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14/07/2025

February 3: Saint Blaise, Bishop and Martyr

Very little is known about Saint Blaise. The earliest mention of his life did not appear until about 200 years after his death, by the medical writer Aëtius Amidenus, who spoke of Saint Blaise’s intercessory power to help dislodge objects stuck in the throat. Whether or not the stories written of him are true, what is certain is that the faithful have devoutly sought his intercession for centuries. That practice continues today in the form of the blessing of throats on his feast day.
Legend says that Blaise was an excellent physician in his hometown of Sebaste, Armenia, modern-day Silvas, Turkey. When the Bishop of Sebaste died, Blaise was chosen as the new bishop by the popular acclaim “of all the people.” He was said to be a man of great faith and virtue, caring for his people in both body and soul. Many came to him as a physician for physical healing but also received many miracles. Others came to him for spiritual healing, imparted by his deep faith.
Even though Christianity became legal in the Roman Empire in 313, the Governor of Cappadocia began to arrest and kill Christians in 316. Bishop Blaise was among those arrested. While Blaise was on his way to jail, the mother of a boy who was choking on a fishbone sent her son to Blaise for his prayers. Bishop Blaise miraculously cured him on the spot. Another story relates that on that journey to jail, a woman begged him to save her pig that had been seized by a wolf. When Bishop Blaise ordered the wolf to release the pig, the wolf obeyed. Out of gratitude, the woman brought Blaise two wax candles to light his prison cell.
When Bishop Blaise refused to renounce his Christian faith, he was ripped apart by metal combs used to comb wool and then beheaded.
Today, Saint Blaise is the patron saint of wool combers and animals. More famously, he is the patron saint of diseases of the throat and other illnesses because he healed the boy with a fishbone stuck in his throat, was a physician, and miraculously healed many others of their ailments.

14/07/2025

February 2: Presentation of the Lord—zFeast

As faithful Jews who obeyed the Law of Moses, Mary and Joseph performed two ritual acts that the law prescribed after the birth of the firstborn son—Mary’s ritual purification and Jesus’ dedication. The Presentation of the Lord is celebrated forty days after Christmas, marking the day that Mary and Joseph would have brought Jesus into the Temple. Though Mary was pure and free from sin from the moment of her conception, and though the Son of God did not need to be redeemed, Mary and Joseph fulfilled these ritual obligations.
At the heart of this celebration is the encounter of Simeon and Anna with the Christ Child in the Temple. Simeon was the first to understand and proclaim Jesus as the Savior of the World. He also prophesied that this salvation would be accomplished by a sword of sorrow that would pierce Mary’s Immaculate Heart. Anna, a prophetess, also came forward and “gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). In the ritual acts in the Temple, Jesus’ divine mission was made manifest to the world.
We are invited to participate in Mary’s ritual purification and Jesus’ ritual redemption. Each of us is unworthy of entering the true Temple of the Lord in Heaven, yet we are invited to do so in union with Mary, our Blessed Mother. It was her consent to God’s will that opened the door of God’s grace to us all. By allowing Jesus to be born in our hearts by grace, we spiritually become Jesus’ “mother.” With her, we are now able to appear before God, purified and holy in His sight.
In presenting Jesus in the Temple, Saint Joseph also redeems us by presenting to the Father all who strive to live in union with Jesus. The hope is that, like Simeon and Anna, others will see God alive within us and experience the Savior of the World through us.

-ZFeastDay

14/07/2025

Baptism of the Lord—Feast

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is a liturgical bridge that connects the Christmas season to Ordinary Time. During the Christmas season we pondered the Incarnation, Nativity, Presentation in the Temple, and Epiphany. Today, we see Jesus manifesting Himself to the world as He began His three years of public ministry.
John the Baptist had been preaching in the desert and offering a baptism of repentance, a sign of one’s willingness to turn away from sin and turn toward God. Jesus, of course, was sinless in every way, but he chose to receive the baptism of repentance to unite Himself with fallen humanity. Out of love for us, he took upon Himself our own sins and would suffer their consequences.
By bowing His sacred head to receive the baptism of repentance, Jesus united Himself and His divinity to everyone who had already chosen to repent. And He gave power to every forthcoming act of repentance others would make, even until today. When we repent today, we meet Jesus in that same water of repentance.
It was not only the Eternal Son Who was present at that baptism of repentance, but the Father and the Holy Spirit as well. The Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and the Father’s Voice spoke to acknowledge His oneness with His Son. Therefore, every time we make a humble act of repentance, such as when we combine the crucifixion, the Trinity, and holy water upon entering a church and blessing ourselves, we not only meet our Lord but also receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and share more fully in our adoption as sons and daughters of the Father in Heaven.

13/07/2025

Epiphany of the Lord—Solemnity

At the time of Jesus’ birth, it was commonly believed that a new star would appear whenever a new ruler was born. The Father in Heaven used this belief to honor His Son, the new King. When three astrologers from the East, the Magi, saw this “new star,” they chose to follow it to discover the new King. Pointing the way, in the form of a star, was creation itself.
The word “Epiphany” means “manifestation,” inviting us to look at how Christ is manifest in our own hearts.
First, when the Magi saw a sign from the heavens that pointed to a new King, they stopped everything and departed in haste to find Him. When God speaks to you and manifests Himself to you in some way, nothing could be more important than to be attentive to His voice and follow Him with the same haste.
The Magi brought the Christ Child gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold symbolized kingship. When we ponder the gift of gold given to the Christ Child, we are inspired to give Him our own symbolic gold by prayerfully acknowledging Him as our King to whom we pledge complete submission.
Used in worship to symbolize prayers rising to heaven, frankincense symbolizes the Christ Child’s divinity. We offer frankincense to Christ when we acknowledge His divine nature. Often used in burial, myrrh honors the Christ Child Who came to give His life as a sacrifice for many. We offer myrrh to profess our belief in the saving power of Christ’s death on the Cross and our need for that gift of salvation.
As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany, see it as a historical event in which you are invited to share. God wants to manifest Himself to you today. When this happens, respond with faith and worship, giving God the greatest glory by giving Him your very life and offering Him your spiritual gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
-Solemnity

Dear Lord Most glorious Christ Child, please manifest Yourself within my soul where You wish to be born. May I follow the example of the Magi, offering You my own gifts in adoration and trust. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen

13/07/2025

January 6: Saint André Bessette, Religious—USA

Celebrated as a Memorial in Canada on January 7

Born Alfred Bessette in Saint-Grégoire d’Iberville, Quebec, Canada, the eighth of twelve children, he was an orphan by the age of six. From birth, Alfred was a sickly child and remained so throughout his ninety-one years on earth.

Alfred was a hard worker, but his poor health made it difficult for him to maintain a steady job. At the age of twenty-five, Alfred sought spiritual direction from his pastor, who encouraged him to present himself to the Congregation of the Holy Cross in Montreal for acceptance into religious life. The pastor sent along a letter to the superior, which said in part, “I am sending you a saint.” Alfred could hardly read and the order was a teaching order of well-educated men, but his superior welcomed him into the novitiate at the encouragement of the bishop.

Upon making his vows, Alfred chose the name Brother André, and his first assignment was one he would keep for the rest of his life—doorkeeper. In addition to minding the door, he spent his time washing floors and windows, cleaning lamps, carrying firewood, and delivering messages.

How does an illiterate doorkeeper become a saint? Brother André’s path of holiness consisted of living the virtue of humility, listening attentively to troubled hearts, showing compassion that lifted countless burdens, and doing all with a gentleness that put even the worst sinner at ease. Above all, Brother André loved God and trusted in the intercession of Saint Joseph. In his role of doorkeeper, Brother André had the joy of interacting with countless people who came to him for forty years. Each year, he received as many as 80,000 letters asking for his prayers. Through his lowliness, soul after soul was drawn to God. Every time a life was changed, Brother André gave the credit to Saint Joseph. “Go to Saint Joseph, he will help you,” he would say.

Brother André’s prayers for others were answered. The sick were healed, the lame could walk, problems did disappear, and hearts were converted. The brothers of his order attributed as many as 10,000 miracles to his intercession.

13/07/2025

January 5—Saint John Neumann, Bishop—Memorial: USA

Born in Prachatitz, Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic), the young John Neumann received a fine education. Upon completing his childhood schooling, he considered becoming a medical doctor. His mother, however, could see that her son’s true desire was to be a priest, so she encouraged him to apply to the seminary. To his surprise, he was accepted and began his seminary studies for the Diocese of Budweis on November 1, 1831, at the age of twenty.

While in the seminary, John was inspired by the missionary journeys of Saint Paul, who endured beatings, shipwrecks, stonings, sleepless nights, hunger, and exposure to the elements. Most people would be deterred from missionary work after reading about Saint Paul’s travails, but not Seminarian John Neumann. When he learned about the need for priests in the mission territory of the newly founded United States, he made up his mind to serve there after his ordination.

Upon completing his seminary studies, John’s ordination to the priesthood was initially delayed when his bishop became seriously ill and ultimately canceled because his diocese had too many priests. The cancellation was John’s sign to imitate Saint Paul, so he immediately boarded a ship to the United States in the hope of finding a bishop to ordain him for service to America’s immigrants. He arrived in New York with one set of clothes and a dollar to his name. Bishop John Dubois of New York was desperate for German-speaking priests to serve his people. He warmly welcomed John and ordained him only seventeen days after his arrival.

Father Neumann’s first assignment was near Niagara Falls, where his parish covered about a thousand square miles, mostly populated with poor immigrant farmers. Like Saint Paul, Father Neumann traveled constantly, celebrating Mass, teaching, visiting homes, and building churches. He was tireless, and his humble, warm, and thoughtful personality made an impression on many. Eventually, he took vows with the Redemptorist Order and was later appointed the first General Superior of the order’s ten foundations in America. Five years later, he was named the fourth bishop of Philadelphia

13/07/2025

January 4—Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious—Memorial: USA

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first United States citizen to be canonized a saint. Born into a wealthy Anglican family in New York in 1774, Elizabeth knew family sorrow. Her mother died when Elizabeth was three, and a sister died a year later. Elizabeth’s father remarried, to a woman with whom he would have seven children, but when the couple separated, Elizabeth’s stepmother cut off contact with her.

At age nineteen, Elizabeth married wealthy shipping magnate William Seton. While Elizabeth was pregnant with the couple’s third child, William’s father died. Elizabeth and William took his six younger siblings into their home to care for them. Shortly after, William’s business went bankrupt, thrusting the couple and their own five children into a financially precarious existence.

By 1803, William was suffering from tuberculosis. The couple and their eldest daughter spent their last bit of money to travel to the warmer climate of Italy to try to restore William to health. Soon after their arrival, William died. Elizabeth, only twenty-nine years old, had lost both of her parents and was widowed in a foreign land, far from four of her children for whom she had no way to provide.

Before returning to New York to be reunited with the rest of her children, Elizabeth stayed with a devout Italian Catholic family whose father had been William’s business partner. Through their example, Elizabeth discovered the Catholic faith. She visited many churches, learned the Memorare prayer to the Virgin Mary, experienced the Sacred Liturgy, inquired about Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, and began to understand the Church’s unbroken Apostolic succession.

When Elizabeth arrived in New York the following summer, family and friends reacted to her interest in Catholicism by shunning her. Elizabeth, however, persevered and entered the Church the following Ash Wednesday.

Elizabeth became a teacher in New York, but when word of her conversion to Catholicism spread, the Episcopalian parents withdrew their children.

04/04/2025

January 3—The Most Holy Name of Jesus,

Liturgical Color: White

Reflection: Everything about our divine Lord is holy, including His Name. It was the Archangel Gabriel who first spoke the name of Jesus to His mother, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus” (Luke 1:31). The Archangel was only a messenger, so the name of Jesus was given to Him by the Father in Heaven.
Saint Peter was one of the first Apostles to speak with authority in the Holy Name of Jesus when he healed a crippled man saying, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk” (Acts 3:6). Saint Paul also exalted the holy name of Jesus when he said, “…at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9–10). Saint Paul preached with power in the name of Jesus so often that even some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to imitate him by commanding demons, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches” (Acts 19:13).
Throughout the history of the Church, Jesus’ name has been invoked as an instrument of personal faith in the Son of God, especially to command demons or simply to pray to Jesus in a repetitive and personal way. The liturgical Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus has been celebrated by the Church for many centuries, especially within various religious orders. In the fifteenth century, Saint Bernardine of Siena, a Franciscan friar, went on a preaching mission promoting devotion to the Most Holy Name. He encouraged people to revere Jesus’ name by placing the first three Greek letters of His name on their doors: IHS. Today, this Greek monogram of Jesus’ name is commonly seen in churches on tabernacles, altars, and in stained glass windows. In the sixteenth century, Saint Ignatius of Loyola had such a strong devotion to the Most Holy Name of Jesus that he adopted it as his seal as general of his newly founded order of the Jesuits; that monogram remains the Jesuits’ official seal today.

19/03/2025

January 2—Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors—Memorial

St. Basil: 329–379
Patron Saint of monks, hospital administrators, reformers, and Russia
St. Gregory: c. 329–389
Patron Saint of harvests and poets
Pre-Congregation canonizations
Liturgical Color: White
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Quotes:
Much time had I spent in vanity, and had wasted nearly all my youth in the vain labor which I underwent in acquiring the wisdom made foolish by God. Then once upon a time, like a man roused from deep sleep, I turned my eyes to the marvelous light of the truth of the Gospel, and I perceived the uselessness of the “wisdom of the princes of this world, that come to naught” (1 Cor. 2:6) I wept many tears over my miserable life and I prayed that guidance might be vouchsafed me to admit me to the doctrines of true religion. ~Letter of Saint Basil #223
For nothing seemed to me so desirable as to close the doors of my senses, and, escaping from the flesh and the world, collected within myself…to live superior to visible things, even preserving in myself the divine impressions pure and unmixed with the erring tokens of this lower world… ~Orationes of Saint Gregory 2:7

Reflection: Saints Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzen were among the most devoted defenders of the faith in the fourth century. Both were bishops and both are now saints and doctors of the Church. These two men met while studying in Caesarea Cappadocia and strengthened their tight friendship in Athens. After Basil’s death, Gregory wrote of their bond, “We seemed to have one soul, inhabiting two bodies” (Orationes of Saint Gregory 43:20).
Both saints came from families of saints. Basil’s maternal grandmother was a martyr; his paternal grandmother, his parents, and three of his siblings are also saints. Gregory’s father was converted to Catholicism by his wife. After his conversion, he was ordained a priest and then consecrated as Bishop of Nazianzen. He served as bishop for about forty-five years, living into his nineties. These saintly parents had three children, all of whom became saints.

17/03/2025

Happy New year everone 🥳🥳🥳🥳hope this year will be great ❤️

17/03/2025

quick trip to Cyprus 🇨🇾 Church 2

12/03/2025

Long version of quick trip to Cyprus 🇨🇾

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