-- Psalm 37:23-24 --

The Royal Road of the Holy Cross  (5)

 Either you will experience bodily pain or you will undergo
tribulation of spirit in your soul. At times you will be forsaken by
God, at times  troubled by those about you and, what is worse, you
will often grow weary of yourself. You cannot escape, you cannot be
relieved by any remedy or comfort but must bear with it as long as God
wills. For He wishes you to learn to bear trial without consolation,
to submit yourself wholly to Him that you may become more humble
through suffering. No one understands the passion of Christ so
thoroughly or heartily as the man whose lot it is to suffer the like
himself.
--Thomas =C3=A0 Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 2, Chapter 12

<<>><<>><<>>
12 September =E2=80=93 Blessed Apolinaris Franco Garcia OFM

 (1575-1622)
 Priest, Martyr, Franciscan Friar (Observant), Missionary to Japan.
Additional Memorials =E2=80=93 10 September as one of the 205 Martyrs of
Japan, 22 May as one of the Franciscan Martyrs of Japan. Also known as
=E2=80=93 Apollinar, Apolinar Garcia.

Soon after the glorious Martyrdom of St Peter Baptist and his 25
companions at Nagasaki in 1597, numerous missionaries were able to
return to Japan and for a time their work was crowned with
extraordinary success. However, in 1613 a new persecution commenced,
far worse than the first and it lasted until 1638, when Japan adopted
a policy of complete isolation. During this persecution some
missionaries were able to hide themselves in the mountains and to
continue their work in secret, at least for a time and some, including
our Blessed Franciscan, even managed to enter the country. Many of
them, together with a large number of their converts, won the Martyr=E2=80=
=99s
Crown.

Blessed Apollinaris was born in Old Castile, Spain where he joined the
Franciscan Order. In 1614, he was sent to Japan to head the Japanese
Franciscan mission, the year after that the new Japanese Shogun had
instituted a nationwide ban on Christianity and declared that being a
Christian, would be viewed as a capital offence.

Friar Apollinaris Franco evangelised covertly until he was arrested in
1617 and thrown into prison in Nagasaki along with other Priests and
laymen. There, they spent five years awaiting execution. The
conditions in the prison were exceedingly harsh and inhuman =E2=80=93 which
was intentional, hoping by this means to force the prisoners to reject
the Faith.

Apollinaris ministered to the other prisoners and converted some of
the jailers through his example and teaching. On 12 September 1622, he
was burned at the stake along with other Franciscans and Jesuits.

Blessed Apollinaris and his companions, were declared Blessed by Pope
Pius IX on 27 July 1867. On the same occasion, one hundred and sixty
other Japanese martyrs who died between 1617 and 1632 were Beatified.

https://anastpaul.com/2021/09/12/


Saint Quote:
Would we wish that our own hidden sins should be divulged? We ought,
then, to be silent regarding those of others.
--St. John Baptist de la Salle

Bible Quote
"Yahweh spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' adjutant. He said [...]
every pace you tread with the soles of your feet I shall give you, as
I declared to Moses that I would. From the desert and the Lebanon, to
the Great River, the Euphrates (the entire country of the Hittites),
and as far as the Great Sea to westward, is to be your territory. As
long as you live, no one will be able to resist you; I shall be with
you as I was with Moses; I shall not fail you or desert you."
[Joshua 1:1b-5]


<><><><>
    The Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary

   Mary always points us to God, reminding us of God's infinite
goodness. She helps us to open our hearts to God's ways, wherever
those may lead us. Honored under the title =E2=80=9CQueen of Peace,=E2=80=
=9D Mary
encourages us to cooperate with Jesus in building a peace based on
justice, a peace that respects the fundamental human rights (including
religious rights) of all peoples.
   =E2=80=9CLord our God, when your Son was dying on the altar of the cross=
,
he gave us as our mother the one he had chosen to be his own mother,
the Blessed Virgin Mary; grant that we who call upon the holy name of
Mary, our mother, with confidence in her protection may receive
strength and comfort in all our needs=E2=80=9D (Marian Sacramentary, Mass f=
or
the Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary).