They stayed for love of Him...

 May I never boast except in the cross 

of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which 

the world has been crucified to me,

and I to the world. - Galatians 6:14

"Fr Paul Miki was the son of an affluent Japanese military chief and a gifted evangelist who strongly defended the faith against Buddhism.  When the political climate became hostile to Christianity in Japan, the missionaries were ordered to leave.  He and fellow Jesuit missionaries decided to continue their ministry in secret.  The Jesuits did not want to leave the faithful without the Holy Eucharist and Sacraments. They were eventually arrested.

Fr Miki was martyred along with two other Jesuits and 23 other Christians - united in a common faith and love for Jesus Christ and His Church.  They were killed simultaneously by being raised on crosses and then stabbed with spears. The people pushed near, dipped cloths into the wounds and cut off pieces of the clothing of the holy martyrs as holy relics.

When missionaries returned to Japan in the 1860s, at first they found no trace of Christianity. But after establishing themselves they found that thousands of Christians lived around Nagasaki and  that they had secretly preserved the faith.  The survival of Japanese Catholicism is one of the most moving stories in the entire history of the Church. For over two centuries the people had no priests but lived the faith as best they could, in secret, not daring to keep written materials but handing down their beliefs by word of mouth." 

Excerpt ~ James Hitchcock, The Nagasaki Martyrs

Photo credit:  Jeffrey Bruno 

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St. Paul Miki and Companions

Martyrs ~ Japan (d. 1597)

Feast Day - Feb 6

Click here: St. Paul MIki - YouTube

Click here: St. Paul Miki and the Rise of Japan’s Hidden Christians | Crisis Magazine

 While hanging upon a cross Fr Paul Miki 

preached to the people gathered for the execution:

“The sentence of judgment says these men came to Japan from the Philippines, but I did not come from any other country. I am a true Japanese. The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I certainly did teach the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason I die. I believe that I am telling only the truth before I die. I know you believe me and I want to say to you all once again: Ask Christ to help you to become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ’s example I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.”

At this point, he turned his eyes toward his companions and began to encourage them in their final struggle.  The faces of them all shone with great gladness.  Another Christian shouted to him that he would soon be in paradise.  "Like my Master," murmured Paul, "I shall die upon the cross.  Like Him, a lance will pierce my heart so that my blood and my love will flow out upon the land and sanctify it to His name."

As they awaited death the entire group sang the Canticle of Zechariah (see Luke 1:67–79). The executioners stood by respectfully until they had intoned the last verse. Then at a given  signal they thrust their spears into the victims’ sides.  - Excerpt from Bert Ghezzi, Voices of the Saints

St Paul Miki and Companions, pray for us!

The side of victory...

  "They always win who side with God."

Fr Frederick W Faber

 

Francisco Javier Diaz | Shutterstock

 

"Have a great love for Jesus in 

His divine Sacrament of Love; 

this is the divine oasis of the desert.  
It is the heavenly manna of the traveler.  

It is the Holy Ark.  It is the life and

Paradise of love on earth."

 St Peter Julian Eymard

 

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Remembering today:

St Agatha
Sicily - 231-251
Virgin and Martyr
Patron: Sicily, breast cancer, against fire, 

rape victims, wet nurses

Feast Day - Feb 5

 

"Jesus Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart,

you know my desires.  Possess all that I am. 

I am your sheep:  make me worthy

to overcome the devil." - St Agatha

 

St. Agatha - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online

St. Agatha, the early Church martyr who tradition says was visited by St. Peter

Friends should live together...

 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant 

does not know what his master is doing;

but I have called you friends, for all 

that I have heard from my Father I have 

made known to you. - John 15:15

 "It is the law of friendship that 

friends should live together. . . . 

Christ has not left us without His 

bodily presence in this our pilgrimage, but 

He joins us to Himself in this sacrament 

in the reality of His body and blood."

St Thomas Aquinas

Summa Theologiae, III q. 75, a. 1

Everything flows from the altar...

 For we do not preach ourselves, 

but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves 

as your servants for Jesus' sake. 

 2 Cor 4:5

Invoked for the healing of throat diseases, St. Blaise wrote:

“Father of mercy and God of all consolation, 

graciously look upon me and impart to me 

the blessing which flows from this 

Holy Sacrament [the Eucharist].  Overshadow 

me with Your loving kindness, and 

let this divine Mystery bear fruit in me." 

 St Blaise

Armenia + 316

Physician, Bishop, Martyr

Patron of Throat Diseases

and the Wool Trade

Feast Day – Feb 3

 Image:Cristi Lucaci | Shutterstock

At first he was a doctor who … Attended human life … And then he ministered to souls … In spiritual strife … A bishop in Armenia … St. Blaise acquired fame … By many healings he performed … In God’s most holy name … Especially the little child  … Who nearly choked to death … And through St Blaise’s prayers returned  … To free and normal breath … And that is why one day each year … His saintliness we note … And ask his prayers to guard us from … Diseases of the throat … And even more important to … St Blaise’s great renown … Is all the torture he endured … To earn his martyr’s crown. 

Protect our throats, St Blaise, from all … Those sicknesses today … And from the utterance of words … That we should never say … Lend wisdom to our voice, St Blaise … And pray that we may be … Forever steadfast in our faith … For God eternally.

From Poem Portraits of the Saints by James J Metcalfe (1956)

Click here: St. Blaise - YouTube (2 mins)

Today's blessing:  

Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, 

bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every 

disease of the throat and from every other illness. 

In the name of the Father, 

and of the Son, 

+ and of the Holy Spirit.

St Blaise, pray for us!

Present yourself: today and every day...

  Feast of the Presentation of the Lord*

February  2

Today the Church celebrates the Presentation of Jesus 

in the Temple at Jerusalem.  In that same spirit, 

we present ourselves today to the Lord, especially 

in the Mass. Present yourself to Jesus today. 
Receive His life-giving light and love.

Simeon and Anna:  Jan van 't Hoff

“Simeon gave back Jesus to His Mother,

he was only suffered to keep

Him for one moment.

But we are far happier than Simeon.

We may keep Him always if we will.

In Communion

He comes not only into our arms

but into our hearts.”- St John Vianney

 

This Feast is also known as Candlemas Day,

since the blessing and procession of candles

is included in today's liturgy. 

The symbolism of the candles is described

by Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB, in his "Liturgical Year":

The mystery of today's ceremony has frequently been explained by liturgists, dating from the 7th century. According to Ivo of Chartres, the wax, which is formed from the juice of flowers by the bee, always considered as the emblem of virginity, signifies the virginal flesh of the Divine Infant, who diminished not, either by His conception or His birth, the spotless purity of His Blessed Mother. The same holy bishop would have us see, in the flame of our Candle, a symbol of Jesus who came to enlighten our darkness. St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, speaking on the same mystery, bids us consider three things in the blessed Candle: the wax, the wick, and the flame. The wax, he says, which is the production of the virginal bee, is the Flesh of our Lord; the wick, which is within, is His Soul; the flame, which burns on top, is His divinity.

The candles kept by the faithful in their homes 

should be seen as a sign of Christ "the light of the world" 

and an expression of faith.
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From the Pieta prayer book:

to pray while burning a blessed candle

in one's home during a storm:

Jesus Christ a King of Glory has come in Peace.+ God became man, + and the Word was made flesh.+ Christ was born of a Virgin.+ Christ suffered.+ Christ was crucified.+ Christ died.+ Christ rose from the dead.+ Christ ascended into Heaven.+ Christ conquers.+ Christ reigns.+ Christ commands.+ 

May Christ protect us from all storms and lightning. + Christ went through their midst in Peace, + and the Word was made Flesh.+ Christ is with us with Mary.+ Flee you enemy spirits because the Lion of the Generation of Judah, the Root David, has won.+ Holy God+ Holy Powerful God! + Holy Immortal God! + Have mercy on us. Amen. 

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“Christ Himself says, ‘I am the light of the world.’ And we are the light, we ourselves, if we receive it from Him.... But how do we receive it, how do we make it shine? ...The candle tells us: by burning, and being consumed in the burning. A spark of fire, a ray of love, an inevitable immolation are celebrated over that pure, straight candle, as, pouring forth its gift of light, it exhausts itself in silent sacrifice." - Pope St Paul VI

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More on the Feast of the Presentation:

*The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord marks the time when Mary and Joseph first brought Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem. According to Mosaic Law, after a time (40 days) of waiting, Mary was to bring an offering to the priest as purification after her having given birth (Leviticus 12:2-8). Hence, this feast is also known as the Purification of the Blessed Virgin. It was also within the context of this event that the Holy Family meets Simeon and Anna, encounters which are recorded in Luke 2:22ff.
                The encounter with Simeon has given us one of the most beautiful and haunting canticles (songs) the Church has today. The words that Simeon spoke upon encountering the infant Jesus have been recited and sung through all the ages of the Church. The prayer is called the Nunc Dimittis, Latin words which comprise the first words of the prayer. Here is the complete text in English, taken from the Liturgy of the Hours:

    Lord, now you let your servant go in peace; 

Your word has been fulfilled.

My eyes have seen the salvation
 You have prepared in the sight of every people, 
A light to reveal you to the nations 

and the glory of your  people, Israel.   

To add to the haunting beauty of these words, the Nunc Dimittis is typically said at the office of Night Prayer, just before going to bed, when, as we lay ourselves down to rest, we also look ahead to our eternal rest. It’s a wonderful grown-up bedtime prayer! (Hat tip:  Patrick Conley)