20th SEPTEMBER: ST ANDREW KIM TAEGON AND COMPANIONS – KOREAN MARTYRS
~thread~ 1. During the persecutions of 1839, 1846, 1866, and 1867, one hundred and three Christians in Korea gave their lives as martyrs. Among them were Father Andrew Kim Taegon, #StAndrewKimTaegon#Sep20
2. and the lay apostle, Paul Chong Hasang. The martyrs included bishops and priests; many were members of the laity.
“I urge you to remain steadfast in faith, so that at last we will all reach heaven and there rejoice together.” (St Andrew Kim Taegon, Final Exhortation)
3. PRAYER:
O God,
You have created all nations
and You are their salvation.
In the land of Korea Your call to Catholic faith
formed a people of adoption,
whose growth You nurtured
by the blood of Andrew, Paul, and their companions.
4. Through their martyrdom and their intercession
grant us strength
that we too may remain faithful to Your commandments
even until death.
Amen.
-thread- 1. The beginning of true virtue is most ardently to desire it, and to ask it of God with the utmost assiduity and earnestness, and considering riches as nothing in comparison with this our only and inestimable treasure. Fervent prayer, #quotes
2. holy meditation, and reading pious books, are the principal means by which it is to be constantly improved, and the interior life of the soul to be strengthened. (From Fr Butler's Lives of the Saints)
3. PRECIOUS TIME
Is it possible that so many Christians, capable of finding in God their sovereign felicity, should amuse themselves with pleasures which flatter the senses, with reading profane books, and seeking an empty satisfaction in idle visits, #Christians#Twitter
2. that if Christianity were true, obviously the Roman Catholic Church, with her authority was right.
It was the testimony of a man who had no ax to grind. A Jewish dentist made the same remark in effect to me shortly afterwards. The man-in-the-street #Catholicism#Christianity
3. testifies the same with his: ‘If I were religious, I’d be a Roman Catholic.’
WHY SHOULD I STAKE MY IMMORTAL SOUL UPON HUMAN OPINION?
I entered upon an intensive study of the point. I read the history of the doctrine,
2. and to Mary, Mother of Mercy. Obtain for me through your intercession the grace to lead a holy life, to die a happy death and to attain the blessedness of eternity in Heaven.
Dear suffering souls, who long to be delivered in order to praise and glorify God in Heaven,
3. by your unfailing pity help me in the needs which distress me at this time, particularly (mention your request), so that I may obtain relief and assistance from God.
In gratitude for your intercession I offer to God on your behalf the satisfactory merits
-thread- 1.St Zaira is mentioned today's catalogue of feast days as being martyred in Spain, during the occupation of the Moors and as remembered on October 21.
Very little else is handed down to us about this saint, #StZaira
2. but making some reflections we can deduce some circumstances of her saintly life.
The name derives from the Arabic Zahirah and means "the rose" and often occurs in oriental literature, even in the form Zara.
In Spain, the occupation
3. of the Muslim Moors, provoked a strong religious persecution against the pre-existing Christians and their institutions, with the aim of imposing the islamic religion.
During this ordeal, there were many Christian martyrs, who resisted the injunctions,
-thread- 1. Bl. Charles was born in Persenbeug Castle on 17 August 1887 in Melk, Lower Austria to Archduke Otto and Princess Maria Josephine of Saxony. He received a solid Catholic education,
He married Princess Zita of Bourbon and Parma, and together they had eight children.
The assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand in 1914 marked the beginning of the First World War.
3. Upon the death of his great-uncle, Emperor Francis Joseph, Charles became emperor and king of Hungary. He saw his office as a mandate from God and as a way to implement Christian charity and social reform.