Meditation for the Octave of Assumption - Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth

Pope Pius XII proclaimed in October 1954 the feast of Mary Queen (May 31). As in the case of all great privileges of Mary, her Queenship flows from her divine Motherhood as from its source: because Christ her Son is King, Mary is Queen. St Paul describes very beautifully the Kingship of Christ. "Rendering thanks to the Father, who had made us worthy to share the lot of the saints in light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have our redemption, the remission of our sins. he is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature. For in Him all things were created, things visible and things invisible, whether Thrones, or Dominations, or Principalities, or Powers. All things have been created through and unto him, and he is above all creatures, and in him all things hold together" (Col. 1, 12-17)

Thus it is clear that in the divine plan of creation the God-man is the first and essential member, around whom everything else revolves, to whom everything else is subordinated, and by whom everything else is explained.

Once only in the Gospel narrative does Christ refer expressly to the nature of His Kingdom. Then it is to declare solemnly before the Roman Governor, Pilate, that His Kingship is not of this world. By this Christ meant that His Kingship is not of a transitory political type, but eternal and supra-political. In other words the Kingship of Christ is not concerned with temporal but ultimate values that is, the truths and precepts of the moral law and of religion. It is by accepting these truth and by carrying out these precepts that man attains his final end.

In this Kingship of Christ mary participates as His Mother. In the 12th Chapter of the Apocalypse we read: "And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." The Church applies this verse to the Blessed Virgin. There is no doubt that the Fathers understood this verse as picturing the Church of the Old and New Covenants. The beams of the divine glory clothe her; the moon is beneath her feet; she is crowned with a crown of twelve stars, and she must bring forth Christ to the world. "Who is this Woman? Clearly the Mother of the Messiah, but also of a vast posterity which endures to the end of time. She is, then, as symbolic as the Dragon, and is comparable with the 'Jerusalem on high, the Mother of us all' (Gal 4:26): Jerusalem, whether terrestrial or ideal, especially as representing the whole people of God, was constantly figured as a woman, mother of the Holy People from whom, in Old Testament times, the Messiah was to come" (Cath. Commentary on Holy Scripture). Then St John thinks of the "primeval serpent", he remembers Eve: The Woman becomes the Second Eve, and so we have the series - the Mother of the Messiah: the Universal Eve: Jerusalem and the people: the Church and Mary.
The first chapter of Genesis begins the story of Christ's Kingdom on earth. Satan, having failed in heaven, succeeds in getting newly created man to rebele against God and so gains mastery over the human race. But, by reason of his weaker nature, the malignity of man's sin was far less than that of Satan and his followers, and so, at the very moment of the fall, God promises man ultimate deliverance from the power of Satan at the hands of "the woman and her seed". How this deliverance was effected is recorded in the Gospel story, and enlarged upon in this book. The rightful King appears among His people, and by accepting death freely and in their name at the hands of the powers of darkness, satisfies the divine justice and breaks Satan's power over man: "Now is the judgment of the world; now will the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth (i.e. crucified), will draw all things to myself (John 12: 31-32). By this sacrifice of Himself Christ merited for all His followers the power to triumph over the devil. This Our Lord tells us: "I was watching Satan fall as lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the might of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you" (Luke 10:18-19).
Christ, therefore, is King by double title, by hereditary right and by conquest. And just as Mary participated in Christ's hereditary title of King as His Mother, so also she participates in His title of King by conquest because she took an active part in that victory over Satan by which the world was redeemed.

The doctrine underlying the Queenship of Mary is not a new one. Nor id the title "Qoeen" given to Mary a new one. For centuries Mary has been invoked as Queen in the Litany of Loreto. Why then has the Church seen it fit to proclaim solemnity the Queenship of Mary in our day? The Pope gave the answer to this on the occasion of the proclamation of the new feast . The institution of the new liturgical feats of the Queenship of Mary is intended to throw into special relief that particular aspect of Christian truth that is best adapted to remedy the peculiar evils that afflict the present generation, and to direct this generation in the way of the salvation it so eagerly seeks.

This has always been the custom of the Church. The Church defined the doctrine of the Assumption of Our Lady - a doctrine that has always been held by the Universal Church, but whose solemn definition was intended not merely to gibe glory to the Mother of God, but also to recall to a generation steeped in materialism one of the most fundamental truths of Christianity, namely, the immortal destiny of man, soul and body. So also the Feast of the Queenship of Mary intended to remind man of the existence of an authority which penetrates to the very interior of man's nature as man, which touches him in his profound essence in that part of man that is spiritual and immortal. Further it proposes to the world one to whom all may go confidently for guidance and help in these perilous times when the unity and peace of mankind as a whole, and the very sources of life itself, are in danger. If only she be asked, Mary will confound the evil work of the enemy of mankind, who envies in man the peace he himself has lost. She will give light to the world's rulers to guide their people in the way of justice and peace, for she is the Seat of Wisdom to whom the Church applies the inspired words: "By me Kings reign and lawgivers decree just things. By me princes rule, and the mighty decree justice" (Prov. 8:15-16).

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Meditation for the Octave of Assumption - The Coronation of Mary in Heaven

"Who could form an adequate idea of the resplendent spectacle enacted on this day, as the Queen of Universe enters Heaven? Who can describe the veneration and enthusiasm with which the heavenly hosts come forth to receive her and the anthems of praise with which she was escorted to her glorious heavenly throne? What love glowed in the eyes of her Divine Son, what benevolence lighted up His Face, what Divine tenderness was apparent in His embraces as he welcomed His mother and elevates her above all the other creatures of His Land? He received her with such honour as alone was worthy of the dignity of such a mother. He adorns her with glory, as only a Divine Son could grant her" (St Bernard, First Sermon on Assumption.)

Our Lady, in order of nature, is lower than the Angels; in the order of grace she is higher. Man has been made a little lower than the angels: yet the Son of Man, who is God, had a human mother, and her the Angels venerate. The eternal Son places upon His Mother's brow the crown of Heavenly Queenship. The real glowy and greatness of Mary is revealed: "A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars upon her head."

Mary is Queen of Angels, because she is more glorious than they: Queen of Patriarchs and Prophets, because they were sent in remote expectation of her: Queen of Apostles, as having not merely announced the glad tidings of Salvation, but as having brought us the Saviour: Queen of Confessors, having given greater proof of fortitude: Queen of Virgins while surpassing them in the splendour of her purity: Mary is Queen of all Saints.

Text after "Marian Shrines in the Holy Land" by Fr Hoade, OFM, 1958 edition

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Feast of St Emygdius, Bishop and Martyr

Today is the feast of St Emygdius, who by God's grace had great power over evil spirits, destroyed many idols and converted hundreds of heathen in ancient Rome. In our difficult and dark times we need the intercession and help of Saints like Emygdius, who is venerated and commemorated in the Traditional Carmelite Breviary.

Emygdius was born in Treves [Germany] of a noble Frank family. In his twenty-third year he embraced the faith of Christ in spite of opposition of his parents who were idolaters, and this faith he steadfastly professed. He lived with three disciples, Euplus, Germanus and Valentinus. He scorned human pleasures, and thus he applied himself the more entirely to divine things. Fired with a burning love of the neighbour, he journeyed to Rome in order to bring about the salvation to many souls, and he was there received as a guest, in the Island of the Tiber, where he cured, by baptism, the daughter of his host, who had been ill for five years of an incurable disease. A little later he opened the eyes of a blind man, in the presence of the people by the sign of the Cross. Thereupon the crowd, thinking that he was the son of Apollo, carried him off by force to the Temple of Aesculapius. he there declared himself the servant of Christ, and by calling upon Christ's name he restored to health a great number of sick persons, who were vainly beseeching the help of the idol. Emygdius tore down the altars, and having broken in pieces the statue of Aesculapius, he cast it into the Tiber. These acts, and the conversion of thirteen hundred of the heathen, which followed, together with that of the priests of Aesculapius, enraged Posthumius Titanus, the Prefect of City. Emygdius, by the counsel of an angel, escaped from his threats, and betook himself to the Pontiff, Saint Marcellus, by whom he was consecrated Bishop, and sent to Ascoli.
On his way thither Emygdius converted a multitude of persons to Christ by the many miracles which he wrought. The demons, whose wailing issued from the idols and filled the temples upon his arrival at Ascoli, declared a traveller to be the cause of their distress. The people were aroused, and sought to slay him, whereupon Polymius, the Governor, who was brought out by the tumult, called Emygdius to him, and in a long fruitless discourse he urged him to worship Jupiter and the goddess Angaria, the patroness of Ascoli. He even promised him as a reward the hand of his daughter Polisia, whom Emygdius converted to Christ and baptized on the spot. Her baptism was followed by that of sixteen hundred men, the Saint having drawn, by a miracle, an abundance of water from the rock. Thrown into fury by these events, Polymius cut off the head of the holy Bishop, whereupon the body, wonderful to relate, stood erect, and , bearing in its hands the head which had been cast upon the ground, carried it to the Oratory, a disctance of three hundred feet. it was removed thence to the principal church, where it is honoured by the people of Ascoli, as well as by a multitude of people from other parts of [Italy]. The blessed death of Emygdius took place during the persecution of Diocletian.

Prayer
O God! who hast adorned the Blessed Emygdius, Thy Martyr and Bishop, with victory over idols, and with the splendor of miracles; mercifully grant that, through his mediation, we may deserve to conquer the deceits of evil spirits, and to shine by our virtue. Through our Lord.

Text's excerpts after 'Saints of Carmel - Proper Offices of the Saints Granted to the Barefoot Carmelites' 1896 edition

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Meditation fot the Octave of Assumption - Triumphs of Mary, Dormition, Assumption and Coronation of Our Blessed Mother

Mary had various triumphs - triumphs of faith, of love and mercy, endurance, and glory. And in God's providence they led up one to the other, one a preparation for the next, to the culmination - the glorius Assumption into Heaven.
Her first triumph was in Bethlehem. She had believed the word of the Lord, the word Gabriel had brought to her at Nazareth. Faith had triumphed, the Saviour of the world was born. Mary's heart that night was making melody with the angels of God on High: Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Her second triumph was of faith too. Her glory was that the Divinity of her Son was made evident in His public life. The crowds thronged to hear Him: they followed Him, forgetting rest and food. He healed the sick; He cast out devils and they proclaimed Him Christ, the Son fo God. He raised the dead to life; He forgave sin.
All these wonderful things Mary saw, and this triumph of hers lasted for three years, andd it strengthened her for the next triumph - the triumph over a mother's heart, the triumph of love and mercy over sinners.
Calvary is the next scene of Mary's triumph. She offered Him up a Sacrifice for sin, through pity for us poor sinners. She stands there the Queen of Martyrs. As the soul transcends the body, so the sword-thrust, that pierced her soul, was more agonizing than any suffering of the martyrs. The shadow of the cross had been hovering over her since the child was born. At last the hour has come, foreseen for three and thirty years. She gave up her Divine Son and took us for her children in His place. What a bad bargain, says one of the Fathers of the Church.
It is over. As Mary had partaken of the suffering of the Cross, justly did she participate in the triumph of the redeemer in His Resurrection and Ascension.
The Gospel is silent. No mention of Mary, the Immaculate, on easter morning. That was Mary's humility. But we reverently congratulate her on the joy of Easter, for surely she was the first to behold her Son, risen, glorious, immortal. What a triumph! That one moment of ecstatic joy more than compensated the Mother of Sorrows for all she had gone through during the terrible days of the Passion.
All too quickly pass the forty days, and from Mount of Olives Jesus ascended into heaven. During these wonderful days Mary heard from Jesus Himself many of the pains of the passion and these in time, she passed on to the Evangelists. Would it not have not been a beautiful ending, if Mary had been taken up to heaven with her Son? There was another triumph she had to pass through first - the triumph of patience. The infant Church needed a mother. It needed her to tell them all these words that she had kept in her heart. The Evangelists needed her for the Gospel records. Her example, influence, guidance, presence, was needed, and she gave for over twenty years without a word. And yet what a bleak, dreary world to her it must have been when Jesus had gone: She had exchanged God for man.

Mary's Life after The Death of Christ
After the Scene on Calvary Mary is mentioned only once: "All these were persevering with one mind in prayer, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren" (Acts 1, 14).
After that we must fall back on the apocryphal writings, the value of which we have already discussed. We have also many traditions attached to sites in Jerusalem. Such traditions are not negligible: traditions are not the product of legends, but give rise to them.
It was in the tradition of Jerusalem that Mary after the Ascension did what became known as "the Holy Circuit", a pilgrimage in Jerusalem to the holy places connected with the life of Christ. This traditional pilgrimages was adopted by the Franciscans when they took up residence in the city in 1335. Once, as Mary was coming down the Mount of Olives, she was met by the Archangel Gabriel, who gave her a palm in token of her triumphal entry into heaven. This was three days before her death. The place is still known as et Tamir, the Palm Tree, and the ruins of a church were still visible there until 1882.

Age of Mary
We know from tradition that Mary lived with St John beside the place of the Last Supper and died there in the place known as the Dormition.

We have no means of determining the afe of Mary. The Franciscans have for centuries recited the Franciscan Crown, which consists of seventy-two Hail Marys in honour of the seventy-two years of her life. This was revealed to a novice of the order. On the other hand St John undoubtedly remained in Jerusalem as long as Mary lived: "From that hour, the disciple took her to his own [house]" (John 19:27). After Pentecost, John appears with Peter in Jerusalem (Acts 3) and then in Samaria (Acts 8:14). When Paul goes to Jerusalem in 49 AD to attend the council of the Apostles he finds John there (Gal. 2:9; Acts 15). After this, we do not find him any longer in Palestine; probably he left by the year 57; for when Paul returns to Jerusalem he makes no mention of him (Acts 21). Many famous authors accept this as the date of John's departure from Jerusalem. If Mary, as commonly believed was sixteen at the birth of Christ, she was seventy-two in the year 56AD.

Death of Mary
On the third day after meeting with the Archangel Gabriel, when Apostles forewarned, have arrived, a Sunday, Mary dies: Jesus receives her soul which He consigns to Michael. Jesus ordered the burial of Mary in Gethsemane. Having placed the body in the Gethsemane, it was transported to paradise by angels, where it was reunited with the soul. It would take many pages to defend the tradition of Jerusalem over Ephesus as the place of Mary inhabitation and death, and it is not the point of this meditation. However, it may be appropriate to mention the revelations of Bl Catherine Emmerich regarding the house of Mary located in Ephesus are the main source of this supposition, not apocryphal writings. The date of Mary's death is 21 Tobi (January). Yet the fact remains that we must wait until the 7th century, before the Patriarch Modestus explicitly locates the death of Mary on Mount Sion, although it was undoubtedly the firm belief of the Church of Jerusalem that Mary after the Ascension of Jesus lived and died in the vicinity of the Cenacle. When this holy place, fortunately saved in the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70AD and by Hadrian in 135, was included in the great Basilica, Hagia Sion, built by the Patriarch John (388-417) together with the sacred memories of the Last Supper and the Descend of the Holy Ghost, was included also the memory of the Death of the Blessed Virgin, which little by little was localized in a certain part of the Basilica. The Patriarch Sophronius (634-638) successor to Modestus, in a hymn written in 603-604 records "the Stone on which the Mother of God lay in her last moments," and the site is marked on the plan of Arculf (670). This sacred edifice so eulogized by St John of Damascus (748) fell into ruins in 966 and remained so until the arrival of Crusaders. Their devotions to the Mother of Christ explains why in their reconstruction of the Basilica the remembrance of the Dormition prevailed over all the other memories and the official title of the church was "St Mary on the Mt Sion" . The Chapel which was believed to be the room of Mary, was in the northern nave, and on the dome was the inscription "Exaltata est sancta Dei Genitrix super Choros Angelorum." The Church was served by the Canons Regulars of St Augustine, but the Chapter came under the Patriarch, who with his clergy went there in procession from the Holy Sepulchre ro celebrate the feast on August 15.

In 1187, Saladin took Jerusalem from the Crusaders and the Basilica was handed over to the native clergy. Damaged in 1219, it was completely destroyed in 1244.
When in 1335 the Franciscans took up residence beside the Cenacle, which they repaired, they also hoped to rebuilt the Church of St Mary. They never succeeded in building anything except a small Chapel, which the authorities ordered to be destroyed on May 23, 1490. And when the Franciscans were finally expelled from the Cenacle, in 1553, the site remained a ruin.
The place was generally called by the local inhabitants Nijaha, i.e. lamentations or bewailing of the dead, whereas Europeans called it "Dormitio or Koimesis" (Sleeping).
In the year 1898, during his visit to Jerusalem, Emperor William II was given the site as a present by Sultan Abdul Hamid, and he handed it over to the German Catholics under the administration of the Archbishops of Cologne. the foundation stone of the present Church of the Dormition was laid on October 7 1900, and on the March 21, 1906 the Shrine was given into the charge of the Benedictine Monks of Beuron. The Church was consecrated on April 10, 1910, and on August 15, 1926, the Benedictine Priory was raised to the dignity of an Abbey. The Church was badly damaged during the fighting in 1948, and years after that the Israeli soldiers were still occupying the part of the church. The whole building, church, monastery, and belfry, is very massive and presents an appearance of a medieval fortress. the upper church, in the apse, floor and side chapels, is beautifully decorated with mosaics and bronzes. The crypt, of two concentric circles is both beautiful and devout. In the centre is the altar of the Dormition and before the altar lies the statue of the Virgin in the sweet sleep of death.


Excerpts from "Marian Shrines of the Holy Land" by Fr Hoade, OFM

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Saturday, Day of Our Lady

Thoughts for this day - St Teresa of Avila tells us about her devotion to Our Blessed Lady.

Behold, thy Mother (John 19:27)

"I understand that I had a great obligation to serve our Lady and St Joseph; for often when I went off the path completely, God gave me salvation again through their prayers "(I:399)

"On another day the Lord told me this: "Do you think, daughter, that merits lies in enjoyment? No rather it lies in working and suffering and loving....When you see My Mother holding Me in her arms, don't think she enjoyed those consolations without heavy torment. From the time Simeon spoke those words to her, My Father gave her clear light to see what I was to suffer."(I:403)

"I saw the Mother of God descend with a great multitude of angels and sit in the prioress's choir stall where there was a statue of our Lady...She told me: "You were indeed right in placing me here; I shall be present in the praises they give my Son, and I shall offer these praises to Him." (I:395)

"You have such a good Mother. Imitate her and reflect that the grandeur of our Lady and the good of having her for your patroness must indeed be great" (2:305-306)

"She is our Lady and our Patroness. And this for me was one of the great joys and satisfactions of my life". (3:279)

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Octave of the Feast of St Elijah

Devotion to Our Holy Father St. Elijah

Those to whom Elijah is little more than a myth, should visit Mount Carmel on July 20 — his Feast. They would behold a revelation. The chronicles of the Order give accounts of it each year, for it is a thing not of the past but of the present. The Holy Mountain is a teeming mass to celebrate Mar Elijah, as it is called. It is not by hundreds, but by thousands, the people are counted. For centuries, they have come on foot, on asses, on camels, on horseback, in carriages, and now, in automobiles! They come in caravans on pilgrimages, and singly on the eve, the pilgrims take their places nearest the Monastery, in every possible costume. The accounts are fascinating, and the ceremonies lend themselves to vivid description, but they would over-pass our space. The tone of the Feast is of innocent joy and profound veneration. There are two statues of Elijah, one in the original grotto under the Sanctuary, reached by steps from the Basilica, another exposed in the Basilica itself; they go from one to the other, praying and asking protection — the devotion to the Prophet enters into the very life of the people.



The good Fathers lend themselves with the utmost charity to all harmless local customs. The archives of the Monastery record many well-authenticated incidents of miraculous favors, and even of apparitions of the Prophet. Children are dedicated to him and offered to God in his grotto. There are always many baptisms. The Arabs of the Greek Catholic Rite wish their children baptised in that spot, and often defer the Sacrament until their yearly pilgrimage.

The closing of the Feast leaves a beautiful picture; the sun sets in the deep blue of the Mediterranien; the Mountain, so lovely in form that the Canticle says of the Bride, “Thy head is as Carmel,” is veiled in shadow, the moon rises over the olives, and it is night! The monks come out upon the terrace, and the traditional illumination takes place, the Monastery is outlined in fire, and as it fades away once more, the pilgrims in their turn continue the display far into the night.

Devotion to the Holy Prophet was brought into the West with the advent of Carmel, and probably no living man has so many adherents, followers, and devotees as he. East and West combine to do him homage: East, because of traditions which hang without dispersion, as clouds in summer, over those dreamy, non forgetting, changeless peoples; West, because of the diffusion of Carmel throughout every nation.

A volume might be filled, indeed many have been filled, with memories of Elijah. The Prophet had no home, but a solitary cave in the mountain, and divine hospitality has opened a home for him in every quarter of the world. And what more in keeping with the idea of divine economy than to believe that when an ambassador of God returns to earth after thousands of years, God should thus provide for him, and how better provide than by constituting him the father of innumerable children who everywhere claim him as their own; who treasure every detail of his life, and, what is most sublime, who offer the supreme Sacrifice many times each day in the humble cave wherein he dwelt, which has be come a Sanctuary enclosed in the Basilica of Carmel. There in the Tabernacle, he will find his Master awaiting him.

The Manual of the Carmelite Order contains prayers for a procession to be made in time of drought or flood, for the holy Prophet both opened and closed the heavens, and in many countries messages are sent to the Monasteries for prayers in either necessity. In May, 1779, there was a great drought in Rome and a Triduum was inaugurated at the four Carmelite Churches in the City. Prayers were said in honor of Elijah, and the Cardinal Vicar of Rome urged the faithful to follow the exercises. The people came in crowds to the statue of the Thaumaturgus, and from the first day the prayer was granted, rain began to fall, and the devotions were continued in thanksgiving. This is only one of many analogous cases.

The Holy Prophet is invoked against pestilence, to avert public calamities, to restore peace of soul, and to draw down the blessings of God on those aspiring to perfection, as is proved in innumerable cases among the Saints and Blessed of Carmel. He is also called upon to avert wars and a remarkable instance is given when Roger of Sicily had to sustain terrible combats against the Saracens. So immediate was the answer of his prayers, that the pious Count built a Church and Monastery in honor of Elijah and presented it to the Carmelites. Many churches, altars, and statues have been erected in his name; states and cities have chosen him for Patron.

This devotion is proper to these latter times when the crimes of men are such as to weary the Divine patience and draw down calamities upon the human race. It is well to seek the charitable aid of him “who has been chosen to appease the wrath of God.” (Ecclesiasticus) Then, too, each day brings us nearer the time when he will come among us with the last message of mercy and forgiveness, ere he sheds his blood for the Lord “in whose sight he stands.”

PRAYER TO ST. ELIJAH

Holy Prophet of God Elijah, Leader and Father of Carmelites, intercede
for us and for the salvation of all.

V: Pray for us, O holy Father Elijah.
R: That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.
Grant, we beseech You, O Almighty God, that we who believe that the
Blessed Elijah Your Prophet and our Father was wonderfully carried up in
a fiery chariot, may by his intercession be raised to the desire of
heavenly things and rejoice in the society of Your saints. We ask this
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

After: “Carmel, Its History, Spirit, and Saints”

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Carmelite Saints and Devotion to Mary, Queen, Flower and Beauty of Carmel

Our Lady was helping me to prepare a wedding garment for my soul (S 118)

BEHOLD, YOUR MOTHER (ST JOHN 19:27)

Not being able to bear it any longer, I asked the Blessed Virgin to take my head in her hands and to support it (C 189)

The Blessed Virgin is my mother and little children ordinarily resemble their mama (C 275)

How great favour with which I begged her to be always my protector and to help me realize my dream, hiding me in the shadow of the virginal mantle! (C 277)

It is proper to speak of her prerogatives, but we must not content ourselves with that. We must do all we can to make her beloved of souls. (C 277)

[The Blessed Virgin] loves us truly as Jesus loves us. (C 278)

I feel that the Blessed Virgin was watching over me, that I was her child. Hence I found it necessary to call her "Mama", for this name seemed even more tender than that of my mother. (C 279)

When we ask a grace from the Blessed Virgin, we receive immediate help. have you not experienced this? Well, try it and you will see. (C 279)

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 interest. (C 279)

To ask something of the Blessed Virgin is not the same thing as asking it of the good Lord. She knew 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 design. (C 279)

When we have prayed to the Blessed Virgin and she has not given us what we asked for, we should let her do what she pleases, without insisting on our request; and after that let us not worry any more about it. (C 279)

I like to hide my pains fro the good Lord, because i want to give Him the impression that I am always happy; but I hide nothing from the Blessed Virgin; to her I tell everything (C 280)

Mary my Mother made it quite clear to me that it was really she who had smiled on me and cured me. With all my heart I begged her to keep me far from all occasions of sin and to make my dream come true of casting about me her mantle of virginity. (S 86)

The Blessed Virgin is sometimes pictured as if she were unapproachable. We should realize on the contrary that it is possible to imitate her by practicing her hidden virtues. (C 277)

I will never cease to bless the Mother who gave [me] to Jesus. [I] will eternally rejoice to be a flower in her crown; with her [I] will entirely sing the canticle of love and gratitude that is ever new. (S 137)

I think of my soul as a piece of waste ground and ask Our Lady to take away the rubbish of my imperfections and then build a spacious tabernacle there, worthy of Heaven, adorning it with her own loveliness. (S 129)

I can't describe what I experienced at her Shrine. The graces she gave me there were like those of my First Communion, filling me with peace and happiness. (S 86)

The Queen of Heaven was keeping faithful watch over her little lower, smiling down on her from above. She was ready to calm the storm. (S 39)

There was a sun not far away to which the petals of the "little flower" would often turn - the statue of the Queen of Heaven. (S42)

Quotations from "The Story of the soul" (S) and "Complete Spiritual Doctrine of ST Therese of Lisieux" by Fr Francoise Jamart, OCD (C) and "Sermon in a sentence".

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NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF MT CARMEL STARTS TODAY! (7.07-15.07)

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF MT CARMEL - short version

Most powerful NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF MT CARMEL - longer version

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St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
short biography

O Mary, anyone who looks at you is comforted in any anxiety or tribulation, or pain, and is victorious over any temptation. Anyone who does not know something about God, let him have recourse to you, O Mary. Anyone who does not find mercy in God, let him have recourse to you, O Mary. Anyone whose will is not in conformity, let him have recourse to you, O Mary. Anyone who falters on account of weakness let him have recourse to you who are all strong and powerful. Anyone in constant struggle, let him have recourse to you who are a tranquil sea....Whoever is tempted,...let him have recourse to you, who are the mother of humility, and nothing drives away the devil more than humility. Let them, one and all, have recourse to you, O Mary!

***

Oh Mary, you have gone too high in telling me to love him as my Bridegroom loved him! And how did He love him? For them He left, so to speak in a certain way, the bosom of the Eternal Father, with His power, His wisdom and, in a way of speaking, His purity, in order to be able to dwell with the impurity of creatures. He left His substance and His faculties, and finally gave Himself and His own blood. And I too ought to leave myself and the love of all created things, and be prepared, should it be necessary for their salvation, to give my own blood.

***

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 repurified, and then adorned you again. Receive me, therefore, O Mary, and keep me within yourself.

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Carmelite Saints and Our Lady

St Teresa of Jesus of the Andes
short biography

"Each day I feel worse. I have no courage for anything; but finally, it is the will of God. May this be done as He desires. My Mother, I place all this in your hands. Why have you abandoned me? Bring it about that I know my lessons very well and my compositions. Show that you are my Mother and give me everything, but above all humility. Dear Jesus, give me suffering. Suffering is no bother becasue thus You love me."

***

"My Mother, I know you are my mother. Remember that I gave myself to you in your Immaculate Heart, keep me pure, a virgin. May it be my refuge, my hope, my consolation, my solitude. I place myself in your maternal arms, so you may put me in the arms of Jesus. I abandon myself to Him. May His holy will be done. Thank you, my Mother. For having freed me from all dangers and for being made me spend my vacation well. Thanks, my Mother. My Mother, I would tell you may things. But my language is so poor that it trembles in just telling you that I love you. My Mother, at your virginal feet I would love to sing your praises, but my voice is so weak that I can only formulate a prayer. I have pain because, despite having asked and at the same time having mortified myself, I have not obtained my request that my father, Miquel and Luis make a retreat. But may God's will be done.

***

Oh, my Jesus and my Mother, may I belong to Him forever. May nothing on earth claim my attention but the tabernacle. Preserve me pure for Yourself so that when I die I can say: how happy I am now that at least I can lose myself in the infinite Ocean of the Heart of Jesus, my adored Spouse.

***

There are three things we will be judged on: Your blessings to us, our sins and our deeds, according to what our intention was. Oh, my God, I am not a saint even though You filled me with blessings! Pardon me so I may be a saint from now on. My Mother, make me become a saint!

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Little Gem from St Therese - click to read

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

Food sustains life. Without food, no living being can remain alive and active. Grace gives to man a divine life. Baptism gives man birth in the divine life. Confirmation gives man maturity in the divine life. But this life cannot continue to grow without food, spiritual food. Like every other life, the divine life of grace must be nourished. it must be fed. The food of the life of grace is the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist . In this Sacrament, the life of grace feeds on the very Body and Blood of Christ Himself. If, in the natural order, bread were the only substance that men could eat, then all men would eat bread always. For a man needs food to live. In the supernatural order of grace, the Eucharist is the necessary food of the supernatural life of grace.

St Teresa of Jesus of the Andes: "Dear Jesus, may Your will be done and not mine. Tomorrow I will go to Communion. I obtained permission. Oh, what happiness: tomorrow I will have Heaven in my heart! Oh, I love, Jesus, I adore You! I thank You and my Mother for this favour. I am all Yours....only You....no other creature."

The Eucharist is not necessary in the same way that Baptism is necessary. Baptism is necessary as the beginning of the supernatural life of grace. But the Eucharist is necessary as the consummation of the life of grace. Baptism is necessary because it make a man like Christ, and so fits him for the reception of Christ in his soul. In the Eucharist, man is united to Christ Himself. In the Eucharist, the very Body and Blood of Christ become the spiritual food of man's soul, increasing grace in the soul and so increasing man's likeness to Christ.
The Eucharist is called by many names in Christian tradition. It is called "the Sacrifice", because it is a remembrance of Christ's Passion. it is called "Communion" because it is the cause of unity or union between Christ and the members of His Church. It is called "Viaticum", because it gives man the way to win the vision of God. To put it in another way, in the Eucharist we have a renewal of Christ's Passion, which saved men by meriting grace for men; in the Eucharist we have Christ Himself, Who gives grace to men; and in the Eucharist we have Christ Himself, Who enables the soul of men to pass through death to eternal life.

Bl Teresa of Jesus of the Andes: "Tomorrow I will go to Communion. How I long for this, my Jesus. I am so bad. I need You to be good. Come, Love, come quickly and I will give You my heart, my soul and all I possess. My Mother, prepare my heart to receive my Jesus." (after "God, the Joy of my Life: Blessed Teresa of the Andes")


Dieric Bouts "The Last Supper"

Christ Himself instituted this great Sacrament at the Last Supper. He knew that He was shortly to leave this earth. He knew that He would not remain in this world much longer in His bodily presence. But He did not wish to leave His faithful disciples entirely. He wished to remain with His followers in some way. And so He gave us His presence in the Sacrament of the Eucharist to take the place of His historical bodily presence. Besides, He wished to leave men a remembrance of His Passion. Faith in His Passion is necessary for salvation. But in the course of time men might forget His Passion and death on the Cross. In the Eucharist he has given men a perpetual remembrance of His Passion and death on the Cross. He instituted this Sacrament at the Last Supper, because He knew that the last words and actions of men who are about to leave this world are more likely to be remembered with love and devotion than any other words and actions. The Eucharist was, as it were, His last will and testament to the human race. Shortly before His Death, Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven, he left men His Body and Blood as the food of their souls. It was the most precios gift He had to leave us, because the Eucharist is Christ Himself, the Author and Dispenser of God's grace.

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, fragment of the poem "I shall Stay with You":
..."This is the heart of Trinity divine,
The center also of all human hearts.
Source of our life from God.

It draws us close with its mysterious might,
It keeps us safe within the Father's lap
And flood us with the Holy Spirit.

This heart beats in a tiny tabernacle
Where it remains in hidden mystery.
Within that orbit, silent, white.

That is Your royal throne, O Lord, on earth,
Which You have built for us, plainly to see.
It pleases You when I draw near....

In the mind of Christ, the Eucharist is to be the food of souls. "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world...Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me: and I in him. (John 6: 51-55). Becasue the Eucharist is the food of souls, Christ chose bread and wine for the matter of this Sacrament. Bread is the staple food of all mankind, and wheaten bread is the bread most commonly used among men. For this reason, Christ chose bread to be the sacramental sign of His Body. But man not only needs solid food, he also needs liquid refreshment. Wine is a liquid nourishment universal to mankind. Wine made from grapes
is the only true wine. Hence Christ chose wine to be the sacramental sign of His Blood. When He instituted this Sacrament at Last Supper, Christ, according to the custom of His country, mixed a little bit of water with the wine. In the Mass, a little bit of water is mixed with the wine which is to be changed into Christ's Blood. This water represents the Christian people, the members of the Church. This represents the union of the faithful with Christ. Christ wanted to give men His own Body and Blood, as the food of their souls. Hence, as the sacramental sign of His Body and Blood, He chose elements that would be recognized as food by men.

...Your eyes look deeply into mine with love,
And to my whispered words You bend Your ear.
You fill my heart with deepest peace.

And yet Your love cannot be satisfied
By this exchange, for there remains a gap,
Your heart still asks for more.

each morn You come to me at early Mass
Your flesh and blood become my food and drink;
And wonders are accomplished.

Your body permeates mine mysteriously,
I feel Your soul becoming one with mine:
I am no longer what I used to be.

You come and go, but still the seed remains
Which You have sown for future splendour,
Hid in the body made from dust.

A heavenly radiance lingers in the soul,
And deeply shines a light within the eye,
A vibrant music in the voice...


In the Eucharist, at words of consecration uttered by Christ at the Last Supper, or now by the priest at Mass, bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. Bread and wine are no longer present. Instead the Body and Blood of Christ are present sacramentally. We can never hope to understand in this life how this change takes place. This is a mystery beyond comprehension. But we can so state the mystery that it is no longer absurd or ridiculous or contradictory. Let us examine the mystery more closely. Before the Consecration of the Mass, bread and wine are present on the altar. When the priest says, speaking in the name of Christ, "This is My Body," and "This is the chalice of my Blood of the New and Eternal Testament, the Mystery of Faith, which shall be shed for you and for many unto the forgiveness of sins," the bread and wine cease to be present. How does this take place? Christ, in His Body and Blood, is present in heaven. He does not leave heaven and come to the altar to displace the bread and wine. Rather, the bread and the wine are changed into His Body and Blood. The bread and the wine cannot remain. If this happened, then the words of Christ, pronounced in the Mass by His priest, would not be true. Instead of saying, "This is My Body," the priest should say "This is bread and the Body of Christ." At the moment of Consecration, then, the bread must become the Body of Christ and the wine must become his Blood. The change must be instantaneous, for Christ did not say, "This bread is about to become My Body;" He said, "This is My Body." Naturally, the whole of the bread must be changed into the Body of Christ, and the whole of the wine must be changed into His Blood. If this did not happen, then once again the words of Christ would not be true. He should have said something like this: "This is partly bread and partly My Body." But He did not say anything like this. He said simply, "This" - all this that you see - "is my Body".

Bl Elizabeth of the Trinity:
Oh, how good it is in silence
To listen to Him over and over,
To enjoy the peace of His presence,
And then to surrender wholly to His love.

O Lamb, so pure and so meek,
You and All, my only One;
How well You know that Your fiancee,
Your little one, hungers greatly for You.

She hungers to feed upon her Master,
Above all to be consumed by Him,
To surrounder fully to Him her whole being
So she may be totally taken.

Oh, that I may be possessed by You;
One who lives by You alone,
Yours, Your living host,
Consumed by You on the Cross.

This is a very special kind of change, in fact the only change of its kind we know. We are accustomed to many chages in the world of matter. Water and wheaten flour can be mixed together and baked. In the baking they are changed into bread. In the course of time, through the process of nature wine can change into vinegar. But there are three things of which we are sure in all changes of this kind. First, the new substance - bread or wine in the examples given - did not previously exist. It came into being with the change. Secondly, something of the first substance - of the wheat or of the wine -went into the making of the last substance, the bread or the vinegar. And thirdly, the sensible qualities of the first and the last substances were not the same. Wheat looks differently and tastes differently from bread. Wine tastes differently from vinegar. Now in the Eucharist, the substance of the Body and Blood of Christ are in existence before the substance of the wine are changed into them. Secondly, and consequently, nothing of the bread and nothing of the wine are used in making the Body or the Blood of Christ. Thirdly, although the sensible qualities of the Body and Blood of Christ are different from the sensible qualities of bread and wine, nevertheless, the sensible qualities of bread and wine still exist in the Eucharist. The consecrated Host still looks like bread, feels like bread, and tasted like bread. The wine that has been consecrated still looks like wine, tastes like wine. On the other hand, neither the Host nor the Previous looks like the Body and the Blood of Christ. We can only say that the whole substance of the bread has been changed into the substance of the Body of Christ, and the whole substance of the wine has been changed into the Blood of Christ, but that the appearance of bread and wine still remain. What was bread has been changed, though the appearance of bread remain. What was wine has been changed, though the appearance of wine remain. Theologians call a change of this kind 'Transubstantiation'. The word means that one whole substance changed into another whole substance, even though the appearances - philosophers would say "accidents" - of the first substance still remain. In the Eucharist neither the bread nor the wine is annihilated. They are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ.

St Therese of the Child Jesus: "Living Bread"
Living Bread, Bread of Heaven, Divine Eucharist,
O touching Mystery produced by Love,
Come dwell within my heart, Jesus, my white Host...

Deign to unite me unto Thee, O Holy and Sacred Vine,
That my feeble branch may yield its fruits to Thee;
And I will offer Thee a gilded cluster....
This cluster of love of which the grapes are souls.

"My Heaven Is Hidden"
My Heaven is hidden in the little Host
Where Jesus, my Spouse, hides Himself through love.

Thou, the great God Whom the universe adores,
In me Thou liv'st, a prisoner night and day,
Thou liv'st, for me, hidden in a Host.
For Thee I wish to hide myself, O Jesus,
Lovers need solitude,
A heart-to-heart which lasts night and day.

I am Thy cherished spouse,
Come, my beloved, live in me.
O come, thy beauty has ravished me,
Deign to transform me into Thee.

to be continued...

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St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, Virgin, Carmelite (1566-1607)

Spiritual Bouquet:
Blessed are those servants whom the master, on his return, shall find watching. St. Luke 12:37

Saint Mary Magdalene of Pazzi was the only daughter of the illustrious Camille de Pazzi, related to the Medicis of Florence. She was born in the year 1566, and was baptized with the name of Catherine. As a child she loved to go into solitary places to enter into prayer with God, who revealed Himself to her from her tender years without the aid of teachers, as her Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. She made a crown of thorns one day, and wore it for an entire night, enduring great pain. She received her First Communion at ten years of age; at twelve years, she made a vow of virginity and took great pleasure in teaching Christian doctrine to poor children.
Her father, not knowing of her vow, wished to give her in marriage, but she persuaded him to allow her to become a religious, and chose the Carmelites, because there the nuns received Communion frequently. She entered in the year of the death of Saint Teresa of Avila, 1582, at the age of sixteen. It had been more difficult to obtain her mother’s consent; while she was a novice, her mother sent a portrait artist to the convent, with instructions that her daughter be portrayed in lay clothing. The Sisters complied with her request, and the portrait can still be seen in the Convent. She became professed at eighteen years of age in the Carmelite monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence, May 17, 1584, Feast of the Holy Trinity. She changed her name of Catherine to that of Mary Magdalene on becoming a nun, and took as her motto, “Either suffer or die.”

Her life thereafter was one of penance for sins not her own, and of love for Our Lord, who tried her in ways fearful and strange. She was obedient, observant of the Rule, humble and mortified, and had great reverence for the religious life. One day, when she seemed to be at the last hour of her life, she rose from her sickbed and hastened everywhere throughout the convent, saying during her ecstasy, “O Love! O Love! No one knows You, no one knows You, no one loves You!” For five years she was tormented by demons with fearful temptations of pride, sensuality, gluttony, despair, blasphemy; they became so violent that she said, “I do not know whether I am a reasonable creature or one without reason; I see nothing in myself but a little good will never to offend the divine Majesty.”

God raised her to elevated states of prayer and gave her rare gifts, enabling her to read the thoughts of her novices, and filling her with wisdom to direct them. She was twice chosen mistress of novices, and then made Superior. On her deathbed she asked her Sisters to love only Our Lord Jesus Christ, to place all hope in Him, and be perpetually ardent with desire to suffer for love of Him. God took her to Himself on May 15, 1607. Her body remains incorrupt.

Reflection.
Saint Mary Magdalene of Pazzi was so filled with the love of God that her Sisters saw it in her love for them, and called her “Mother of Charity,” and “the Charity of the Monastery.”

Her incorruptible body lies in a beautiful glass casket in the Carmelite Monastery of St Maria degli Angeli, Florence

credit: www.magnificat.ca

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March, the month of St Joseph - click to read

CONSECRATION TO ST. JOSEPH

O, my beloved St. Joseph, adopt me as thy child, take care of my salvation, watch over me day and night, preserve me from the occasion of sin, obtain for me purity of soul and body! Through thy intercession with Jesus grant me a spirit of sacrifice, of humility and self-denial, a burning love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and a sweet tender love for Mary, my Mother. St. Joseph, be with me living, be with me dying and obtain for me a favorable judgment from Jesus, my merciful Savior. Amen

PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH - Ad te beate Joseph - prayer of Pope Leo XIII

To thee, O blessed Joseph, do we have recourse in our tribulation, and having implored the help of thy thrice holy Spouse, we confidently invoke thy patronage also. By that charity wherewith thou wast united to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and by that fatherly affection with which thou didst embrace the Child Jesus, we beseech thee and we humbly pray, that thou wouldst look graciously upon the inheritance which Jesus Christ hath purchased by His Blood, and assist us in our needs by thy power and strength.

Most watchful Guardian of the Holy Family, protect the chosen people of Jesus Christ; keep far from us, most loving father, all blight of error and corruption: mercifully assist us from heaven, most mighty defender, in this our conflict with the powers of darkness; and, even as of old thou didst rescue the Child Jesus from the supreme peril of his life, so now defend God's Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; keep us one and all under thy continual protection, that we may be supported by thine example and thine assistance, may be enabled to lead a holy life, die a happy death and come at last to the possession of everlasting blessedness in heaven. Amen.

Last picture shows interior of the beautiful Shrine of St Joseph in St Louis, Missouri.

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Lenten thoughts - Humility

"Madonna of Humility" by Giovanni Paolo depicts Our Lady in violet robe and sitting on the ground. Frescos with the Madonna dell'Umiltà were the object of special veneration in northern Italy. and images of humble Virgin were very popular in private devotions in fourteen century Siena.

Charity is the essence of Christian perfection, for charity alone has the power to unite mand to God, his last end. But for us poor, miserable creatures, whom God wishes to raise to union with Himself, is charity the ultimate basis of the spiritual life? No. There is something deeper still which is, so to speak, the basis of charity, and that is humility. Humility is to charity what the foundation is to a building. Digging the foundation is not building the house, yet it is preliminary, indispensable work, the condition sine qua non. The deeper and firmer it is, the better the house will be and the greater assurance of stability it will have. Only the fool "built his house upon the sand," with the inevitable consequence of seeing it crumble away very soon. The wise man, on the contrary, "built...upon a rock" (Mt 7:24-26); storms and winds might threaten, but his hhouse was unshakable because foundation was solid.
Humility is the firm bedrock upon which every Christian should build the edifice of his spiritual life. "If you wish to lay good foundations" says St Teresa of Jesus to her daughters, "each of you must try to be the least of all" that is, you must practice humility. "If you do that...your foundation will be so firmly laid that your Castle will not fall" (Interior Castle 7:4).

Fragments from "Divine Intimacy" by Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen OCD

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HOLY FACE OF JESUS - click for link

..."All those who attracted by my love, and venerating my countenance, shall receive, by virtue of my humanity, a brilliant and vivid impression of my divinity. The splendour shall enlighthen the depth of their souls, so that in eternal glory the celestial court shall marvel at the marked likeness of their features with my divine countenance." (Our Lord to St Gertrude)

..."I firmly wish that my face reflecting the intimate pains of my soul, the suffering and love of my heart, be more honoured! Whoever gazes upon me already consoles me." (Our Lord Jesus Christ to Sister Pierina)

Link on the title of this post will lead us to read a meditation on the Feast of Holy Face of Jesus. The author encourages us to see the Face of Our Crucified Lord in suffering human beings in particular in countless Jewish victims exterminated in Nazi concentration camps during second World War. I would like to add something to these reflections; it is very good to remember advice like this when we may have negative feelings developing in our heart towards others. In the Face of our Lord we should first see and remember those who were martyred for the Catholic faith in the first centuries of Christianity, Missionaries who gave their lives evangelizing pagan nations, in the Religious, Priests, Nuns, lay people who were martyred during Reformation, during anti-Catholic persecutions of the French Revolution, during numerous communist upheavals, in the concentration camps of Nazis and Soviets. We can see the face of Our Lord in Catholic Priest, St Maximillan Kolbe, who gave his life to spare the fellow prisoner at Auschwitz and in Catholic Nun, St Edith Stein, Carmelite and Jewish convert who died in the concentration camp because she was Catholic. There is a big international row over erecting crosses it the area of Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland and I suspect that any reference to seeing Christ face in Jewish victims of Holocaust would make many deeply unhappy.

Further reading Auschwitz Cross controversy

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