Wednesday, October 9, 2013

SOME DEFINITE SERVICE BY CARDINAL JOHN HENRY NEWMAN (1801-1890)

“God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.

He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work.

I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place,
while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.

Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.”

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PRAY FOR THE CHURCH AND THE POPE

For the Pope Fr Tim Finegan of 'The Hermeneutic of Continuity' Blog has given some golden advice: "Every day, as part of my morning prayers, I say the prayer Ecclesiae for the protection of the Church, along with the prayer for the Pope, both from the traditional Missal. I have done so ever since the foot-washing incident and do so each day as the bad news piles up. Following St Vincent Ferrer, I would urge that if you disagree with the Pope, prayer is not simply a piously sentimental comfort, but the proper course of action since it is an appeal to his immediate superior." Deus, omnium fidelium pastor et rector, famulum tuum Franciscum, quem pastorem Ecclesiae tuae praeesse voluisti, propitius respice: da ei, quaesumus, verbo et exemplo, quibus praeest, proficere: ut ad vitam, una cum grege sibi credito, perveniat sempiternam. Per Dominum Nostrum Iesum Christum Filium Tuum, Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. O God, the Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, mercifully look upon Thy servant, Francis, whom Thou hast chosen as the chief Shepherd to preside over Thy Church; grant him, we beseech Thee, so to edify, both by word and example, those over whom he hath charge, that he may attain unto everlasting life, together with the flock committed unto him. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Coetus Internationalis Patrum

Prayer of St Therese of the Infant Jesus and the Holy Face

It is said that this devotion brought St Therese of Lisieux, "the Little Flower", to her great sanctity. This is her prayer to the Holy Face: O Jesus, who in Thy bitter Passion didst become "the most abject of men, a man of sorrows", I venerate Thy Sacred Face whereon there once did shine the beauty and sweetness of the Godhead; but now it has become for me as if it were the face of a leper! Nevertheless, under those disfigured features, I recognize Thy infinite Love and I am consumed with the desire to love Thee and make Thee loved by all men. The tears which well up abundantly in Thy sacred eyes appear to me as so many precious pearls that I love to gather up, in order to purchase the souls of poor sinners by means of their infinite value. O Jesus, whose adorable Face ravishes my heart, I implore Thee to fix deep within me Thy divine image and to set me on fire with Thy Love, that I may be found worthy to come to the contemplation of Thy glorious Face in Heaven. Amen.

Cor Jesu sacratissimum, miserere nobis!

Prayer of Trust in the Sacred Heart: In all my temptations, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In all my weaknesses, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In all my difficulties, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In all my trials, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In all my sorrows, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In all my work, I place my trust in You, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In every failure, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In every discouragement, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In life and in death, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In time and in eternity, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus.

ITE AD JOSEPH

PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH AND THE HOLY FATHER MOST POWERFUL Patriarch St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, which has always invoked thee in anxiety and trouble, from the exalted seat of thy glory cast a loving glance upon the whole Catholic world. let thy fatherly heart be touched at the sight of the Mystical Spouse and the Vicar of Christ overwhelmed with sorrow and persecuted by powerful enemies. Oh, by the bitter anguish thou didst experience upon earth, dry the tears of the venerable Pontiff, defend him, comfort him, intercede for him with the Giver of peace and charity, that, all adversity being removed and all error dissipated, the entire Church may serve God in perfect liberty. Amen.

Oratio pro summo Pontifice/ Prayer for the Pope

V. Let us pray for Franceso, our Pope. R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies. [Ps 40:3] Pater Noster, Ave Maria. O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant Franceso, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

‘Evelyn Waugh Catholics' is there any other kind?

An English friend and colleague, the icon painter David Clayton, told me that when he first converted and began to attend Mass at London’s extraordinary Oratory, some cradle Catholic warned him away from the place: "All you’ll meet there," the fellow said, "are ‘Evelyn Waugh Catholics.’" To which I answer, "Is there any other kind?" No doubt there are, in Yamoussoukro, or the mountain chapels of Bolivia. May God bless and keep them. But in the English-speaking world, I cannot imagine any properly formed Catholic who wouldn’t feel deep-running sympathy, right down to the clench of his gut, with Waugh’s excruciated elegies to the remnants of a vanishing Christendom. Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar is finally fading — and in England is daily more dully drowned by the cats-in-heat call of the muezzin.

Therese "Resl" Neumann Mystic and Stigmatist of Konnersreuth, Germany

PRAYER FOR THE BEATIFICATION OF THERESE NEUMANN: Almighty God, our Father in Heaven, with infinite love You give us signs to stir our dull minds when we consider the lives of Your Saints. To recall our Lord's passion You granted Therese Neumann to bear his sacred wounds visibly on her body. You enabled her to see much of His life on earth in her visions. You allowed her to make amends for the sins of men by suffering with the Saviour. Likewise You reminded us of the lasting value of the Sacrifice of the Mass and the abiding presence of Christ Your Son in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar by permitting her to live for over 30 years solely through receiving the sacred host in daily Holy Communion! We beg to further distinguish Therese Neumann by granting our prayer to have her raised to the honors of the altar, that more people may through knowledge of her love for You and Your laws draw nearer to You. We ask this through Christ our Lord. AMEN