13 May 2014
"God grants graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary."~ Blessed Jacinta Marto of Fatima
"My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the Way that will lead you to God."
~ Our Lady to Sister Maria Lucia of the Immaculate Heart
ST PAUL EXHORTS US: "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold on to the traditions which you have learned." 2 Thessalonians 2:14
"The Five Wounds of the Liturgical Mystical Body of Christ"
"The Five Wounds of the Liturgical Mystical Body of Christ" according to Bishop Athanasius Schneider: 1. Mass versus populum. 2. Communion in the hand. 3. The Novus Ordo Offertory prayers. 4. Disappearance of Latin in the Ordinary Form. 5. Liturgical services of lector and acolyte by women and ministers in lay clothing.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Joy, Liberty & Peace of Heart
It is extraordinary what precautions it is necessary to
take in the world, to avoid offending a friend. Men are so sensitive, that
often a single expression of ill-humour is enough to make them forget twenty,
thirty, forty years of service. A single word, spoken unseasonably, sometimes
breaks the strongest friendship.
It is not so with Jesus Christ. It seems incredible, but
nevertheless it is beyond dispute, that we cannot possibly have a friend more
grateful than He is. We must not imagine that He is capable of breaking
friendship with us for a slight ingratitude. He sees all our weaknesses, and
bears with incredible goodness all the miseries of those He loves. He forgets
them, and appears not to perceive them. His compassion goes so far as to give
comfort to those souls who are too much afflicted at them. He does not desire
that our fear of displeasing Him should go so far as to disturb us and torment
our minds. He would have us avoid the smallest faults; but He does not even
wish that we should be disquieted at great ones: He desires that joy, liberty
and peace of heart should be the eternal portion of those that truly love Him.
~ Jean Croiset, Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Part I Chapter 3
Friday, May 2, 2014
Rapturous, blissful, intoxicating love
The perfect union in heaven of our hearts with the heart
of Jesus is a mystery which we believe here below, but cannot understand. The
kingdom of Christ, which on earth embraces all who suffer and strive for His
cause, will not cease in heaven; there, however, combat will give place to the
victor’s crown, and the Church militant will become the Church triumphant. King
of the kingdom of the blessed is Christ. His heart is the heart of the Church
triumphant. His heart and the hearts of His followers will be but one heart. Of
course, each of the blessed will have his own body and his own physical heart;
he will also have his own soul endowed with intelligence and free will. But all
beatific knowledge and all beatific love will have its source and origin in
Christ, just as all grace which we pilgrims receive here below is vital energy
from the vine which is Christ. Even in heaven the blessed are not merely
individuals existing for themselves alone, but constitute there, even as here,
the mystical body of Christ, with this difference, however, that in heaven the
union of all with each other and with Christ is absolutely perfect. The
sentiments of Christ are the sentiments of each individual, nor does the least
obstacle mar such conformity. These sentiments are the purest, most ardent love
of God, not a love of sacrifice nor of suffering for there is nothing to be
sacrificed or suffered, but only rapturous, blissful, intoxicating love of God.
All the flames of this love have their origin in the heart of Jesus, and in
union with the love of the heart of Jesus they constitute the worship of heaven
that endures without ceasing from day to day, from hour to hour. How long will
this union of hearts with the heart of Jesus endure? Forever!
~ Christian Pesch, S.J., Our Best Friend [Unser bester
Freund: Erwägungen für den Herz-Jesu-Monat] translated
from the German by Bernard A. Hausmann, S.J. (Milwaukee, The Bruce Publishing
Company, 1953), pp. 219-220.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Tu nobis Victor Rex, miserere.
Edward Knippers, The Resurrection of our Lord - oil on panel - 5' X 4' - 2011
On the day of His Resurrection Jesus Christ left in the tomb the shroud which is the symbol of our infirmities, our weaknesses, our imperfections. Christ comes from the tomb triumphant - completely free of earthly limitation; He is animated with a life that is intense and perfect, and which vibrates in every fibre of His being. In Him everything that is mortal has been absorbed by His glorified life.
Here is the first element of the sanctity represented in the risen Christ: the elimination of everything that is corruptible, everything that is earthly and created; freedom from all defects, all infirmities, all capacity for suffering.
But there is also another element of sanctity: union with God, self-oblation and consecration to God. Only in heaven shall we be able to understand how completely Jesus lived for His Father during these blessed days. The life of the risen Christ became an infinite source of glory for His Father. Not a single effect of His sufferings was left in Him, for now everything in Him shone with brilliance and beauty and possessed strength and life; every atom of His being sang an unceasing canticle of praise. His holy humanity offered itself in a new manner to the glory of the Father.
~ Blessed Columba Marmion, O.S.B., The Mysteries Of The Rosary. Translated and published by the Monks of Marmion Abbey, Aurora, Illinois. Translation of Dom Columba Marmion's "Les Mysteres du Rosaire" published with the permission of the Abbey of Maredsous in Belgium.
On the day of His Resurrection Jesus Christ left in the tomb the shroud which is the symbol of our infirmities, our weaknesses, our imperfections. Christ comes from the tomb triumphant - completely free of earthly limitation; He is animated with a life that is intense and perfect, and which vibrates in every fibre of His being. In Him everything that is mortal has been absorbed by His glorified life.
Here is the first element of the sanctity represented in the risen Christ: the elimination of everything that is corruptible, everything that is earthly and created; freedom from all defects, all infirmities, all capacity for suffering.
But there is also another element of sanctity: union with God, self-oblation and consecration to God. Only in heaven shall we be able to understand how completely Jesus lived for His Father during these blessed days. The life of the risen Christ became an infinite source of glory for His Father. Not a single effect of His sufferings was left in Him, for now everything in Him shone with brilliance and beauty and possessed strength and life; every atom of His being sang an unceasing canticle of praise. His holy humanity offered itself in a new manner to the glory of the Father.
~ Blessed Columba Marmion, O.S.B., The Mysteries Of The Rosary. Translated and published by the Monks of Marmion Abbey, Aurora, Illinois. Translation of Dom Columba Marmion's "Les Mysteres du Rosaire" published with the permission of the Abbey of Maredsous in Belgium.
Friday, April 18, 2014
Aspice Deus et respice in faciem Christi tui
ὃ δὲ νῦν ζῶ ἐν σαρκί, ἐν πίστει ζῶ τῇ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντός με καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ.
Quod autem nunc vivo in carne in fide vivo Filii Dei qui dilexit me et tradidit se ipsum pro me.
And that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. ~ Galatians 2.20 [RV]
Quod autem nunc vivo in carne in fide vivo Filii Dei qui dilexit me et tradidit se ipsum pro me.
And that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. ~ Galatians 2.20 [RV]
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
A Saint for Holy Week
A Saint for Holy Week
Un Saint pour la Sainte Semaine
Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, the 18th Century mendicant pilgrim, reached the end of his life of poverty and humility in April 1783. On the morning of the 16th of that month, he collapsed on the front steps of his favorite Roman church, Santa Maria ai Monti, was carried to the home of a local family who tried to assist him in his final hours, and fell asleep in the Lord in the evening of that day - the Wednesday in Holy Week. This year the calendars again align, and April 16th is the Wednesday in Holy Week once more ...
on which we remember this 'living likeness of God's crucified Son.'
Saint Benedict Joseph Labre
[From the Raccolta]
O
wondrous pattern of Christian perfection, Saint
Benedict Joseph,
from
thy earliest use of reason even to thy dying day,
thou
didst keep unspotted the white robe of innocence,
and,
forsaking all things and becoming a pilgrim on the earth,
thou
didst gain naught therefrom save only suffering, privations and reproaches.
Miserable
sinner that I am, I kneel at thy feet,
and
return thanks to the infinite goodness of the Most High God
Who
hath willed to imprint on thee the living likeness of His crucified Son.
At
the same time I am filled with confusion
when
I consider how different is my life from thine.
Do
thou, beloved Saint, have pity on me!
Offer
thy merits before the throne of the Eternal,
and
obtain for me the grace to follow thine example
and
to direct my actions according to the precepts and teachings
of
our divine Master:
Thus
let me learn to love His sufferings and His humiliations,
and
to despise the pleasures and honours of earth:
So
that neither the fear of the former, nor the desire of the latter
may
ever induce me to transgress His holy law.
May
I merit in this manner to be acknowledged by Him
And
numbered amongst the blessed of His Father.
Amen.
Pater Ave Gloria
+ 16 April 1783
Friday, April 11, 2014
St Gemma Galgani
April 11th
O my crucified God, behold me at Thy feet; do not cast
me out, now that I appear before Thee as a sinner. I have offended Thee
exceedingly in the past, my Jesus, but it shall be so no longer. Before Thee, O
Lord, I place all my sins; I have now considered Thine own sufferings and see
how great is the worth of that Precious Blood that flows from Thy veins. O my
God, at this hour close Thine eyes to my want of merit, and since Thou hast been
pleased to die for my sins, grant me forgiveness for them all, that I may no
longer feel the burden of my sins, for this burden, dear Jesus, oppresses me
beyond measure. Assist me, my Jesus, for I desire to become good whatsoever it
may cost; take away, destroy, utterly root out all that Thou dost find in me contrary
to Thy holy will. At the same time, I pray to Thee, Lord Jesus, to enlighten me
that I may be able to walk in Thy holy light. Amen.
O
my crucified God, behold me at Your feet; do not cast me out, now that I
appear before You as a sinner. I have offended You exceedingly in the
past, my Jesus, but it shall be so no longer. Before You, O Lord, I
place all my sins; I have now considered Your own sufferings and see how
great is the worth of that Precious Blood that flows from Your veins. O
my God, at this hour close Your eyes to my want of merit, and since You
have been pleased to die for my sins, grant me forgiveness for them
all, that I may no longer feel the burden of my sins, for this burden,
dear Jesus, oppresses me beyond measure. Assist me, my Jesus, for I
desire to become good whatsoever it may cost; take away, destroy,
utterly root out all that You find in me contrary to Your holy will. At
the same time, I pray to You Lord Jesus, to enlighten me that I may be
able to walk in Your holy light.
Amen.
--Prayer composed by St Gemma - See more at: http://www.stgemmagalgani.com/2008/09/prayer-of-st-gemma-galgani-to-obtain.html#sthash.LrUQArw6.dpuf
Amen.
--Prayer composed by St Gemma - See more at: http://www.stgemmagalgani.com/2008/09/prayer-of-st-gemma-galgani-to-obtain.html#sthash.LrUQArw6.dpuf
O
my crucified God, behold me at Your feet; do not cast me out, now that I
appear before You as a sinner. I have offended You exceedingly in the
past, my Jesus, but it shall be so no longer. Before You, O Lord, I
place all my sins; I have now considered Your own sufferings and see how
great is the worth of that Precious Blood that flows from Your veins. O
my God, at this hour close Your eyes to my want of merit, and since You
have been pleased to die for my sins, grant me forgiveness for them
all, that I may no longer feel the burden of my sins, for this burden,
dear Jesus, oppresses me beyond measure. Assist me, my Jesus, for I
desire to become good whatsoever it may cost; take away, destroy,
utterly root out all that You find in me contrary to Your holy will. At
the same time, I pray to You Lord Jesus, to enlighten me that I may be
able to walk in Your holy light.
Amen.
--Prayer composed by St Gemma - See more at: http://www.stgemmagalgani.com/2008/09/prayer-of-st-gemma-galgani-to-obtain.html#sthash.LrUQArw6.dpuf
Amen.
--Prayer composed by St Gemma - See more at: http://www.stgemmagalgani.com/2008/09/prayer-of-st-gemma-galgani-to-obtain.html#sthash.LrUQArw6.dpuf
Novena to St Gemma
Novena to St Gemma
Novena to St Gemma
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