Day 9- For Brotherly Love

Let us run like madmen not only toward God but also toward our neighbors,

who alone can be the recipients of what we cannot give to God,

since He has no need of our goods.

(St. A. Zaccaria, Letter to B.Ferrari and G. Morigia)

A reading from the second Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians (Gal 2:15-21)

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

A reading from the forth Sermon of St. Anthony Zaccaria

You wish to know how to acquire the love of God as well as to find out whether it is in you? One and the same thing helps you acquire, expand, and increase it more and more, and reveals it as well when it is present. Can you guess what it is? It is love ―the love of your neighbor.
God is a long way from our direct experience; God is spirit (John 4:24); God works in an invisible fashion. Thus, His spiritual activity cannot be seen except with the eyes of the mind and of the spirit, which in most people are blind, and in all are wavering and no longer accustomed to seeing. But man is approachable, man is body; and when we do something to him, the deed is seen. Now, since He has no need of our things, whereas man does, God has set man as a testing ground for us. In fact, if you have a friend very dear to you, you will also hold dear those things he loves and cherishes. Therefore, since God holds man in great esteem, as He has shown, you would show meanness and indeed little love for God, if you did not think very highly of what He bought at a great price.


Invocations
Saint Anthony, man gentle and humane …Pray for us
Saint Anthony, Man burning with charity…Pray for us
Saint Anthony, Man ruthless against vices…Pray for us

Prayer
Eternal Father, you love everyone and want everyone to be saved, grant that we do find you and love you in our brothers and sisters so that they too, through me, may find you. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be...

Prayer to St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

Saint Anthony Zaccaria, helper of the poor and the sick, you who devoted your life to our spiritual welfare, listen to my humble and hopeful prayer. Continue your work as doctor and priest by obtaining from GOD healing from my physical and moral sickness, so that free from all evil and sin, I may love the LORD with joy, fulfill with fidelity my duties, work generously for the good of my brothers and sisters, and for my sanctification. AMEN

Day 8- For Holiness

You have decided to give yourselves to Christ and I desire that you do not fall victims to lukewarmness, but rather that you grow more and more fervent.

(St. A. Zaccaria , Letter to Mr. Bernardo Omodei and Madonna Laura)

A reading from the second Letter of St. Paul to the Romans (Rom 12:1-2)

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

A reading from the letter of St. Anthony Zaccaria to the Bernardo Omodei and Madonna Laura

Anyone willing to become a spiritual person begins a series of surgical operations in his soul. One day he removes this, another day he removes that, and relentlessly proceeds until he lays aside his old self. Let me explain. First of all, he eliminates offensive words, then useless ones, and finally speaks of nothing else but of edifying things. He eradicates angry words and gestures and finally adopts meek and humble manners. He shuns honors and, when they are given to him, not only is he not interiorly pleased, but he also welcomes insults and humiliations, and even rejoices in them. He not only knows how to abstain from the marital act, but, aiming at increasing in himself the beauty and merits of chastity, he also renounces anything smacking of sensuality. He is not content to spend one or two hours in prayer but loves to raise his mind to Christ frequently. (…)
What I do say is: I would like you to be intent on doing more every day and on eliminating every day even licit sensual inclinations. All this is, indeed, for the sake of willing to grow in perfection, of diminishing imperfections, and of avoiding the danger of falling prey to lukewarmness.
Do not think that my love for you or the good qualities you are endowed with, may have me desire that you be just little saints. No, I greatly desire that you become great saints, since you are well equipped to reach this goal, if you will it. All that is required is that you really mean to develop and give back to Jesus Crucified, in a more refined form, the good qualities and graces He has given you.

Invocations
Saint Anthony, angel in flesh and bones …… Pray for us.
Saint Anthony, youth grown as a lily … … Pray for us.
Saint Anthony, rich man stripped of everything …… Pray for us.

Prayer
Holy Father, you predestined us to be holy and without blame in your presence, enlighten our hearts so that we may know the hope of my vocation. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be...

Prayer to St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

Saint Anthony Zaccaria, helper of the poor and the sick, you who devoted your life to our spiritual welfare, listen to my humble and hopeful prayer. Continue your work as doctor and priest by obtaining from GOD healing from my physical and moral sickness, so that free from all evil and sin, I may love the LORD with joy, fulfill with fidelity my duties, work generously for the good of my brothers and sisters, and for my sanctification. AMEN

Day 7 – For Love of God

“What is necessary, yes, I emphasize, necessary, is to have love

―the love of God, the love that makes you pleasing to Him”

(St Anthony Mary Zaccaria, Sermon IV)

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans (Rom 8:35-38)

What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? As it is written: For your sake we are being slain all the day; we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A reading from the forth Sermon of St. Anthony Zaccaria

“Who could go through so many dangers, hardships, troubles and afflictions, if he were not uplifted by love? No one. What traveler, no matter how light-footed and prudent, could walk on so narrow and so rough a road without getting some delight? What lover, deeply infatuated with his beloved, could ever leave her, were it not for another one? Could we, then, drunk with visible and ever present things -- and necessary things, besides -- give up loving them, were it not for a greater love compelling us to do so? No way!
… Consider what a great love is demanded of us: a love that can be none other but the love of God. … How happy good Christians are as they find themselves free from any attachment, for on account of this.

Invocations
Saint Anthony, True friend of God…Pray for us
Saint Anthony, True lover of Christ…Pray for us
Saint Anthony, Friend and herald of the Holy Spirit…Pray for us

Prayer
All merciful Father, you so loved the world that you gave your only begotten Son for the forgiveness of sin, through His Holy Blood sanctify me in love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be...

Prayer to St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

Saint Anthony Zaccaria, helper of the poor and the sick, you who devoted your life to our spiritual welfare, listen to my humble and hopeful prayer. Continue your work as doctor and priest by obtaining from GOD healing from my physical and moral sickness, so that free from all evil and sin, I may love the LORD with joy, fulfill with fidelity my duties, work generously for the good of my brothers and sisters, and for my sanctification. AMEN

Day 6 – For Wisdom

O Wisdom above all wisdom! O inaccessible Light! You turn the learned into ignorant, and those who see into blind; and, on the contrary, you turn the ignorant into learned.

(St A. Zaccaria Sermon I)

A reading from the second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (2 Cor 2:6-16)

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things.

A reading from the fist Sermon of St. Anthony Zaccaria

He knew how to arrange creatures in that admirable order that you see. Notice that, in his Providence, God leads man, created free, in such a way as to force and compel him to enter that order; yet without forcing or compelling him to do so.
O Wisdom above all wisdom! O inaccessible Light! You turn the learned into ignorant, and those who see into blind; and, on the contrary, you turn the ignorant into learned, and the peasants and the fishermen into scholars and teachers. Therefore, my friends, how can you believe that God, the very apex of wisdom, may have been wanting in resourcefulness and unable to accomplish His work? Don't believe that.

Invocations
Saint Anthony, enlightened by the sublime science of Jesus Christ …Pray for us
Saint Anthony, Man inspired by the sublime wisdom of Jesus Christ… Pray for us
Saint Anthony, wise educator of the people of God … Pray for us

Prayer
All powerful Father, you sent your Son so that through Him we might call ourselves and truly be your children, grant unto me the gift of wisdom to know the mystery of your will. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be...

Prayer to St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

Saint Anthony Zaccaria, helper of the poor and the sick, you who devoted your life to our spiritual welfare, listen to my humble and hopeful prayer. Continue your work as doctor and priest by obtaining from GOD healing from my physical and moral sickness, so that free from all evil and sin, I may love the LORD with joy, fulfill with fidelity my duties, work generously for the good of my brothers and sisters, and for my sanctification. AMEN

Day 5 – For Perfection

For God, who is Eternity itself, Light, Incorruptibility, and the very Apex of all perfection, willed to come to live in time and to descend in darkness and corruption and, as it were, in the very sink of vice.

(St. Anthony Zaccaria, SermonVI)

A reading from the first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians (1Tes 4:1-3:7-8: )

Brothers, we earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that, as you received from us how you should conduct yourselves to please God--and as you are conducting yourselves--you do so even more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality…For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not a human being but God, who (also) gives his holy Spirit to you.

A reading from the six Sermon of St. Anthony Zaccaria

Choose, then, what is good and leave out what is bad. But which is the good side of created things? It is their perfection, while their imperfection is the bad side. Therefore, draw near to their perfection and withdraw from their imperfection. Look, my friends: if you wish to know God, there is a way, "the way of separation" as spiritual writers call it. It consists in taking into consideration all created things with their perfections and in distinguishing God from them and all their imperfections, so as to say: "God is neither this nor that, but something far more excellent. God is not prudent; He is Prudence itself. God is not a particular and limited good; He is the Good, universal and infinite. God is not just one perfection, He is perfection itself without any imperfection. He is the all good, the all wise, the all powerful, the all perfect, etc."

Invocations
Anthony Mary, magnanimous hero, you have fought without pay the good fight … pray for us
Anthony Mary, exultant champion, you have quickly finished the race… pray for us
Anthony Mary, blessed servant, you have remained faithful unto death… pray for us


Prayer
Christ, Head of the Church, you called St. Anthony Mary to fight the lukewarmness, "this pestiferous and great enemy" of you Crucified, grant to the Church not "small saints" but big ones, to reach the fullness of perfection. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be...


Prayer to St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

Saint Anthony Zaccaria , helper of the poor and the sick, you who devoted your life to our spiritual welfare, listen to my humble and hopeful prayer. Continue your work as doctor and priest by obtaining from GOD healing from my physical and moral sickness, so that free from all evil and sin, I may love the LORD with joy, fulfill with fidelity my duties, work generously for the good of my brothers and sisters, and for my sanctification. AMEN

Day 4 - For Piety

Man turns externally to God also by obeying His commandments, and above all by coming to know the One who is the truth, Jesus Christ, and His Gospel,

and by preaching them both to others.

(St. Anthony Zaccaria, Sermon III)

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to Philippians (4:8-10)

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

A reading from the third Sermon of St. Anthony Zaccaria

Sanctification means turning oneself to God both internally and externally. You turn to God internally, dear friends, when you reflect on your sins or on God's blessings. Yes, you keep holy the Lord's day when you meditate within your heart on His blessings and on your faults, especially those of previous days.
... Externally, you turn to God by means of some Scripture reading, by reciting or singing psalms, and, besides, by offering Him sacrifices: the sacrifice, of your bodies kept under control by penance for the love of God, the sacrifice of your souls eager to unite themselves with Him, but above all the sacrifice par excellence, the most holy Eucharist.
…Man turns externally to God also by obeying His commandments, and above all by coming to know the One who is the truth, Jesus Christ, and His Gospel, and by preaching them both to others.
Do you want, dear friends, to become holy? Imitate Christ, imitate God: be merciful, particularly on holidays, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, visit the sick, set the prisoners free (Matt 25:35), plan your deeds ahead of time and perform them for God's sake; have the right intention; choose the best, fulfill what is good. In all things let love impel you.

Invocations
Anthony Mary, Man divine and holy … pray for us
Anthony Mary, Man resolute in acting… pray for us
Anthony Mary, Man relentless against lukewarmness… pray for us

Prayer
Christ Priest, you granted Saint Anthony Mary an angelic piety for the Eucharist and made him its ardent adorer and untiring apostle, grant that I too, pure of heart, could taste the ineffable gift of God. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be ....

Prayer to St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

Saint Anthony Zaccaria , helper of the poor and the sick, you who devoted your life to our spiritual welfare, listen to my humble and hopeful prayer. Continue your work as doctor and priest by obtaining from GOD healing from my physical and moral sickness, so that free from all evil and sin, I may love the LORD with joy, fulfill with fidelity my duties, work generously for the good of my brothers and sisters, and for my sanctification. AMEN

Day 3 – For Divine Knowledge

Man first leaves aside the exterior world and enters his own interior world,

and only then from there he ascends to the knowledge of God.

(St. Anthony Zaccaria , Sermon II).

A reading from the first Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (1Cor 13:2)

If I had all knowledge, and knew also the mysteries and secrets of God, and if I had besides such a great faith as to move the mountains, which would move and stop elsewhere, yet I had not love, I would be nothing.

A reading from the forth Sermon of St. Anthony Zaccaria

If eloquence does not seem to you to be a great quality, knowledge certainly is such an excellent thing that everybody wishes to have it. You have been taught by Adam how great is its value when, for the pleasure of becoming like God in the knowledge of good and evil, he disobeyed the commandment of the Lord God. But no matter how excellent a quality knowledge is, it, too, is of very small advantage, as Solomon can prove to you by his own story. For, notwithstanding his great public and world wide reputation for having superior knowledge, he is believed by some to have ended up at the bottom of hell. Even if this were not true, he cannot be cleared of the fact that, despite all his great wisdom, he committed countless and grave sins of lust and of idolatry. Indeed, the servant who knows his master's will and does not do it, will be punished more severely, as Christ says (Luke 12:47).

I am not telling you of this regarding only the knowledge of worldly things, but even more regarding the knowledge of God's secrets, like having the prophetic gift, and knowledge of supernatural things by the prophetic light, as proven by that most evil prophet, Balaam, by his own ruin (Num 31:8). And with far greater reason I affirm the uselessness of the knowledge of things that God alone knows, and we too come to know by faith ― even that faith which empowers man to work miracles.


Invocations
Saint Anthony, Prudent in discernment … Pray for us.
Saint Anthony, Adorned with all virtues … Pray for us.
Saint Anthony Mary, pride of great teachers …Pray for us.

Prayer
Christ Teacher, you enriched with divine knowledge St. Anthony Mary, to make him father and guide of souls toward perfection, teach me how to announce “the spiritual liveliness and the alive spirit everywhere.” Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be...

Prayer to St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria
Saint Anthony Zaccaria ,helper of the poor and the sick, you who devoted your life to our spiritual welfare, listen to my humble and hopeful prayer. Continue your work as doctor and priest by obtaining from GOD healing from my physical and moral sickness, so that free from all evil and sin, I may love the LORD with joy, fulfill with fidelity my duties, work generously for the good of my brothers and sisters, and for my sanctification. AMEN