Monday, June 29, 2009

Pauline jubilee year established and running from June 28, 2008 to June 29, 2009.


Pope Benedict XVI established the pauline year to run from June 28, 2008, to June 29, 2009, to mark the approximate 2000th anniversary of the saint's birth. The plenary indulgence is being offered to pigrims who come to Rome,
to Catholics who participate in local events connected to the jubilee year, and to those who may be too ill or otherwise prevented from physical participation. It can be granted on behalf of the individual petitioner or on behalf of departed souls.


Conditions for the special Pauline year indulgence include the normal requirements set by Church for all plenary indulgences: that the person goes to Confession, receives the Eucharist and prays for the intentions of the Pope. In terms of specific requirements for the plenary indulgence are visiting by the Catholic faithful the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome (picture above) in the form of a pilgrimage and offering personal prayers before the Altar of the Most Blessed Sacrament; the pilgrims must also recite the Our Father and the Creed in front of the Altar of Confession, adding invocations to honour Mary and St Paul. The Catholic faithful in any local Church can obtain the indulgence by participating with devotion in a liturgy or other public event dedicated to St Paul - in any sacred place on the opening and closing days of the jubilee year, and on the other days in places designated by the local bishop. Catholics impeded by sickness or other serious cause, as long as that have intention of fulfilling the other conditions as soon s possible, can obtain a plenary indulgence by joining spiritually in a jubilee celebration in honour of St Paul and offering their prayers and suffering for Christian unity.

For more information please follow Vatican link to Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls

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Feast of St Peter and Paul - click to read





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Sunday, June 28, 2009

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost - click to read




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Saturday, June 27, 2009

Saturday - Our Lady's Day



Devotion to Mary - Behold, your mother (John 19:27)

St Therese:
"The Blessed Virgin is the Queen of heaven and earth, quite true, but she is more mother than queen"

The Blessed Virgin never fails to protect me as soon as I invoke her. In my troubles and anxieties I very quickly turn towards her and, like the most tender of mothers, she always takes care of my interests.

To ask something of the Blessed Virgin is not the same thing as asking it of the good Lord. She knows very well what to do with my little wishes, whether to transmit them [to God] or not....If after that , we obtain nothing, it is because what we asked for is not in accordance with God's designs."

All quotes from 'Complete Spiritual Doctrine of St Therese of Lisieux' by Francois Jamart




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Friday, June 26, 2009

Important interview with Fr Schmidberger, former Superior of SSPX - click to read






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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Nativity of St John the Baptist

St Luke 1:57-68


Now Elizabeth's full time of being delivered was come: and she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and kinsfolks heard that the Lord had shewed his great mercy towards her: and they congratulated with her. And it came to pass that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child: and they called him by his father's name Zachary. And his mother answering, said: Not so. But he shall be called John. And they said to her: There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.


And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And demanding a writing table, he wrote, saying: John is his name. And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed: and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came upon all their neighbours: and all these things were noised abroad over all the hill country of Judea. And all they that had heard them laid them up in their heart, saying: What an one, think ye, shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him. And Zachary his father was filled with the Holy Ghost. And he prophesied, saying: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people.

Jan van Eyck is the author of the first picture (St John's Nativity) whereas Fabricius Barent is the author of the second picture representing Zachariah naming his son.





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Tuesday, June 23, 2009








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Feast of St Etheldreda - click to read


Princess Etheldreda, daughter of King Anna, a prominent member of the ruling family of the Kingdom of East Anglia, was born in 630. She wanted to be a nun but agreed to a political marriage with a neighbouring King, Egfrith, on condition that she could remain a virgin. When the King tried to break the agreement, she fled back to Ely, where, as well as founding a religious community, she also built a magnificent church on the ruins of one founded by the efforts of St Augustine himself but laid waste by war.

Etheldreda was remarkable woman and Saint. She set free all the bondsmen on her lands and for seven years led a life of exemplary austerity. After her death in 679, devotion to her spread rapidly, as people received help and favours through what they were convinced was her powerful intercession in Heaven. And when, through popular demand, it was decided to remove her to a more fitting tomb, it was found that even after 15 years in wet earth her body was still in a perfect state of preservation. When the Normans began building the present Cathedral at Ely and moved her body in 1106, it was again reported to be still incorrupt. That was nearly 450 years after her death.

In Ely Cathedral there is an inscription on the floor marking the location of her shrine: HERE STOOD THE SHRINE OF ETHELDREDA, SAINT AND QUEEN, WHO FOUNDED THIS HOUSE AD 673





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St John the Baptist Nativity Vigil

Luke 1:5-17
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zachary, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth.


And they were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame. And they had no son, for that Elizabeth was barren: and they both were well advanced in years. And it came to pass, when he executed the priestly function in the order of his course before God, according to the custom of the priestly office, it was his lot to offer incense, going into the temple of the Lord. And all the multitude of the people was praying without, at the hour of incense.


And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.


And Zachary seeing him, was troubled: and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him: Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard: and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son.


And thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness: and many shall rejoice in his nativity. For he shall be great before the Lord and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias: that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people.

Pictures credit: Elizabeth and Zachariah - by James Tissot, 'Zachary and the Angel' by Gillem van der Gouwen (La Haye Bible) and by William Blake.




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Monday, June 22, 2009

Feast of St Alban, first martyr of Britain - click to read



St Alban, ora pro nobis!





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"Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is weet and my burden light." (Matt 12:29)

"And He showed me that it was His great desire of being loved by men and of withdrawing them from the path of ruin into which Satan hurls such crowds of them, that made Him form the design of manifesting His Heart to men, with all the treasures of love, of mercy, of grace, of sanctification and salvation which it contains, in order that those who desire to render Him and procure for Him all the honour and love possible, might themselves be abundantly enriched with those divine treasures of which this Heart is the source. He should be honoured under the figure of this Heart of flesh, and its image should be exposed.... He promised me that wherever this image should be exposed with a view to showing it special honour, He would pour forth His blessings and graces. This devotion was the last effort of His love that He would grant to men in these latter ages, in order to withdraw from the empire of Satan which He desired to destroy, and thus to introduce them into the sweet liberty of the rule of His love, which He wished to restore in the hearts of all those who should embrace this devotion."

-- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

credit: OLORL




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Sunday, June 21, 2009

Third Sunday after Pentecost

Reparation

Presence of God - Heart of Jesus, wounded for love of us, make me worthy to make reparation for all the wounds our sins have inflicted upon You.

Meditation
1. We find in the hymn for First Vespers of the Feast of the Sacred Heart the following words: "Lo, the proud, insolent procession of our offenses has wounded the innocent Heart of God." And even more realistically it continues: "The lance which the soldier wielded was directed by our sins" (Roman Breviary). These lines recall to our minds the words addressed by Jesus to St Margaret Mary: "Behold this Heart which so loved man...but which, in return for its love, finds only ingratitude; it meets only with forgetfulness, indifference, and outrages, and all this at times even from souls bound closely to it by the bonds of a very special love." A soul that loves God cannot remain indifferent to these complaints, it wants to expiate, repair and console, having "the most powerful motives", as Pius XI teaches, "of justice and love; of justice, in order to expiate the injury done to God by our sins....and of love, in order to compassionate the suffering Christ, patient and covered with opprobrium, and to bring Him insofar as our human weakness permits, some comfort in His sufferings" (Miserentissimus Redemptor). It is easy to understand that we must make reparation for our own sins, but sometimes we do not see as clearly that reparation should also aim at consoling the Heart of Jesus. "But indeed, can acts of expiation console Christ who now reigns happily in heaven?" asks Pius XI " 'Give me a lover and he will understand what I say' " (ibid.), replies the great Pope in the words of St. Augustine. In fact, a soul who lovingly penetrates the mystery of Jesus will realize that when, in Gethsemane, He saw all our sins, He also saw the good works we would do in order to comfort Him. What we do today with this intention consoled Him then in reality. This thought spurs us on to further acts of reparation, so that Jesus finds no reason to complain sorrowfully to us: "My Heart hath expected reproach and misery....I looked for one that would comfort Me, and I found none" (Mass of the Sacred Heart).

Colloquy
"O God why can I not bathe with my tears and blood all the places where your Heart has been insulted? Why am I not permitted to make reparation for so many sacrileges and profanations? ...Behold me, O Lord, my heart broken with grief, humbled and prostrate, ready to accept from Your hand all that it pleases You to ask me in reparation for so many outrages " (St Margaret Mary)

Fragments from "Divine Intimacy" by Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen, OCD
.
Today's beautiful picture of Our Lord wounded Heart is posted here with permission of Micki from
Holy Cards for Your Insipration





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Saturday, June 20, 2009

Devotion to the Three Hail Mary's - click to read






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Friday, June 19, 2009

The Year of St John Vianney commences today, on the Feast of Sacred Heart - click to read



The photo depicts reliquary with the heart of Patron Saint of Priests, St John Vianney. On the Feast of Sacred Heart, we start today the whole year dedicated to this great Saint and Patron of priests. On this occasion, please offer the Litany in honour of Sacred Heart of Jesus through the intercession of St John Vianney for the intention of speedy regularization of Society of St Pius X. The Church is in real need of Catholics with very strong Catholic identity, we need the Society, fully incorporated, happy and working hard for the Church and Catholicism.




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Feast of the Sacred Heart - click to read



Heart of Jesus wounded for love of us

Encyclica of Pope Pius XII Haurietis Aquas




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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Efficatious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus starts on 10th of June - click to read the prayer

"We can contemplate and honour the Heart of the divine Redeemer as a symbolic image of His love and a witness of our redemption and, at the same time, as a sort of mystical ladder by which we mount to the embrace of God our Saviour" - Pope Pius XII Text and photo credit to Fr Lawrence, OP The LifeSiteNews reports attempts to make amendments to the Euthanasia Bill in the UK Parliament:... "Lord Falconer of Thoroton has tabled an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill that would make it legal to assist a person to leave the country to commit suicide. Presently, it is illegal for someone to assist another to commit suicide, even if done out of the country. The law, however, is generally not enforced because it “is not in the public interest,” according to Sir Ken Macdonald, former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Numerous U.K. residents have in recent years travelled to Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal, to commit suicide with the help of the suicide group Dignitas. While a number of investigations have been initiated against relatives who have travelled with the person who was committing suicide, none have resulted in charges being laid. Lord Alton of Liverpool, however, said that the bill “marks the beginning of the creation of a death cult. It is not the terminally-ill but the perfectly healthy we are talking about,” referencing the fact that Dignitas is willing to assist the suicide even of those who are merely depressed and not suffering any physical illness. Falconer, on the other hand, argued that some people, fearing the unenforced law, leave the country to commit suicide “alone.” “They go early. And they die in the hands of strangers.” He claimed that the current law “only works because of the good sense of the DPP [not to prosecute offenders].” “The amendment I am tabling to the Coroners and Justice Bill does not make it an easier for people to go to Switzerland to die in a Dignitas clinic,” he said, “they can already do this. Rather, it is making sure that the law reflects the sensible position adopted to date by the courts and the DPP, while protecting people from abuse.”.... Please offer your Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in reparation for the sin of promoting horrific culture of death.
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St Teresa Margaret Redi and the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus - click to read





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Carmelite Spirituality and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Spirituality of St Teresa Margaret Redi developed on her devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She lived in times when this devotion was spreading rapidly throughout the world, propagated by the Order of Jesuits and it is quite possible she was actually introduced to this devotion by her Jesuit uncle, Father Diego Redi. Devotion to the Sacred Heart brought young Sister Teresa to the mystical period of her spiritual life. In 1767, first time in her life, was seized with a type of rapture during recitation of the Divine office when the words from the first epistle of St John were chanted: "God is love, and he who dwells in love dwells in God and God in him." Although she was diligent not to manifest in any way the secrets of her hidden, interior life, she was so overwhelmed by the divine action that she went through the cloister so elated frequently repeating the words: "God is love" to herself. Other nuns were wondering at this peculiar behaviour and asked her why she repeated these words so often. The Saint, realising she had betrayed herself said: "Having heard them one Sunday at the little Chapter of Terce, I found such sweetness in them, and they made such an impression on me, that I must repeat them." One of her companion, Sister Teresa Maria Racasoli, said "Her face was flushed and her bearing was that of one beside himself" she "pronounced the words with feeling, in a high voice, with meaning". According to Saint spiritual Father and confessor, Father Ildefonse: "she was so enraptured by the words that she remained in a state of elation for several days,... and one can surmise that they had been accompanied by an extraordinary outpouring of God upon her soul. From that day it was obvious that she was making giant strides forward in the practice of virtues." Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalene, OCD who wrote a little treatise "From the Sacred Heart to the Trinity" about St Teresa spirituality, is convinced that the Saint was blessed by unitive grace that produced such profound effects as spoken of by St Teresa in the fifth and sixth mansions and by St John of the Cross in the twenty sixth stanza of the Spiritual Canticle. Remarkably, afterwards St Teresa Margaret lived in oblivion of everything else and in absorption with God, the signs marking the beginning of a new stage of her spiritual life. She was experiencing many lofty spiritual secrets that she confessed to Fr Ildefonse. She made him understand, without intending it, some wonderful concepts of the knowledge of God that she had been nourishing in her soul. Let us listen to her words: "charity is the same love with which God love Himself from all eternity, the Spirit of God Himself, which is life and His breath. Who is the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. And when it is said that he who dwells in charity dwells in God and God in him, the meaning is that he lives in the life of God and God, after a certain fashion, lives His life in him. becasue between them there is but one life, one charity, one God; in God this all by essence but in the creature by participation and grace; thus it is true that everything is held in common by lovers". Very beautiful description of the meaning of God's love!

Based upon "From the Sacred Heart to the Trinity" by Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen, OCD




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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, St Thomas Aquinas and Carmelite Saints, part 2.


Because Holy Sacrament contains Christ Himself and the Passion of Christ, it has in itself the power to forgive sins. But the sinner himself must be considered. If a sinner, in the state of mortal sin, should receive this sacrament while intending to remain attached to his sin, then he will not be forgiven. On the contrary, he will commit a sacrilege in profaning in this way the Body and Blood of Christ. But if he is ready to give up his attachment to sin, and if he approaches the sacrament in forgetfullness of his sin, then his sin will be forgiven. The sacrament will give him charity, which will protect his contrition and bring forgiveness of sin. Of course, if he remembers his sin, he ought first obtain the forgiveness of his sin in the sacrament of penance. No one should approach the sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood while still conciously in the state of mortal sin. Since the effects of this sacrament are grace and charity, it will forgive venial sins and restore the fervour of charity. The Eucharist can also release man from the punishment due to sin. It is both a sacrament and a sacrifice. As a sacrament, it unites a man to Christ through charity. But it is by the fervour of charity that a man obtains the forgiveness of the punishment due to his sins. The degree of fervour will determine the amount of punishment which is forgiven, as a sacrifice, the Eucharist can also forgive the penalty of sin. In itself, the Eucharist is powerful enough to forgive all the penalty for all the sin of all men. But, in matters of satisfaction, the disposition of men must be taken into account. The Eucharistic sacrifice will remit their punishment according to the measures of their devotion. The Eucharist produces these wonderful effect when it is properly received...But not everyone will receive the effect of the sacrament, grace. The unbeliever and the Catholic in mortal sin will receive the Body and Blood of Christ. But they will not receive the grace of the sacrament. They are said to receive the Eucharist sacramentally, but not spiritually. On the other hand, it is possible to receive the grace of the sacrament spiritually by desiring it. Lastly, the man in the state of grace who receives Christ in Communion also receives grace, the spiritual effect of the sacrament. In this case he receives the Eucharist both sacramentally and spiritually. The reception of this sacrament is an expression of a man's union with Christ and with the members of His Church in faith and charity. But the sinner is not united in charity to Christ. In receiving this sacrament he is guilty of lying. He uses the sacrament to lie. This is a grave abuse of a sacred thing, the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ.

St Therese of Child Jesus: Prayer to Jesus in the Tabernacle:
O God hidden in the prison of the tabernacle! I come with joy to You each evening to thank You for the graces You have given me. I ask pardon for the faults I committed today, which has just slipped away like a dream...
O Jesus! How happy I would be if I had been faithful, but alas! Often in the evening I am sad because I feel I could have corresponded better with Your graces....If I were more united to You, more charitable with my sisters, more humble and more mortified, I would feel less sorrow when I talk with ou in prayer. And yet, O my God, very far from becoming discouraged at the sight of my miseries, I come to You with confidence, recalling that "those who are well do not need a doctor but the sick do." I beg You, then, to cure me and to pardon me. I will keep in mind, Lord, "that the soul to whom You have forgiven more should also love You more than the others"!...I offer You every beat of my heart as so many acts of love and reparation and I unite them to Your infinite merits. I beg You, O my Divine Bridegroom, to be the Restorer of my soul, to act in me despite my resistance; nd lastly, I wish to have no other will but Yours. Tomorrow, with the help of Your grace, I will begin a new life in which each moment will be an act of love and renunciation.
Thus, after coming each evening to the foot of Your Altar, I will finally reach the last evening of my life. Then will begin for me the unending day of eterninty when I will place in Your Divine heart the struggles of exile! Amen.

When Christ instituted this Sacrament, He commanded His Apostles to administer It as He did. This means that both the Apostles and their successors, the priests of the Church, must consecrate both bread and wine and receive Christ under both species. The priests of the Church must, when they celebrate Mass, receive Christ under the appearance of bread and under the appearance of wine. But , since Christ is wholly present under both species, a man can receive the whole Christ under either species. Since the Church has grown so greatly, and since so many of the faithful receive Communion the Church gives this sacrament to the faithful only under one species, the species of bread. The chief reason for this is the great respect due to the Blood of Christ in this sacrament. When so many people receive Communion and many of them are children, there is a serious concern that the Precious Blood of Christ might be spilled on clothing, on the altar rail, or on the ground, if It were administered to all.
As we have already said, in this sacrament, bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ Himself. The man who performs this rite acts s in the name of the person of Christ Himself. Now no one can act in the name and person of someone else, unless the power to do so is given to him. Christ has given this power only to His priests. Only the ordained priest can change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ in the name of Christ. Ordinarily, too, only the ordained priest can dispense this sacrament to the people in Communion. The priest does what Christ did at the Last Supper. Christ consecrated bread and wine and He distributed His Body and Blood to the Apostles. The priest consecrates bread and wine and distributes Communion to the people. By office a priest is intermediary between God and the people. He offers the people's gifts to God and God's gifts to the people. Again, the Eucharist is a sacred thing. It can be touched only by consecrated or sacred things. The linen cloth - the corporal - on which the Body of Christ rests on the altar, the chalice in which the Blood of Christ rests are consecrated for this purpose. So too, the hands of the priest are blessed and consecrated so that they may handle the sacrament worthily. The priest consecrates bread and wine in the sacrifice of the Mass. But whoever offers sacrifice must share in the sacrifice. The outward sacrifice is a sign of the inner sacrifice by which he offers himself to God. By sharing in the external sacrifice he shows that he is making the internal sacrifice. For this reason, the priest who celebrates Mass must receive the Eucharist in Communion at that Mass. Moreover, he dispenses this sacrament to others in Communion. He himself ought to receive first. In this way, he proves to the people that he is the dispenser of divine gift.
The priest who approaches the altar to offer the sacrifice of Mass, to change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, ought to be a spiritual man, a holy man. He ought to be united to Christ in faith and charity. But Christ remembers the weakness of men. In His great desire to give Himself to the faithful, he has not linked either the reality or the power of this sacrament to the changeable disposition of men. As long as a man is a validly ordained priest, he can validly perform and administer this sacrament. He may even be a heretic, or a schismatic, or excommunicated by the Church. Still, if he consecrates bread and wine, they become the Body and Blood of Christ. Of course, such a man is guilty of grave sacrilege in celebrating Mass. But his Mass is a Mass, and he does change bread and wine into Body and Blood of Christ. Since Christ Himself is the chief Priest in every Mass, and the Victim of every Mass, then even the Mass celebrated by a wicked priest is fruitful for the Church. Obviously, the great devotion of a good priest will make the Mass he celebrates much more fruitful than the Mass of a sinful priest. But the essential fruitfulness of the Mass can never be lost, for even the sinful priest offers Mass in the name and by the power of Christ.

St Teresa of Jesus (from Meditation of the Song of Songs, 4:6):
Great is this favour, my Spouse; a pleasing feast. Precious wine do You give me, for with one drop alone You make me forget all of creation and go out from creatures and myself, so that i will no longer want the joys and comforts that my sensuality desired up until now. Great is this favour; I did not deserve it.

You say: Come to me all who labour and are burdened, for I will comfort you. What more do we want, Lord? What are we asking for? What do we seek? Why are those in the world so unhappy if not because of seeking rest? (Soliloquies 8:2)





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Monday, June 15, 2009

Feast of St Germaine of Pibrac, Patroness of Unwanted - click to read


One of the Eucharistic Miracles took place in 1589 in a small village of Pibrac, near Touluse, France, and is connected with the name of young shepherdess, Germaine Cousin. From the time this our young girl became motherless, her father remarried a woman who, from the very start, demonstrated hostility towards her because Germaine’s face was full of acne and was not easy to look at. The stepmother, who could not stand the sight of Germaine, convinced her husband to make Germaine live in the small basement under the steps. The poor girl found herself so completely isolated in that basement that the rats were often her only companions. Germaine, however, was very close and devoted to Our Lord and prayed before the Blessed Sacrament on a daily basis. Every day she would leave her sheep unattended to receive the Holy Communion and miraculously the herd would never be attacked by wolves. To reach the church, however, Germaine had to cross the stream called Courbet. One day the heavy rains had rendered the stream impossible to pass through, but the young girl decided to affront the furious waters of the stream and get through so she could receive her daily Communion. Before going into the water in order to get across, she made the sign of the Cross and while she was reciting her prayers she saw the waters miraculously separate in two. This happened on the way back, also.

Catholic Encyclopedia entry on St Germaine




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Saturday, June 13, 2009

Feast of St Anthony of Padua, Franciscan Friar, Teacher, Preacher and Doctor of the Scriptures

The altar of St Anthony, Greyfriars Church in Vienna by Fr Lawrence, OP

Among the Franciscans themselves and in the liturgy of his feast, St. Anthony is celebrated as a teacher and preacher extraordinaire. He was the first teacher in the Franciscan Order, given the special approval and blessing of St. Francis to instruct his brother Franciscans. His effectiveness as a preacher calling people back to the faith resulted in the title "Hammer of Heretics." Just as important were his peacemaking and calls for justice. The saint of Padua is usually depicted holding the child Jesus, or a lily, or a book, or all three in his arms.


Infant Jesus appeared to Anthony in 1231: While preaching in France, Anthony accepted the invitation of a nobleman to dine and spend the night in his mansion near Limoges. After the evening meal Anthony excused himself and retired to his room to pray. Some time later the lord of the house passed the friar's room and noticed a brilliant light streaming from beneath the door. When he looked through the grill in the door, the nobleman saw the vision taking place within the room.



A beautiful Child was standing on the bench at which Anthony had knelt to pray. The Infant held out His arms to the Saint. Anthony returned the invitation by clasping the Child to his heart, crying over and over, "My God! My God!" The next morning Anthony asked his host not to reveal what he had seen as long as Anthony was alive. The secret of that night was kept for ten years.


On the saint’s feast day, June 13, St. Anthony Bread is blessed. And since the saint is the special patron of Italy, an honor he shares with St. Francis, many Italian families have a son named Anthony. Anthony was a humble Franciscan friar who preached the Good News lovingly and with fearless courage. He became one of the great preachers and theologians of his day. He was a man of great penance and apostolic zeal. He was most loved by ordinary people. The array of wonders attributed to Anthony is astounding in its variety. He was in two places at the same time; at his prayer, a donkey knelt before the Blessed Sacrament, after a dare by an unbeliever; fishes lifted their heads above the water to listen as he preached to them, after bored believers turned away; a foot severed by an ax was rejoined to its leg.

In canonizing Anthony in 1232, Pope Gregory IX spoke of him as the "Ark of the Testament" and the "Repository of Holy Scripture." That explains why St. Anthony is frequently pictured with a burning light or a book of the Scriptures in his hands. In 1946 Pope Pius XII officially declared Anthony a Doctor of the Universal Church. It is in Anthony's love of the word of God and his prayerful efforts to understand and apply it to the situations of everyday life that the Church especially wants us to imitate St. Anthony. While noting in the prayer of his feast Anthony's effectiveness as an intercessor, the Church wants us to learn from Anthony, the teacher, the meaning of true wisdom and what it means to become like Jesus, who humbled and emptied himself for our sakes and went about doing good.

St Anthony Chastity Prayer:
St Anthony,
Lily of Purity,
banish from me,
the sins of impurity,
protect my chastity,
and restore my virginity.
Amen.







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Gate of Heaven, pray for us! - click to read


St Mary Magdalen De Pazzi:
"O most pure Mary, I offer and give myself to you, not only with that purity and innocence that I received when I consecrated myself to you, but adorned beyond that, and then re-purified, and then adorned again. Receive me, therefore, O Mary, and keep me within yourself. " (from "Complete Works of St Mary Magdalen De Pazzi")





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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Feast of Corpus Christi - click to read

"The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ is [traditionally] observed on the Thursday following on the solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity. This feast is both a doctrinal and cultic response to heretical teaching on the mystery of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and the apogee of an ardent devotional movement concentrated on the Sacrament of the Altar. It was extended to the entire Latin Church by Urban IV in 1264.

Popular piety encouraged the process that led to the institution of the feast of Corpus Christi, which reciprocally inspired the development of new forms of Eucharistic piety among the people of God.

For centuries, the celebration of Corpus Christi remained the principal point of popular piety's concentration on the Eucharist. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, faith, in reaction to various forms of protestantism, and culture (art, folklore and literature) coalesced in developing lively and significant expressions Eucharistic devotion in popular piety."

- From the Vatican's Directory of Popular Piety.

There are two remarkable masterpieces painted to commemorate this great devotion. First, the 'Disputation of the Blessed Sacrament' (or more appropriately, The Triumph of Religion), was painted by Raphael between 1508 and 1511.




The fresco is located in the Stanza della Segnatura, the library of the Julius II in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. Raphael has created a scene spanning both heaven and earth. Above, Christ is surrounded by the Blessed Virgin Mary, John the Baptist and various biblical figures such as Adam, Moses and Jacob. God the Father sits above Jesus, depicted reigning over the golden light of heaven. Below, on the altar sits the monstrance. The altar is flanked by theologians who are depicted debating Transubstantiation. Christ's body is represented in the Eucharist, which is discussed by representatives of the Church; among them are Pope Julius II, Pope Sixtus IV, Savonarola and Dante Alighieri. Pope Sixtus IV is the gold dressed pope in the bottom of the painting. Directly behind Sixtus is Dante, wearing red and sporting a laurel wreath (symbolizing his greatness as a writer). In the left hand corner, there is a bald figure reading a book leaning over a railing. This is Raphael's mentor and famous renaissance architect Bramante. Raphael, like Michelangelo, creates lights and shadows within the tones of a single color, and combines color in a dramatic manner. His mastery of the brush is now evident in the idealized portraits that represent key figures from the Old and New Testaments, saints, Doctors of the Church, theologians and literary personages.

Another masterpiece is painted by
Jean Colombe and has illustrated the service with two superimposed scenes. The large one represents the interior of a Gothic church, with lavishly decorated pillars, in which two groups of figures pay tribute to the veritable presence of Christ in the Eucharist.


On the right, representing the Old Testament, are three men with oriental headdresses, probably Melchizedek (who offered bread and wine to Abraham), Moses (who received manna), and Elijah (who was fed by an angel). On the left, representing the New Testament, are several bareheaded men, probably the four Evangelists. All raise their heads to worship and appear to proclaim the grandeur of this sacrament, repeating the words of Thomas Aquinas in the Pange lingua, a hymn composed for the feast of the Holy Sacrament: "Tantum ergo sacramentum veneremur cernui. " "Let us kneel in veneration before such a great sacrament." In the choir at the back of the church, behind a jubé of fine openwork, two priests seem to join in the tribute.

The scene below depicts a story of Saint Anthony of Padua and the mule. The story tells of a heretic of Toulouse who obstinately refused to believe in Christ's presence unless a mule knelt before the Sacrament. After a few moments of prayer, Saint Anthony presented a mule with the Eucharist in one hand and some oats in the other. To the amazement of the onlookers, the animal refused the grain and knelt before the Eucharist. Convinced by this experience, the heretic believed henceforth.






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St Margaret, Queen of Scotland - click to read


Today, according to Traditional Liturgical Calendar is the "Feast of St Margaret of Scotland (c.1045-93), who was a queen to King Malcolm of Scotland. St Margaret was canonized in the year 1250 by Pope Innocent IV on account of her personal holiness and fidelity to the Church. She would personally serve orphans and the poor every day before she herself would eat, and would rise at midnight to attend church services every night.

This gorgeous precious marble statue of the saint is in the Jesuit church at Farm Street in London."


Text and photo after Fr Lawrence, OP



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Most Holy Trinity



O Trinity, O Father, O Word, O Spirit, give your light to your creatures, one by one, so that they may understand their malice; and give me the grace to be able to satisfy for them, even by giving my life when this might be necessary. Oh, why can I not give this light to all? Would that we all together could make reparation for the offenses you receive, even though we could not satisfy for them except by your own goodness...O immeasurable goodness, diffuse yourself in the hearts of your elect!

O eternal Word, when you were nailed to the most hard wood of the Cross, you did not aim at anything else but bringing creatures to you....You said: "I thirst", and you showed that you thirsted not only for those souls then present, but also for those that were yet to come. You suffered thirst, O sweet God, you suffered thirst, O good and all-loving God...O how can it be that One Who relieves His thirst with the very blood of the eternal Word does not relieve Him also of the thirst that He has for His creatures.

Looking at myself, O God of Love, I would never raise my mind and my will to ask for this Comforter. But looking again at Your Being, which is goodness and love, and mercy, I cannot but long for the coming of Your Holy Spirit. I know, though not as I should, that I am not in any way a vessel suitable to receive You. But considering that you are He Who makes suitable every heart that desires this grace, I yearn for you in my inmost heart; and with the offering of the Blood of the Word....which offering I pray the saints to make for me to the Most Holy Trinity....I take courage to ask and beg for this Holy Spirit.



Wherefore I pray you, all you angelic spirits and saintly souls in heaven, in your act of love and through that same continued act of love that is yours, pray for the Holy Ghost that He may come to dwell in my and all other daughters of Mary. Moreover, in asking for this Holy Spirit, I intend to receive the entire Holy Trinity.

St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi






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Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Most Holy Trinity

Belief in God's word is a necessary preliminary to the vision of God. As St Paul says this belief must be at least an explicit or conscious belief in the existence of God and in the fact that God rewards those who seek Him. St Thomas adds that the object of faith also includes the means to happiness which is Incarnation. Therefore, an explicit belief in Incarnation is also necessary. Since the Incarnation cannot be believed in explicitly without believing in the Trinity - for how can a man believe the Second Person of the Trinity became man unless he believes in the mystery of the Trinity - it follows that the belief in the Trinity is also required for the attainment of the vision of God. By accepting these truth in faith man begins to learn to know God as He really is.

after "My Way of Life - The Summa Simplified"



Canticle of Love
Come, kings of the earth, to Love; come and adore my Love
I sing of our Creator's power and glory; come let us adore Him.
For we are the work of His hands, the price of His Blood.
There is no one like to God; come let us adore Him.
Stop not at the things of the earth, for they are nothing; pass to their Maker's praise.
Come, all dwellers on the earth, for they are nothing; pass by the passing things on earth.
And remembering we are only pilgrims, come in adoration to our Father and King.
Fall down before the Creator of all and offer Him your hearts.
praise and bless Him, sing with lips and heart! There is no one like You, Lord.
Let us adore the Trinity, One God, mystery unfathomable;
Three immensities making only one power; come and adore.
His anger is terrible; come, let us adore Him.
The fiercest of wild beast tremble before Him; come, sinners, let us adore Him.
His tenderest goodness is for souls who seek after Him; come , you upright, and adore Him.
All creation bows down with rejoicing before Him; come, all, and adore Him.


O my God, my God! If my eye is going to offend You, pluck it out, or I shall pluck it out myself. If my hands, my feet, my tongue are going to offend you, cut them off. Break my body with pains the most intolerable rather than allow any of my members to offend you.

after "The Thoughts of Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified"






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Sunday, June 07, 2009

Feast of the Most Holy Trinity


Consecration to the Holy Trinity
O everlasting and Triune God,
I consecrate myself wholly to you today
Let all my days offer you ceaseless praise,
My hands move to the rythm of your impulses,
My feet be swift in your service,
My voice sing constantly of you,
My lips proclaim your message,
My eyes perceive you everywhere,
And my ears be attuned to your inspirations.
May my intellect be filled with your wisdom,
My will be moved by your beauty,
My heart be enraptured with your love,
And my soul be flooded with your grace,
Grant that every action of mine be done
For your greater glory
And the advancement of my salvation. AMEN

Prayer to the Holy Trinity
Glory be to the Father,
Who by His almighty power and love created me,
making me in the image and likeness of God.

Glory be to the Son, Who by His
Precious Blood delivered me from hell,
and opened for me the gates of heaven.

Glory be to the Holy Spirit,
Who has sanctified me in the Sacrament of Baptism,
and continues to sanctify me
by the graces I receive daily from His bounty.

GLORY BE TO THE THREE ADORABLE
PERSONS OF THE HOLY TRINITY,
NOW AND FOR EVER. AMEN



O MY GOD, TRINITY WHOM I ADORE.

O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely that I may be established in You as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing trouble my peace or make me leave You, O my Unchanging One, but may each minute carry me further into the depths of Your Mystery. Give peace to my soul; make it Your heaven, Your beloved dwelling place. May I never leave You there alone but be wholly present, my faith wholly vigilant, wholly adoring, and wholly surrendered to Your creative Action.
O my Beloved Christ,crucified by love, I wish to be a bride for Your Heart; I wish to cover you with glory; I wish to love You...even to dying of it! But I feel my weekness and I ask You "to clothe me with Yourself", to identify my soul with all the movements of Your soul, to overwhelm me, to possess me, to substitute Yourself for me that my life may be a radiance of Your Life. Come into me as Adorer, as Restorer, as Saviour.
O Eternal Word, Word of my God, I want to spend my life listening to You, to become wholly teachable that I may learn all from You. Then, through all nights, all voids, all helplesness, I want to gaze on You always and remain in Your great light. O my Beloved Star, so fascinate me that I may not withdraw from Your radiance.
O consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, "come upon me", and create in my soul a kind of incarnation of the Word: that I may be another humaity in which He can renew His whole Mystery. And You, O Father, bend lovingly over Your poor little creature; "cover her with Your shadow," seeing in her only the "Beloved in whom You are well pleased."
O my Three, my All, my Beatitude, Infinite Solitude, Immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself to You as Your prey. Bury Yourself in me that I may bury myself in ou until I depart to contemplate in Your light the abyss of Your greatness.

Bl Elizabeth of the Trinity "Light, Love, Life"

The main picture is Murillo's painting "The Heavenly and Earthly Trinities"




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Saturday, June 06, 2009

Trinity Sunday - click to read more


God is the object of faith in two ways. In faith God is both the object that the mind of man knows and He is the light by which man knows God. When the human eye sees the greenness of the yew tree in daylight, the greenness is what it sees and the sunshine is the light by which it sees it. When a man assents in faith to the divine revelation that God is Three Persons in one nature, the Trinity is what he believes and God's word is the light by which he believes it.

Faith is concerned with truth not naturally accessible to the mind of man. However it is a fact that God has also revealed some truth that human reason could discover, such as the existence of God, the immortality of the human soul, and the like. God has done this because He knows that many men, through lack of talent or opportunity, or even through mere laziness, might never come to the knowledge of these important thruths. Whenever man cannot discover these truths for themselves, it is possible for them to learn these truth through faith in God's word. But primarily faith is concerned with the mysteries of God in Himself and in His actions in the world which men could never discover for themselves.

Faith is then an enlargement of the horizons of the human mind. It lifts the mind of man above the world of nature and sets it free in the limitless world of the DIvine Being. It introduces man to that great mystery of the Divine Life, the Trinity. It makes man aware of God's stupendous entrance into human life through the Incarnation of the Son of God in Jesus Christ. It informs man of the divine generosity in making the vision of God possible for men. It gives man a knowledge of the supernatural means by which he can attain the vision of God. Faith does not impose limitations on the mind of man. It removes them. Through faith the mind of man is no longer subject to the imperfections of the senses or of human reason. Through faith man is given a share in the infinite perfection of God's own knowledge. If man's ultimate goal is the vision of God, then faith, which gives man some knowledge, even though an obscure knowledge, of God as He is in Himself, is a beginning of happiness in human life. It puts man on the road to ultimate happiness.

God, the object of faith is in Himself absolutely simple. But the simple things are often the hardest to understand or explain. For example, if we look at a lever, it is a simple thing, but how many words, sentences or even paragraphs may be necessary to explain its power to lift great weights. So it is with God. Because He is absolutely simple, the human mind, which understands things bit by bit, cannot grasp the Divine Being simply. It must, as it were, go round God slowly, viewing Him now from this angle and now from another angle. It will express each of these different viewsof the one simple object - God - in a separate judgment or proposition. In revealing Himself to man God has taken account of this weakness of the human mind. He has revealed Himself to man bit by bit, sentence after sentence.

These truth or judments about God, which God has revealed, make up the content of faith. They are many and they were revealed to man over long period of time, from Adam to Christ and His Apostles. Because God is absolutely one and absolutely simple, some of these truths are contained implicitly in others. From the point of view of the human mind which accept these truths in faith, we may reduce all the revealed truths about God to the mysteries of the Trinity - God as He is in Himself - and the Incarnation - God as He enters the world supernaturally to accomplish the salvation of man.

after "My Way of Life - The Summa Simplified"






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Saturday, Day of Our Lady


...Christ possess the fullness of all grace. His soul is intimately and substantially united to God in the Person of the Son of God. Because it is more closely united to God, the source of divine grace, than anyone else, it receives the greatest outpouring of grace. Since Christ is to communicate the grace of God to others, He must possess the greatest degree of grace. It might be well to remark here that Christ possessed an absolute fullness of grace. We say of Mary, His Mother, and of some of the saints that they also were full of God's grace. In their case we are referring to a relative fullness of grace; they possessed as much grace as they needed to perform the work God gave them to do. But Christ had most stupendous task of all: He had to redeem the whole human race; He had to restore grace to the whole human race. Hence He had to possess an absolute fullness of grace.






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Thursday, June 04, 2009

Ember Days after Pentecost


In the Traditional Catholic calendar, the 'Ember Days' are observed for particular sanctification of the seasons with the fast and abstinence during the third week of Advent, the first full week of Lent, the week after Pentecost, and the third full week in September.On Wednesday and Saturday the abstinence is only partial, meaning meat may be eaten at the main meal. Ember Fridays are similar to Good Friday's devotion, with fast and abstinence from all meat.

For Spiritual readings - please follow links:

SATURDAY

FRIDAY

WEDNESDAY




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Wednesday, June 03, 2009

The Church of Christ


"If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of charity, if any society of the spirit, if any bowels of commiseration: Fulfill ye my joy, that you may be of one mind, having the same charity, being of one accord, agreeing in sentiment. Let nothing be done through contention, neither by vain glory: but in humility, let each esteem others better than themselves: Each one not considering the things that are his own, but those that are other men's". (Phil 2:1-4)



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