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THE DOCTORS AND BLESSINGS
It is perhaps fitting and a blessing that this website, www.doctorsofthecatholicchurch.com , started with St Bede, the Venerable, on 5/25/2000 in a location where the mother tongue is English. Bede is the only English-speaking doctor and bears the titled Father of English History. He was a holy historian and chiefly remembered for giving us an account of Christianity in England. Saint Bede the Venerable is the Patron of Historians and Scholars.
"Bless the Lord oh my soul and let everything in me bless his Holy Name”. This quotation constantly streamed out of the venerable one’s mouth. Bless and glorify God with every creature you see, with every breath you breathe and every thought you think. That is Bede’s message. It is the meaning that this saint beckons us to strive for daily.
St Bede is one of the thirty-three doctors of the catholic church and access to him can be found on the sidebar or click on the below link.
ST. BEDE, THE VENERABLE 5/25
There is more information on blessings incorporated into the life of this doctor and I will use some as the introduction for this section.
Introduction
Glory, honor and holiness are blessings and characteristics that God possesses and bestows on all creation daily. Pray to Bede in holy prayers that God would bless us and all humanity from the Deity’s rich abundance of favors and gifts. Beg for blessings for oneself and others with great anticipation. Blessings are received by prayer through our faith, hope, and charity. When we confidently trust and believe in God's goodness and holy love, practice charity to others and seek God’s will, our merciful God will bless us with supernatural riches non-stop!
How much will God bless us? More than we can imagine. No one, even today, can calculate the number of stars. Nevertheless, God tells us that blessings for us and our descendants will be greater than the number of stars. Imagine that! The eternal God will bless us unlimitedly when we obey and are loyal to his will and show charity to all.
We need to explain the word "charity" for through many translations we have forgotten the other more important word of love that is Agape
God’s Love Is More Than a Feeling We need to focus on exactly what agape is…Feelings come to us; agape comes from us. Feelings are passive and receptive. Agape is active and creative. Feelings are instinctive, agape is chosen. We are not responsible for our feelings, for we cannot help how we feel. But we are responsible for our agape or lack of it because our choice to love comes not from wind, weather, digestion, good vibrations, heredity, or environment, but from our own heart, the center of our being. [soul]...This is taken
from author Peter Kreeft from which I know in detail the information on Agape and that makes all the difference in the world. His book is The God Who Loves You and parts of it are listed on the sidebar of this website below under the the same title
www.doctorsofthecatholicchurch.com
The word blessing has a variety of meanings but strictly speaking-only God blesses. The Blessed One looks favorably upon persons or things. Blessings are the action of God expressing his kindness toward human beings, the favor he grants us, and the gifts that come from God's person. All can perform blessings according to one's position. Laity perform private, personal and individual blessings. Clergy perform many public blessings and naturally they can bless personally and individually as well. Blessings are done both by hands or words. The bible, especially the Psalms and the Canticles, invite us to bless the Lord with our words, lives and actions. Information about blessing can be found in Dictionary of the Liturgy, Rev. Jovian P. Lang, OFM. p 68-70 and My hands are held out to you, Giancarol Maroni, pp.37-40.
One of the most powerful ways to bless is to pray. When the Holy Spirit moves us in prayer by God's gift, the church is blessed and all its members and all creatures that are part of the church in a mystical manner, regardless of our holy and sacred religion.
“In Anglo-Saxon the name Bede or Baeda means prayer. St Bede certainly merited the name. For he was always primarily the monk, devoted to praising and thanking God. Nothing came before this. It was a part of himself from the time he entered the monastery…The spirit of prayer breathes through the writings of St. Bede. He is always turned toward God. He closes The Ecclesiastical History with a formal prayer:
And now, I beseech Thee, good Jesus, that to whom Thou has graciously granted sweetly to partake of the words of Thy wisdom and knowledge, Thou wilt also vouchsafe that me may some time or other come to Thee, the fountain of all wisdom, and always appear before Thy face, Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.” Taken from The 33 Doctors of the Church by Fr.Christopher Rengers, O.F.M. Cap. Founded in the doctoral sources. Link below.
DOCTORAL SOURCES/LINKS
DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, JOHN CHRYSOSTOM: PRAY OF LONGING
Link on ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM 9/13
"Prayer is the light of the spirit. Prayer and converse with God is a supreme good: it is a partnership and union with God. As the eyes of the body are enlightened when they see light, so our spirit, when it is intent on God, is illumined by his infinite light. I do not mean the prayer of outward observance but prayer from the heart, not confined to fixed times, or periods but continuous throughout the day and night.
Our spirit should be quick to reach out toward God not only when it is engaged in meditation; at other times also, when it is carrying out its duties, caring for the needy, performing works of charity, giving generously in the service of others, our spirit should long for God, and call him to mind, so that these works may be seasoned with the salt of God's love, and so make a palatable offering to the Lord of the universe. Throughout the whole of our lives we may enjoy the benefit that comes from prayer if we devote a great deal of time to it.
Prayer is the light of the spirit, true knowledge of God, mediating between God and man. The spirit, raised up to heaven by prayer, clings to God with the utmost tenderness; like a child crying tearfully for its mother, it craves the milk that God provides. It seeks the satisfaction of its own desires, and receives gifts outweighing the whole world of nature.
Prayer stands before God as an honored ambassador. It gives joy to the spirit, peace to the heart. I speak of prayer, not words. It is the longing for God, love too deep for words, a gift not given by man but by God's grace. The apostle Paul says: "We do not know how we are to pray but the Spirit himself pleads for us with inexpressible longings." Rom. 8:26.
When the Lord gives this kind of prayer to [someone]; he gives him riches that cannot be taken away, heavenly food that satisfies the spirit. One who tastes this food is set on fire with an eternal longing for the Lord: his spirit burns as in a fire of the utmost intensity.
Practice prayer from the beginning. Paint your house with the colors of modesty and humility. Make it radiant with the light of justice. Decorate it with the finest gold leaf of good deeds. Adorn it with the walls and stones of faith and generosity. Crown it with the pinnacle of prayer. In this way you will make it a perfect dwelling place for the Lord. You will be able to receive him as in a splendid palace, and through his grace you will already possess him, his image enthroned in the temple of your spirit. "
A PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT FROM SAINT ISIDORE OF SEVILLE
Link on ST. ISIDORE, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH. 4/4
The following is a 7th-century prayer of St. Isidore of Seville, composed for the Synod of Toledo and frequently used in General Councils of the Church,
including Vatican Council II (Oikoumene, Archdiocese of St. Louis, May, 1964).
O Holy Spirit, Lord, we stand in Thy Presence aware of our sinfulness, but conscious that we have gathered together with special purpose in Thy name.
Come to us and be with us. Be pleased to touch our hearts. Teach us what we must do, how we must proceed, and show us what we must accomplish, that by Thine
aid, we may please Thee in all things.
O Holy Spirit, be for us the only instigator and guide in our judgments, Thou Who alone with God the Father and His Son bear this ineffable name. May thou Who lovest perfect
equity not permit us to be disturbers of justice. Do not permit ignorance to turn us from what is right; do not permit unworthy motives to change our course, nor considerations
of person or gain to corrupt us. Rather, join us to Thyself effectively with the gifts of Thy Grace.
O Holy Spirit, may we be one in Thee and not be defected from truth. As we are presently gathered in Thy Name, so may we always join justice with religion
that for the present time our convictions may not separate us from Thee, and in the future, we may attain eternal reward for our deeds well done. Amen.
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This section includes Blessing of the Manifestion of the Holy Spirit as highlighted by the Magnificat monthly.
In Magnificat monthly there is a
section related to blessings each month. The below is taken from the May 2008 issue.
"On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ’s Passover
is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given, and
communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours out
the Spirit in abundance (cf. Acts 2:33-36).
“On that day, the Holy Trinity is fully revealed. Since that day, the kingdom
announced by Christ has been open to those who believe in him: in the humility
of flesh and in faith, they already share in the communion of the Holy Trinity.
By his coming, which never ceases, the Holy Spirit causes the world to enter
into the ‘last days,’ the time of the Church, the kingdom already inherited
though not yet consummated.” (CCC 731-732)
Word of God
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. 1
Cor 12:7;
Blessing of the Manifestation of the Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit...
“Before the Holy Spirit came, the humanity of Christ, to which human affection
clung, needed to be taken away from before the eyes of the disciples. We were
not able to receive both Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and neither could we endure
the presence of both.” (Saint Augustine)
“The Holy Spirit, finding us in a state of deformity restores our original
beauty and fills us with his grace, leaving no room for anything unworthy of
his love.” (Didymus of Alexandria)
“The presence of the gift of the Holy Spirit is the fuller the greater a
person’s desire to be worthy of it.” (Saint Hilary)
“Only the Holy Spirit can purify the intellect, for unless a greater power
comes and overthrows the despoiler, what he has taken captive will never be set
free.” (Saint Diadochos of Photiki)
“No one can ever attain to the remedy of forgiveness who does not have the Paraclete
to intercede for him. For it is through him we call upon the Father; from him come
the tears of repentance, from him the groans of
those who kneel in supplication.” (Saint Leo the Great)
“The fire of the Holy Spirit, like a refining fire with gold, makes what is
good better, and devours sin as stubble.” (Saint Ambrose)
“See how the Holy Spirit wipes away all this iniquity, and uplifts to the highest
dignity those who before had been betrayed by their own sins." (Saint John Chrysostom)
“The Holy Spirit comes gently. He is not felt as a burden. The Spirit comes
with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to heal, to teach,
to counsel, to strengthen, to console. The Holy Spirit enables us to see things
beyond the range of human vision.” (Saint Cyril of Jerusalem)
“The Holy Spirit interiorly perfects our spirit, communicating to it a new
dynamism so that it refrains from evil for love…In this way it is free – not in
the sense that it is not subject to the divine law; it is free because its
interior dynamism makes it do what divine law prescribes.” (Saint Thomas
Aquinas)
“Fittingly did the Holy Spirit appear in fire because in every heart that he
enters into he drives out the torpor of coldness, and kindles there the desire
of his own eternity. As the Spirit touches a soul, he teaches it. The human
spirit suddenly changes; it rejects on the instant what it was, and shows
itself at once as it was not.” (Saint Gregory the Great)
“With the Holy Spirit within them it is quite natural for people who had been
absorbed by the things of this world to become entirely other-worldly in
outlook, and for cowards to become people of great courage.” (Saint Cyril of Alexandria)
“Through the Holy Spirit we acquire a likeness to God; indeed, we attain what is beyond our most
sublime aspirations – we become God.” (Saint Basil)
Our Father…
Composed by Father Peter John Cameron, O.P.
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