From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   January 1st - St. Joseph Mary Tommasi, Cardinal (RM)   
      
   Born at Alicata, Sicily, in 1649; died in Rome on January 1, 1713; beatified   
   in   
   1803; canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1986.   
   Joseph was the son of the duke of Palermo, Italy. Although his family was   
   wealthy and influential, they were very devout. Four of his sisters became   
   nuns   
   and even his mother and father eventually entered religious life. After   
   receiving an excellent education, Joseph joined the Theatines at the age of   
   16.   
      
   From 1673, he was stationed in Rome, where, for a time, he was overly   
   scrupulous   
   and lived nearly as a hermit. Joseph devoted his great natural gifts to the   
   methodical study of the liturgy and produced several very valuable works on   
   the   
   subject, including texts of the Sacramentaries and the Psalter. In 1697, he   
   worked for the Vatican and, in 1704, he was appointed theologian to the   
   congregation in charge of religious orders.   
      
   He was the confessor of Cardinal Albani, who, upon being elected pope   
   (Clement   
   XI), was ordered by Blessed Joseph to accept the papacy under pain of mortal   
   sin. The pope retaliated by appointing Joseph cardinal.   
      
   Joseph continued his simple life even as a cardinal: his food was sparse, he   
   went to choir with his community, and the only music he allowed at his Mass   
   was   
   plainsong accompanied by the organ. Even in this baroque age of over-wrought   
   ornamentation in art and music, people from all parts of Rome flocked to   
   hear   
   him say Mass. He was wont to teach the catechism himself to the children in   
   his   
   titular church. And the poor continued to flock around him.   
      
   In late 1712, he prophesied his own death and chose the spot for his burial   
   in   
   his titular church. He celebrated Christmas for the last time in spite of   
   illness and later delirium. Cures were wrought around his deathbed and   
   through   
   the agency of his clothing. This prince of liturgists blended constant and   
   exacting scholarship with an exemplary life of poverty and simplicity   
   (Benedictines, Farmer).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   "What are all the gains, all the fortunes, all the offices and careers, even   
   all   
   the kingdoms of the world, compared to an offence against God, to a sin   
   which is   
   the greatest evil in the world? There is no work greater or more noble   
   either in   
   heaven or on earth than this: to prevent offences [sins] against God."   
   -St. Joseph Cafasso (Confessor, 1811-1860) - "The Priest The Man Of God. His   
   Dignity and Duties   
      
   Bible Quotes:   
   "I say to you that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that   
   doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance"  (Luke   
   15:7)   
      
   "My brethren, if any of you err from the truth, and one convert him: He must   
   know that he who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way,   
   shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins"  (James   
   5:19-20)   
      
      
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   In the traditional cycle today is the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord.   
   In   
   the Old Law, by rite of Circumcision, every male Jew became a member and   
   shared   
   in all the blessings and privileges of the chosen people of God.  A Jew who   
   failed to be initiated by the ceremony was excluded. Our Lord is the Son of   
   God   
   by nature, and absolutely sinless, and therefore did not need adoption into   
   the   
   membership of God's children.  Yet, he submitted to the Law.  Today the   
   Church   
   also celebrates the Holy Name of Jesus, given at the rite of Circumcision.   
      
   In the new cycle, today is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.  Always   
   held in   
   faith amongst the laity and clergy, Mary was declared Mother of God, by   
   penalty   
   of anathema, for all Christendom at the Council of Ephesus in AD 431.   
      
      
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   THIRTY-ONE DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE HOLY SOULS   
   FROM THE PURGATORIAN MANUAL   
    (Imprimatur 1946)   
      
      
   Eleventh Day   
      
   OUR DUTY TO RELIEVE THE SOULS IN PURGATORY   
      
        In bestowing charity upon any person, we are usually guided by the   
   degree   
   of his poverty; but, who is in such great need as he who possesses   
   absolutely   
   nothing, owes a heavy debt, is unable to labor or gain any merit, or even to   
   beg, and must nevertheless suffer the most excruciating torments until the   
   last   
   farthing has been paid? There is a universal law to assist the needy, which   
   extends even to strangers ; but here the obligation is greatest, because   
   among   
   these souls in Purgatory, are such as were intimately connected with us, who   
   suffer, perhaps, for having loved us excessively. Among the sufferers are   
   our   
   fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, relatives, and friends. How exceedingly   
   painful for them to be forgotten and deserted even by those whose happiness   
   they   
   promoted during their sojourn upon earth; to see the possessions left to   
   their   
   children foolishly squandered, they themselves not receiving the benefit of   
   the   
   least farthing thereof ! What proofs of extreme coldness and ingratitude !   
   Were   
   any of these persons afflicted with the least pain upon earth, we would do   
   all   
   in our power to relieve them, but, as it is, we are devoid of all sympathy,   
   and   
   leave them in their terrible suffering and anguish.   
      
   Prayer: Have mercy, O Lord, upon the suffering souls in Purgatory, and   
   mitigate   
   the severity of Thy judgment, that they, who, during their earthly lives   
   believed in Thee hoped in Thee, and loved Thee, may receive the crown of   
   justice   
   in Heaven. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.   
      
   Special Intercession: Pray for the souls of those who are suffering for   
   their   
   negligence in-praying for the souls in Purgatory.   
      
   Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon   
   them;   
   may they rest in peace. Amen.   (Three times)   
      
   Practice: Suffer patiently the disagreeable occurrences in your intercourse   
   with   
   others.   
      
   Invocation:     My Jesus, mercy!   
      
   See 31day prayer at:   
   http://www.faithfuldeparted.net/prayers.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)