08/31/2021 – St Aidan

Dia dhuit,

Today’s saint (St Aidan) like so many in the 600s left these shores to spread the Gospel.He went to the island of Iona, which is off the Western Coast of Scotland.When the Christian king Oswald returned to his kingdom from his exile on Iona, he invited monks to come with him.Aidan left with some monks and he was consecrated a bishop. He established a monastery on the island of Lindisfarne, which became the centre of a major missionary effort in the North of England.According to St Bede, St Aidan was a man of great gentleness and moderation, outstanding for his energetic missionary work. His influence on the North of England was enormous, and his wise promotion of Christian education among the native English laid the solid foundation for the spread of the Gospel in the centuries which followed his death.One of the reasons St Aidan, and countless other missionaries gave their lives to spread the Gospel, was to remind people to be ready when the LORD calls them.St Paul, himself an incredible missionary, reminds the Thessalonians today that “the Day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night. It is when people are saying, ‘How quiet and peaceful it is’ that the worst suddenly happens, as suddenly as labour pains come on a pregnant woman; and there will be no way for anybody to evade it.”

God bless you,

Fr Marius

P.S. Our Lady’s Birthday is coming up soon – on Sept 8th. Let’s do something special for her. We have some birthday present ideas for you.

1. Start a Children’s Rosary Group. Wouldn’t that please Our Lady so much. See childrensrosary.org for details and send them an email to register your group

2. Peter from Westmeath is asking people all over Ireland to pray a Rosary to Our Lady at 6pm on her birthday. The intention is for IRELAND. He suggests going to a grotto, church, or praying in front of a picture of Our Lady.

3. Perhaps you would think about displaying a statue or picture of Our Lady outside your house, or on a window etc.