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Martyrology - 19th of March
Upon the 19th day of March, were born into the better life:
At Sorrento, the holy martyrs Quintus, Quintilla, Quartilla, Mark, and nine others.
At Nicomedia, holy Pancharius, the Roman, who was beheaded under the Emperor Diocletian, and so received the crown of martyrdom.
On the same day, the holy Bishops Apollonius and Leontius.
At Gent [in Flanders], the holy Roman Priest Landoald, and Amantius the Deacon, who were sent by holy Pope Martin to preach the gospel, and were famed for many miracles after their deaths, [in the year 666.]
In the city of Pinna, blessed John, a man of great holiness, who came from Syria to Italy, and there built a monastery, wherein he remained, the Father of many servants of God, for forty-and-four years, and fell asleep in peace, famous for many graces, [sixth century.]
And elsewhere many other Holy Martyrs, Confessors and Holy virgins.
R. Thanks be to God
Morning Prayer
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Place Yourself in the Presence of God, and adore His holy Name.
Most holy and adorable Trinity, one God in three Persons, I believe that Thou art here present: I adore Thee with the deepest humility, and render to Thee, with my whole heart, the homage which is due to Thy sovereign majesty.
An Act of Faith
O my God, I firmly believe that Thou art one God in three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; I believe that Thy divine Son became man, and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, who canst neither deceive nor be deceived.
An Act of Hope
O my God, relying on Thy infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.
An Act of Love
O my God, I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because Thou art all-good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbour as myself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured.
Thank God for All Favours and Offer Yourself to Him.
O my God, I most humbly thank Thee for all the favours Thou hast bestowed upon me up to the present moment. I give Thee thanks from the bottom of my heart that Thou hast created me after Thine own image and likeness, that Thou hast redeemed me by the precious blood of Thy dear Son, and that Thou hast preserved me and brought me safe to the beginning of another day. I offer to Thee, O Lord, my whole being, and in particular all my thoughts, words, actions, and sufferings of this day. I consecrate them all to the glory of Thy name, beseeching Thee that through the infinite merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour they may all find acceptance in Thy sight. May Thy divine love animate them, and may they all tend to Thy greater glory.
Resolve to Avoid Sin and to Practice Virtue.
Adorable Jesus, my Saviour and Master, model of all perfection, I resolve and will endeavour this day to imitate Thy example, to be, like Thee, mild, humble, chaste, zealous, charitable, and resigned. I will redouble my efforts that I may not fall this day into any of those sins which I have heretofore committed (here name any besetting sin), and which I sincerely desire to forsake.
Ask God for the Necessary Graces.
O my God, Thou knowest my poverty and weakness, and that I am unable to do anything good without Thee; deny me not, O God, the help of Thy grace; proportion it to my necessities; give me strength to avoid anything evil which Thou forbiddest, and to practise the good which Thou hast commanded; and enable me to bear patiently all the trials which it may please Thee to send me.
The Lord’s Prayer...
The Hail Mary...
The Apostles’ Creed...
At this point, please go to the relevant text of Fr Hamon’s Meditation. Once I have read and meditated on the text, and its various points . I complete my meditation by saying:
Evening Prayer
Sunday in the Fourth Week: Multiplication of the Loaves
At that time, Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is that of Tiberias; and a great multitude followed Him, because they saw the miracles which He did on them that were diseased. Jesus therefore went up into a mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. Now the pasch, the festival-day of the Jews, was at hand. When Jesus therefore had lifted up His eyes, and seen that a very great multitude cometh to Him, He said to Philip: Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this He said to try him, for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered: Two hundred penny-worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little. One of His disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, saith to Him: There is a boy here that hath five barley loaves and two fishes; but what are these among so many? Then Jesus said: Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. The men therefore sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when He had given thanks, He distributed to them that were sat down. In like manner also of the fishes, as much as they would. And when they were filled He said to His disciples: Gather up the fragments that remain, lest they be lost. They gathered up therefore, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which remained over and above to them that had eaten. Now those men, when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had done, said: This is of a truth the prophet that is to come into the world. Jesus therefore, when He knew that they would come to take Him by force and make Him king, fled again into the mountain, Himself alone.
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation
We will meditate tomorrow: first, on the goodness of Jesus Christ in the multiplication of the material bread which nourishes the body; second, on His still greater goodness in the multiplication of the Eucharistic bread which nourishes the soul. We will then make the resolution: first, to unite with all our repasts a great feeling of gratitude towards Providence who gives them to us; second, to honour the Holy Eucharist by frequent and more fervent communions and by more regular and more recollected visits to the Blessed Sacrament. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of the Psalmist: “How good is God . . . to them that art of a right heart” (Ps. lxxii:1).
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore the tenderness of Jesus Christ towards the people who followed Him into the desert; His loving heart is moved by their needs, and He provides for them in a wholly miraculous manner. Let us adore His goodness, which shows itself in a far greater manner still in the institution of the Eucharistic bread which nourishes our souls. Oh, how greatly such goodness deserves our praise and our love!
The goodness of our Lord in the multiplication of the bread which nourishes the body
It was doubtless a great miracle to multiply five loaves of bread and two fishes to such an extent as to satisfy the hunger of five thousand men, and to fill twelve baskets with what remained. All those who were witnesses of this miracle had good reason to proclaim the author of it as King, and to attach themselves to Him so as never to be separated from Him any more. But every day Jesus renews, and will continue until the end of the world, a much more astonishing miracle, namely, the annual multiplication of grains and fruits, sufficient to feed the whole human race, and to give it not only what is necessary, but also what is agreeable; and the divine action which every year makes all the seeds germinate, grow, and ripen, in such a manner as to provide for all man’s wants, in every part of the globe. This striking miracle is hardly ever remarked by ungrateful men. Very few appreciate it, very few thank God for it from the bottom of their hearts. Many even go to the extent of making use of His benefits only in order to offend Him. And yet, O wonder of wonders! So much ingratitude does not wear out His love. He sheds His dew and His heat upon the field of the sinner as well as on that of the just. Oh, how good God is! What care He takes of His own! how just it is to love Him, to bless Him, and to offer thanks continually to Him!
The goodness of our Lord in the multiplication of the eucharistic bread which feeds souls
There is, in this single fact, a world of miracles. By it Jesus Christ multiplies His presence in as many places as there are altars where the priest sacrifices, in as many hosts as all the ciboriums in the world can hold, in as many particles as each host contains. By it Jesus Christ is always present in these places, remaining, after the sacrifice, in all the tabernacles, although forsaken, solitary, disowned, despised, assaulted by irreverences done to Him, profanations, outrages; and in the midst of it all He prays, He immolates Himself for men, who respond so ill to His love. By it He allows Himself to be distributed as food to all those who present themselves, even to the unworthy, to be borne to all the sick who desire to receive Him, even to the humblest cottage. By it He receives all who desire to speak to Him. He calls to the afflicted in order to console them, the feeble to sustain them, and there is not a moment during the day or night in which He is not happy to grant them an audience. By it He places all His graces at the disposition of those who will receive them, and whoever has recourse to Him may say with Job: “Deliver me, O Lord, and set me beside Thee, and let any man’s hand fight against me” (Job xvii:3). Can love go farther than this? And in presence of these miracles, what ought the heart to utter except praises and expressions of love to the God who has so loved men? And what part ought we to take if it be not that of receiving Him often and piously? His desire is to give Himself to us. Shall not our supreme desire be to give ourselves to Him?
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.
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