint Paul, as a young man guarded the clothes of the witnesses as they stoned Stephen.

PRAYER:
Grant us, O Lord, the grace to imitate what we hold in esteem. May we learn to love our enemies, for we are celebrating the feast of him who pleaded even for his enemies with our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

ST PETER CANISIUS, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH; MEMORIAL: DECEMBER 21

Born in 1521, at Nijmegen in Holland, St Peter entered the Society of Jesus, was ordained in 1546, and went to Cologne, where he founded a Jesuit house. He was a vigorous defender of Catholicism, and published a catechism which was very influential in the Counter-Reformation. He died in 1597.

PRAYER:

Lord,
you gave Saint Peter Canisius
wisdom and courage to defend the Catholic faith.
By the help of his prayers
may all who seek the truth rejoice in finding you,
and may all who believe in you
be loyal in professing their faith.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

 

WHAT A MIGHTY FORCE OF LOVE KINDLED MARY MAGDALENE’S HEART!

HOMILY OF ST GREGORY, POPE, ON JOHN 20:11-18

Mary Magdalene, who had been a sinner in the city, washed away with her tears the stains of her misdeeds, because she loved the truth; and the word of Truth was fulfilled which he spoke: “Many sins are forgiven her because she has loved much.”

For she who first had remained cold through sin, afterwards burned with the intensity of her love. For when she came to the sepulchre, and found that the Lord’s body was not there, she believed that it had been taken away, and told the disciples. They coming, saw and believed it to be as the woman had said. And concerning them it goes on to say: “The disciples, therefore, departed to their home”; and then is added: “But Mary was standing outside, weeping at the tomb.”

“BUT MARY WAS STANDING OUTSIDE, WEEPING AT THE TOMB”

And here we should consider, what a mighty force of love it was that kindled this woman’s heart, so that even when the disciples had left the Lord’s sepulchre, she did not leave it. She kept on seeking him whom she had not found: seeking, she wept and, consumed with the fire of her love, she burned with the desire of him who, she believed, had been taken away.

And so it came to pass, that she, alone, who had remained to seek him, saw him, for indeed the virtue of a good work is perseverance; and the voice of Truth has said: “But he who shall persevere to the end shall be saved.”

Mary, therefore, when she wept, stooped down and looked into the sepulchre. Surely, she had already seen that the sepulchre was empty when she had announced that the Lord had already been taken away; why then does she again stoop down, and again desire to see? But, for one who loves, it is not enough to have looked once: because the strength of the love increases the will to seek. Therefore, she sought at first, and found not; she persevered in seeking, and at length succeeded in finding. And it happened that prolonged desires grew greater, and in growing, grasped what they had found.

– St Gregory, Pope, Homily 25 on the Gospels; An Approved English Translation of the Breviarium Romanum, Burns & Oates, London, 1964

 

CHRISTIAN SUFFERING

A REFLECTION ON THE FEAST OF ST WENCESLAS (SEPTEMBER 28)

In wonderful ways does God lead his own towards their glorious heavenly goal, but mostly on the path of suffering. A myriad of restrictions, hardships, persecution and oppression are usually the lot of a pious Christian on earth.

Since we suffer for proclaiming our Lord’s teaching in deed and word, how would we not feel privileged to suffer for Jesus? Did not the Divine Master, whom we follow, endure the same to a far greater extent?

PRAYER:

O God ! Loving Father! We abandon ourselves utterly and joyfully to your guidance and help. For your sake and for the sake of the Gospel, every bitterness is bound to be joyful. Give us the grace of strength, fortitude and perseverance, and lead us, and all those whom we are meant to edify, to eternal life. Amen.
(From an old German prayer book)

King Wenceslas helps to gather winter fuel for the poor

 

PRAYER FOR THE CANONISATION OF BL. ISIDORE BAKANJA

PRAYER FOR THE CANONISATION OF BL. ISIDORE BAKANJA

PRAYER:

Loving God, your servant, blessed Isidore, gave his life because of his faith in you. Through his intercession I ask for your mercy and help. Father, in his name, I come to you with my needs:

(mention requests.)

Lord, help me always to imitate the great faith of Isidore. Glorify your servant as he wished to glorify you. Amen.

Dear Mary, Mother of Carmel, pray for us.
Dear Isidore, Martyr, pray for us.
Amen.

ABOUT BL. ISIDORE BAKANJA, MEMORIAL: 15th AUGUST

“One of the holy men remembered by the Church… on 15th August, is Blessed Isidore Bakanja. He was born in 1887 at Bokendela, now in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the age of 18 years Blessed Isidore was baptised and welcomed into the Catholic Church through the missionary work of Cistercians.

Blessed Isidore was a devout convert and catechist. He had a great love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, expressed through his frequent praying of the Rosary and being invested in the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

At his first employment Blessed Isidore was permitted by his supervisor to speak of Jesus to the other co-workers which led to many converts to the Faith. At his next employment, however, the supervisor, who was intolerant of religion, forbade Blessed Isidore from teaching other workers how to pray, ‘You’ll have the whole village praying and no one will work’, he was told.

Blessed Isidore refused to stop and also refused to take off his scapular, as ordered by the supervisor. The supervisor then flogged Blessed Isidore twice and then pinned Blessed Isidore on the ground, ripping the scapular from his neck. Blessed Isidore was then beaten over 100 times with a whip with nails at the end. He was then put in chains.

His wounds became severely infected and the supervisor wished to keep Blessed Isidore from the view of the plantation inspector who was visiting. Blessed Isidore was taken outside of the plantation for this visit but he managed to hide in the forest and then dragged himself back and was seen by the plantation inspector, who was horrified at what he saw.

The plantation inspector took Blessed Isidore to his own home and looked after him. The inspector wrote, ‘I saw a man come from the forest with his back torn apart by deep, festering, malodorous wounds, covered with filth, assaulted with flies. He leaned on two sticks in order to get near me – he wasn’t walking; he was dragging himself.’ Blessed Isidore said to the plantation inspector, ‘If you see my mother, or if you go to the judge, or if you meet a Priest, tell them that I am dying because I am a Christian.’

Missionaries came to be with Blessed Isidore and reported that he devoutly received his last sacraments. The Missionaries asked Blessed Isidore to forgive the supervisor who had beaten him and he assured them that he had already done so. ‘I shall pray for him. When I am in heaven, I shall pray for him very much’, Blessed Isidore replied. After six months of suffering, Blessed Isidore died from his wounds at the age of 21 years with his Rosary beads in his hands and a Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel around his neck. Blessed Isidore Bakanja was beatified in 1994 by Pope John Paul II.”
(from “Spiritual Thought from Fr Chris”)

 

ST JUNIPERO SERRA

St Junipero Serra – Memorial: July 1

Born at Petra, Island of Majorca, St Junipero entered the Franciscan Order in 1730. He was appointed lector of philosophy before his ordination to the priesthood. Later he joined the missionary college of San Fernando, Mexico (1749). While travelling on foot from Vera Cruz to the capital, he injured his leg in such a way that he suffered from it throughout his life, though he continued to make his journeys on foot whenever possible.

He was assigned to the Sierra Gorda Missions some thirty leagues north of Queretaro. He served there for nine years, part of the time as superior, and learned the language of the local native Americans (Pame).

Recalled to Mexico, he became famous as a most fervent and effective preacher of missions. His zeal frequently led him to employ extraordinary means in order to move the people. He would pound his breast with a stone while in the pulpit, scourge himself, or apply a lighted torch to his bare chest. Early in 1769, he founded the first of the twenty-one California missions.

He suffered intensely from his crippled leg, yet he would use no remedies. Besides extraordinary fortitude, his most conspicuous virtues were insatiable zeal, love of mortification, self-denial, and absolute confidence in God.

St Junipero died at Monterey, California, 28 August, 1784. (Excerpts from Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)

 

THE BIRTH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST (LUKE 1:57-66)

The time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son; and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy. Now on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother spoke up. “No,” she said, “he is to be called John.” They said to her, “But no one in your family has that name,” and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished.

At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about through the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. “What will this child turn out to be?” they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.

V. The Gospel of the Lord.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.