Lenten Prayer From Orthodox Faith

Quoted from Orthodox Channel [1] (Twitter: Orthodox Faith@since33):

Lenten Troparia

The doors of repentance do Thou open to me, O Giver of life, for my spirit waketh at dawn to pray towards Thy holy temple, bearing the temple of my body all defiled. But in Thy compassion, cleanse it by the loving kindness of Thy mercy.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit... [As it was in the beginning 

is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.]

Guide me in the paths of repentance, O Theotokos, for I have defiled my soul with shameful sins, and wasted all my life in laziness, but by thine intercessions, deliver me from all uncleanness.

Both now and ever, and unto ages of ages, Amen.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy; and according to the multitude of Thy compassions, blot out my transgression. When I think of the multitude of evil things I have done, I the wretched one, I tremble at the fearful Day of Judgment. But trusting in the mercy of Thy loving kindness; like David do I cry to Thee: Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy!

[1] https://t.me/Orthodox_Channel/804

Feast Of Saint Matthias The Apostle - 24 February

Quoted from Sensus Fidelium [1]:

An Apostle of Jesus Christ, St. Matthias is one of the Blessed choir which the Church would have us honor during the Season of Lent. Matthias was one of the first to follow our Savior, and he was an eyewitness of all his divine actions up to the very day of the Ascension. He was one of the seventy-two Disciples; but our Lord had not conferred upon him the dignity of an Apostle. And yet, he was to have this great glory, for it was of him that David spoke when he prophesied that another should take the Bishopric left vacant by the apostasy of Judas the Traitor. In the interval between Jesus’ Ascension and the Descent of the Holy Ghost, the Apostolic College had to complete the mystic number fixed by our Lord himself, so that there might be “The Twelve” on that solemn day when the Church, filled with the Holy Ghost, was to manifest herself to the Synagogue. The lot fell on Matthias; he shared with his Brother-Apostles in the Jerusalem persecution and, when the time came for the Ambassadors of Christ to separate, he set out for the countries allotted to him. Tradition tells us that these were Capadocia and the provinces bordering on the Caspian Sea.

[1] https://sensusfidelium.com/the-liturgical-year-dom-prosper-gueranger/february/february-24-st-matthias-apostle/#:~:text=February%2024%20%E2%80%93%20St.%20Matthias%2C%20Apostle%20In%20Leap-Year%2C,have%20us%20honor%20during%20the%20Season%20of%20Lent., quoted without italics.

Article On Saint José Luis Sánchez del Río (Feast Day - 10 February)

Quoted from TFP Student Action [1]:

In 1927, Catholic Mexico was immersed in a violent storm of religious persecution. The President of Mexico at that time was a despot named Plutarco Calles.  His hatred for the Church had no limits. He killed priests and burned churches. 

In legitimate self defense, countless Catholics took up arms to defend their Faith.  Whenever they charged into battle, the Cristeros, as they were called, shouted: "Viva Cristo Rey!" "Long live Christ the King!"

Young Jose Joins the Cristeros

Many Catholics shed their blood in this conflict.  Many were martyred. And Saint Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio was among them.  From a young age he had a great love and enthusiasm for the Blessed Sacrament, and encouraged his friends to have more devotion to Our Lord and Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Whenever Jose heard of the glorious battles of the Cristeros, which his two brothers were engaged in, his desire to join the holy army only intensified.  Finally, Jose wrote a letter to one of the Cristero Generals, Prudencio Mendoza, pleading to be allowed to fight. The general acquiesced.

Capture and Imprisonment

In a certain battle, Jose was rushing to bring a fellow soldier a new supply of ammo.  Just then, he caught sight of the General whose horse had been shot dead.  On foot, without a horse, the General was extremely vulnerable.  

Making a sacrifice that might cost him his life, Jose freely gave the general his own horse.  Moments later, he was caught by the federalists and locked up in a church sacristy that had been turned into a prison.  One of the guards had put a number of expensive fighting roosters inside the church for safekeeping.  This sacrilege troubled young Jose. He said: "This is not a barnyard! This is a place for God!"  He soon caught all the prized roosters and snapped their necks.

The enemies of Christ the King soon decided to kill him.

Holy Boldness in Defense of the Faith 

On the way to execution, soldiers struck him savagely with sharp machetes.  With every blow, the young boy cried out, "Viva Cristo Rey!"  When he got to the cemetery, he was bleeding heavily.  His torturers had also cut off the soles of his feet and forced him to walk on salt.  The boy screamed with pain but would not give in.  As the road was nothing but rocks and dirt, the stones where he had walked were soaked in his blood.  The soldiers said:  "If you shout, ‘Death to Christ the King’, we will spare your life."  He only answered: "Long live Christ the King! Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe!"

The commander ordered the soldiers to bayonet Jose.  They pierced his body.   But with every stab he only shouted louder and louder: "Viva Cristo Rey!"  The commander was so enraged that he pulled out his pistol and on February 10, 1928 killed Jose on the spot.  There was no trial. 

Blessed Jose is an outstanding example of faith and courage for all Catholic young men — for you— who wish to be faithful to Christ.  He was declared a martyr and was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on November 20, 2005.  Eleven years later, on October 16, 2016, Jose Sanchez del Rio was solemnly declared a saint. 

José Sánchez del Río was mentioned in the second to the last paragraph in the article (lots of historical facts - too long to quote in its entirety) entitled The true story of For Greater Glory  published by Catholic World Report [2]: 

Although the Mexican government had eliminated the Cristeros’ most charismatic leader, Gonzalez Flores’ murder served only to inflame the movement that he had inspired. He was instantly recognized as a martyr by the people of Jalisco, who would visit and pray before his grave. One of those who did so, asking for the grace of martyrdom, was Jose Sanchez del Rio, a 14-year-old boy whose death is portrayed in For Greater Glory.

[1] https://tfpstudentaction.org/blog/the-stunning-story-of-blessed-jose-sanchez-del-rio-featured-in-for-greater-glory

[2] https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2012/07/06/the-true-story-of/

Commemoration Of Saint Simeon - 18 February

Quoted from uCatholic [1]:

Saint Simeon was the son of Cleophas, otherwise called Alpheus, who was father also of Saint James the Lesser, the first bishop of Jerusalem, of Saint Jude the Apostle, and of another son named Joseph. Alpheus, according to tradition, was Saint Joseph’s brother; thus Saint Simeon was the nephew of Saint Joseph and the cousin of our Saviour.

We cannot doubt but that he was an early follower of Christ; tradition assigns the family’s residence to Nazareth. He certainly received the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, with the Blessed Virgin and the Apostles. When the Jews massacred Saint James the Lesser, his brother Simeon reproached them for their atrocious cruelty. After this first bishop of Jerusalem had been put to death in the year 62, that is, twenty-nine years after Our Saviour’s Resurrection, the Apostles and disciples met at Jerusalem to appoint a successor, and unanimously chose Saint Simeon, who had probably already assisted his brother in the government of that Church.

In the year 66 or 67, during which Saints Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom at Rome, civil war broke out in Judea as a result of the hostility of the Jews against the Romans and their seditions. The Christians of Jerusalem were warned by God of the impending destruction of that city. With Saint Simeon at their head, they therefore left it in that year and retired beyond the Jordan to a small city called Pella, before Vespasian, Nero’s General, later Roman Emperor, entered Judea. After the taking and burning of Jerusalem they returned there once more, still under the leadership of Saint Simeon, and settled amid its ruins.

The Jerusalem church flourished again for a few years until razed by Adrian, and multitudes of Jews were converted by the great number of prodigies and miracles wrought in its midst. The emperors Vespasian and Domitian had commanded all to be put to death who were of the race of David; but Saint Simeon escaped their searches. When Trajan renewed the same decree, however, certain heretics and Jews accused the Saint before the Roman governor in Palestine, as being both of the race of David and a Christian.

The holy bishop was condemned to be crucified. He died in the year 107, after having undergone during several days the usual tortures, though he was one hundred and twenty years old. He suffered these torments with so much patience that he won universal admiration. He had governed the Church of Jerusalem for about forty-three years.

 

[1] https://ucatholic.com/saints/simeon/

Saint Valentine Feast Day - 14 February

Quoted from Wikipedia [1]:

Saint Valentine (Italian: San Valentino; Latin: Valentinus) was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6. From the High Middle Ages, his Saints' [sic] Day has been associated with a tradition of courtly love. He is also a patron saint of Terni, epilepsy and beekeepers.

Saint Valentine was a clergyman – either a priest or a bishop – in the Roman Empire who ministered to persecuted Christians. He was martyred and his body buried at a Christian cemetery on the Via Flaminia on February 14, which has been observed as the Feast of Saint Valentine (Saint Valentine's Day) since at least the eighth century.

...

At least two different Saint Valentines are mentioned in the early martyrologies. For Saint Valentine of Rome, along with Saint Valentine of Terni, "abstracts of the acts of the two saints were in nearly every church and monastery of Europe", according to Professor Jack B. Oruch of the University of Kansas. 

Compare with Divinum Officium [2]:

February 14th 2022, the 12th day of the Moon, were born into the better life:

At Rome, upon the Flaminian Way, the blessed martyr Valentine, a Priest, who after much healing and teaching was cudgelled and beheaded under Claudius Caesar, [in the year 268.]

...

At Teramo, [in Umbria, in the year 273,] the holy martyr Valentine, Bishop of that see. He was heavily flogged and committed to jail, but as he would not yield he was thrown out of the prison in the silence of midnight and beheaded by command of Placidus, Prefect of the city. There likewise, [in the year 273,] the holy martyrs Proculus, Ephebus, and Apollonius, who were watching by the body of holy Valentine when they were apprehended by order of Leontius, the consular, and slain with the sword.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine, quoted without hyperlinks and references

[2] https://www.divinumofficium.com/cgi-bin/horas/officium.pl, under the section entitled Martyrologium , on February 13, 2022, selecting Ad Primam  Reduced 1955, quoted without italics, red and bold emphases.

First Apparition Of The Blessed Virgin Mary At Lourdes - 11 February

Quoted from Wikipedia [1]:

The Marian Apparitions at Lourdes were reported in 1858 by Bernadette Soubirous [2], a 14-year-old miller's daughter from the town of Lourdes in southern France.

From 11 February to 16 July 1858, she reported 18 apparitions of "a Lady". Soubirous described the lady as wearing a white veil and a blue girdle; she had a golden rose on each foot and held a rosary of pearls. After initial skepticism from the Clergy, these claims were eventually declared to be worthy of belief after a canonical investigation, and the apparition is known as Our Lady of Lourdes.

According to Soubirous, her visions occurred at the grotto of Massabielle, just outside Lourdes. On 16 July 1858, Soubirous visited the grotto for the last time and said: "I have never seen her so beautiful before." On 18 January 1862, the local bishop declared: "The Virgin Mary did appear indeed to Bernadette Soubirous." In 1958, Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical Le pèlerinage de Lourdes ("The pilgrimage to Lourdes") on the 100th anniversary of the apparitions. Pope John Paul II visited Lourdes three times; Pope Benedict XVI visited Lourdes on 15 September 2008 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the apparitions.

Soubirous was canonized a saint in 1933 by Pope Pius XI.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lourdes_apparitions

[2] For those who are interested in reading a comprehensive biography of Bernadette Soubirous, the book Bernadette Speaks: A Life Of Saint Bernadette Soubirous In Her Own Words  by René Laurentin, is a worthwhile read, translated from French to English by John W. Lynch, S.M., and Ronald DesRosiers, S.M. (S.M.- Society of Mary - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Mary_(Marists)#:~:text=%28January%202015%29%20%28%20Learn%20how%20and%20when%20to,of%20other%20seminarians%20in%20Lyon%2C%20France%2C%20in%201816).

Feast Of The Purification Of The Blessed Virgin Mary - 2 February (also called Feast Of The Presentation Of The Lord Jesus Christ)

Quoted from Simply Catholic [1]:

As early as the fourth century Christians commemorated the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, but, at the time, there was no feast name attached. In seventh-century Rome, the Church named the celebration the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Mother Mary, and it remained that way for nearly 1,300 years. In the reforms after Vatican II, the feast was given a stronger focus on Jesus (by stressing the Presentation of Jesus), but clearly the events of purification and presentation that took place when Jesus was 40 days old (see Lk 2:22-39) are tied together and thus commemorated together.

Quoted from Catholicism.org [2]:

The Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple.  Forty days after the birth of Jesus, His virginal Mother went to the Temple to fulfill the rite of purification, for which she had no need, but to which, in her humility, she submitted because it was one of the requirements of the Jews.  This was the first day Jesus ever entered a church.  He was carried there by His Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph, and presented to His Eternal Father in the Temple.  Most of the Jews, men and women, in the Temple in those days were wicked and faithless people.  There was one old man named Simeon [3] whose faith and belief in the coming of the Messias was still true.  He took the Child Jesus in his arms and uttered the beautiful canticle: “Now Thou dost dismiss Thy  servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in peace, because my eyes have seen Thy salvation which Thou has prepared before the face of all peoples; a light to the revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people, Israel.”

[1] https://www.simplycatholic.com/the-feast-of-the-presentation/

[2] https://catholicism.org/the-purification-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-1-ad.html, italics  original.

[3] Note:  Simeon mentioned here is from Luke 2:29-32, and is most likely different from Saint Simeon described by uCatholic at https://ucatholic.com/saints/simeon/, whose day of commemoration is on 18 February, see https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2022-02-18