#optional-memorial — Public Fediverse posts

28 April: Blessed Maria Felicia of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament Guggeri Echeverría

WORKING TRANSLATION*

April 28
BLESSED MARIA FELICIA OF JESUS IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
Virgin

Optional Memorial

Blessed Maria Felicia of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament (Maria Felicia Guggiari Echeverría), commonly known as Chiquitunga, was born in Villarrica del Espiritu Santo, Paraguay on January 12, 1925. At the age of 16, she enthusiastically joined Catholic Action and took care of the elderly, the sick, and prisoners. This fruitful apostolic experience, supported by the daily Eucharist, resulted in her consecration to the Lord. She entered the Carmel of Asunción on February 2, 1955, characterized by a life of dedication, deep humility, and great generosity, enveloped in a healthy joy; the motto of her life was: “I OFFER EVERYTHING TO YOU, LORD”. She died at the age of 34, accepting her illness with serenity. She was beatified on June 23, 2018, by the delegate of Pope Francis, Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B.

From the Common of Virgins

Office of Readings

Second Reading
From the writings of Blessed Maria Felicia of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
(Positio, vol. II. Diarios Íntimos; pp. 323, 311, 308, 295, 54, 319, 294, 320, 335; Ltr. 47, p. 622; Ltr. 2b, p. 376)

Amidst all this, I feel that the apostolate, whether of prayer or of action, is my vocation

Amidst all this, I feel that the apostolate, whether of prayer or of action, is my vocation. My consecration to the Lord is done; nothing belongs to me anymore, nor do I belong to myself…. But why do I worry, Lord? If I have given myself to You and abandoned myself to You, what do I fear? My Jesus, my only Master, true Master of all my love, for whom I have given and surrendered and accepted ALL! I too would like one day to become a Saint. Give me strength for the struggle and above all give me much, much love, ardent love for You, Eucharistic Jesus, for the Ideal, for souls, make me a true apostle. In all the works I am doing, I try to put the seal of our Christian spirit, because I want everything to be saturated with Christ, and wherever I am, I can leave a ray of His light…. Not because it is me, You know that, Lord!

There, there I intend to be and to fulfill the Holy Father’s request: The presence of the Christian woman in today’s world, and to work until the day has twenty-five hours, until I fall surrendered with happiness for having had everything and having given everything, especially this affection, Lord, which, renewing my offering, I place it once again at your feet: I offer you everything, Lord! I saw myself more than once walking calmly… walking through homes, lavishing even just a smile as a spontaneous fruit of the grace pulsating in our souls, lighting up our bosom with Love, Divine Love. To be apostles, Lord, what a beautiful dream. I never imagined that I would be so happy, bringing comfort to those whose pain makes our life possible.

I want to embrace everything. May I always have a song and a smile on my lips, even if in my heart I bear the wounds of disappointment and misunderstanding, and even if everything around me collapses, may I sing your glories and say to you, “Thank you, Lord!” I am relatively calmer, almost indifferent, as if absent from all things. Above all, I want to increase my life of union with my God, deep intimacy, which I find quite difficult. How much I would really like to converse with Him, without worrying about times, moments, and places! I need it so much that I hope to be able to have those days to fill myself with my God and then be able to overflow his word, his example, his life in all souls!

I, on the other hand, have already decided on my vocation: I do not see my happiness outside of a total surrender, of abnegation and sacrifice, and of constant immolation of my life for the glory of God and the salvation of souls and the sanctification of priests!

On Wednesday, February 2, with a simple ceremony, God and the Virgin Mary willing, I will leave everything behind me, to embrace Him alone, the only one who can satisfy the unfathomable anxieties of the heart. My God, Most Holy Trinity, Jesus Crucified, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, I will ask only one thing of you, for the rest, the rest will truly come to me and you will give it to me in addition. What I ask for is Love to be able to love, and with it, I will lack nothing, I will have nothing to spare.

Responsory

R/. Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. * Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (alleluia).
V/. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him. * Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (alleluia).

Prayer (Official)

O God,
who in the Virgin Blessed Maria Felicia of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
gave us an excellent witness of love towards your Son
grant, that, following her example
we may live in the spirit of the beatitudes
and offer our lives for your glory and the salvation of the world.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

*This working translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product, provided as a reference for our readers. This office is based on the official Spanish text, kindly provided by the Central American Province of the Discalced Carmelite Friars; the Discalced Carmelite General Curia provided the closing prayer. We await the complete official English translation approved by the Holy See.

#BlessedMariaFeliciaOfJesusInTheBlessedSacrament #Chiquitunga #Liturgy #optionalMemorial #virgin

July 27
SAINT TITUS BRANDSMA
Priest and Martyr

Optional Memorial

Born in Bolsward (The Netherlands) in 1881, Saint Titus Brandsma joined the Carmelite Order as a young man. Ordained a priest in 1905, he earned a doctorate in philosophy in Rome. He then taught in various schools in Holland and was named professor of philosophy as Rector Magnificus. He was noted for his constant availability to everyone. He was a professional journalist, and in 1935 he was appointed the ecclesiastical advisor to Catholic journalists. Both before and during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands he fought, faithful to the Gospel, against the spread of Nazi ideology and for the freedom of Catholic education and of the Catholic press. For this, he was arrested and sent to a succession of prisons and concentration camps where he brought comfort and peace to his fellow prisoners and did good even to his tormentors. In 1942, after much suffering and humiliation, he was killed at Dachau. He was beatified in 1985 and canonized by Pope Francis on 15 May 2022.

From the Common of One Martyr, except the following:

Office of Readings

The Second Reading (Alternative 1)

Introduction to Het lijden vergoddelijkt

From the writings of Saint Titus Brandsma

The mysticism of the Passion

Jesus called Himself the head of the Mystical Body, of which we are the members. He is the vine, we are the branches. He laid Himself in the winepress and Himself trod it. He handed us the wine so that, drinking it, we might lead His life, might share His suffering. Whoever wishes to do My Will, let him daily take up his cross. Whoever follows me has the light of life. I am the way, He said. I have given you an example, so that as I have done so you may do also. And when His disciples did not understand that His way would be a way of suffering, He explained this to them and said, “Should not the Christ so suffer, in order to enter into His glory?”

Then the hearts of the disciples burned within them. God’s word had set them on fire. And when the Holy Spirit had descended on them to fan that divine fire into flame, then they were glad to suffer scorn and persecution, whereby they resembled Him Who had preceded them on the way of suffering.

The prophets had already marked His way of suffering; the disciples now understood that He had not avoided that way. From the crib to the cross, suffering, poverty and lack of appreciation were His lot. He had directed His whole life to teaching people how different is God’s view of suffering, poverty and lack of human appreciation from the foolish wisdom of the world. After sin, suffering had to follow so that, through the cross, man’s lost glory and life with God might be regained. Suffering is the way to heaven. In the cross is salvation, in the cross is victory. God willed it so. He Himself assumed the obligation of suffering in view of the glory of redemption. St. Paul makes it clear to us how all the disasters of this earthly life are insignificant, how they must be considered as nothing and passing, in comparison with the glory that will be revealed to us when the time of suffering is past, and we come to share in God’s glory.

Mary, who kept all God’s words in her heart, in the fullness of grace granted her, understood the great value of suffering. While the apostles fled, she went out to meet the Savior on the way to Calvary and stood beneath the cross, in order to share His grief and shame to the end. And she carried Him to the grave, firmly trusting that He would rise.

We object when He hands us the chalice of His suffering. It is so difficult for us to resign ourselves to suffering. To rejoice in it strikes us as heroic. What is the value of our offering of self if we unite ourselves each morning only in word and gesture, rather than in thought and will, to that offering which we, together with the Church, make of Him with whom we are in the one body?

Jesus once wept over Jerusalem.

Oh, that this day you had known the gift of God!

Oh, that this day we might realize the value God has placed on the suffering He sends: He, the All-Good.

Responsory

R/. God forbid that I glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, * by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
V/. We preach Christ crucified, to others a stumbling block and a folly, but to us the power and the wisdom of God, * by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Prayer

Lord our God, source and giver of life,
you gave to Saint Titus the Spirit of courage
to proclaim human dignity and the freedom of the Church,
even in the throes of degrading persecution and death.
Grant us that same Spirit
so that in the coming of your kingdom of justice and peace
we might never be ashamed of the Gospel
but be enabled to recognize your loving-kindness
in all the events of our lives.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.

Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/07/25/tituslit24/

#BlessedTitusBrandsma #Carmelite #Dachau #LiturgyOfTheHours #martyr #Netherlands #optionalMemorial #priest