Spiritual Bouquet
A different meditation each time you click.
| Meditations by Padre Pio |
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When you have distractions don't distract yourself still more by stopping to consider the why and the wherefore. Just as a traveller who misses his way, returns to the right road as soon as he is aware of it, you should continue to meditate without stopping in the distractions which you had. |
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Collect: According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Justin, martyr and also the commemoration of Sts. Tiburtius, Valerian and Maximus, martyrs who died with St. Cecilia. St. Justin's feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on June 1.
Sts. Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus Valerian and Tiburtius devoted themselves to good works on behalf of the Christian community, and they made it their special duty to give proper burial to those Christians who were put to death by order of the prefect Almachius. The two brothers were themselves soon sentenced for refusing to sacrifice to Jupiter. Maximus, a Roman officer charged with their execution, was converted by a vision that came to him in the hour of their death. After professing Christianity, he too suffered martyrdom. The three were buried by the grieving Cecilia, and a little later she herself was sentenced. Excerpted from Lives of Saints, Published by John J. Crawley & Co., Inc.
Daily Readings for: April 14, 2011
(Readings on USCCB website)
RECIPES
ACTIVITIES
PRAYERS
14th Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent Old Calendar: St. Justin, martyr; Sts. Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus, martyrs
When the wedding day came, St. Cecilia sat apart from the guests, repeating psalms and praying. After the ceremony, when the guests had departed and she was alone with her husband, Valerian, Cecilia made known her great desire to remain as she was, saying that she already had a lover, an angel of God, who was very jealous. Valerian, shaken by suspicion, fear, and anger, said to her: "Show me this angel. If he is of God, 
I shall refrain, as you wish, but if he is a human lover, you both must die." Cecilia answered: "If you believe in the one true and living God and receive the water of baptism, then you shall see the angel." Valerian assented, and following his wife's directions sought out a bishop named Urban, who was in hiding among the tombs of the martyrs, for this was a time of persecutions. Valerian made his profession of faith and the bishop baptized him. When the young husband returned, he found an angel with flaming wings standing beside Cecilia. The angel placed chaplets of roses and lilies on their heads. The brother of Valerian, Tiburtius, was also converted; and after being baptized he too experienced many marvels.
The Station at Rome is in the church of St. Apollinaris, who was a disciple of St. Peter, and afterwards bishop of Ravenna. He was martyred. The church was founded in the early Middle Ages, probably in the 7th century.