Devotions from February 14 to 20, 2022
“Christ is alive. He is our hope and the most beautiful youth of this world. Everything he touches becomes young, becomes new, and is filled with life. He is alive and he wants you alive!” With these words, Pope Francis opens Christus vivit. Let us live with young and light hearts, as the saints we remember this week teach us.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14
Saint Valentine
Saint Valentine is traditionally the feast of lovers! Valentine is considered the patron saint of lovers because legend has it that he was the first clergyman to celebrate the union of a pagan legionnaire and a young Christian woman, and that he was executed for this. The ceremony took place quickly because the young woman was ill. And the two spouses died together just as Valentine was blessing them.
According to other accounts, one day Saint Valentine heard two young engaged people arguing near his garden. He went to meet them with a rose in his hand and gave it to them, asking them to reconcile by holding the stem of the rose together, taking care not to prick themselves, and praying that the Lord would keep their love alive forever. Their love story continued, and some time later they asked for a blessing on their marriage.
If you are interested in learning more about the origin of this feast and the figure of Saint Valentine, read the article Why is Saint Valentine the patron saint of lovers?
To learn more:
Saint Mary Frances of the Five Wounds
• Healing the wounded family
• Lord, give us our daily love today
• #Fidanzati
• Love never ends
• The newness of Christian married couples
• Stations of the Cross for married couples and families
• The family
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18
Beginning of the novena to Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
Today begins the novena to Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, born Francesco Possenti. He is an intelligent, sensitive, and cheerful young man. After a series of family bereavements, he feels a profound emptiness, filled by the voice of the Mother, who reveals God’s love to him in Jesus Crucified. Having joined the Passionists, he becomes Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, making the radical choice proper to one who loves: long hours of prayer, frequent fasting, and penance help him keep his spirit immersed in God’s and carry out humble daily tasks with great love. “My life is a continual joy,” he will write to his father shortly before dying, at just 24 years of age.
Gabriel shows that faith is a force capable of filling life with joy; may he teach us to live with a smile, enthusiasm, and gratitude!
To learn more:
• The Smile of God. Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
• Make Your Life a Masterpiece. If you would like to learn more about this book, click here.
• In you I take refuge
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20
Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto
Today the Church celebrates the Shepherd Children of Fatima, Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto. Sister Angela de Fatima Coelho, postulator of their canonization cause, describes them as follows: “Until the apparitions, Francisco and Jacinta lived in a perfectly ordinary setting. After the apparitions, everything changed. Little by little, we see how each of them came to resemble Christ in their own way. Francisco developed a love of being alone with God: we see him withdrawing to the mountains to pray, or going to the parish church to spend hours before the Blessed Sacrament. Jacinta, too, experienced a profound conversion: after the apparitions, the focus of her life shifted to God and others, because she had seen suffering in the vision of Hell.”
To learn more:
• Novena to the Shepherd Children of Fatima. If you would like to learn more about this book, click here.
• Our Lady appears at Fatima
• Children, help my heart to triumph
• The apparitions of Fatima
• The apparitions of Fatima. Between history and wonder
• Novena to Our Lady of Fatima
“If God possesses our hearts, we will possess infinity.” May this phrase from Blessed Carlo Acutis, another example of a young heart, accompany us this week and help us savor the joy that each day brings.
