Friday in Passion Week
The Roman Breviary
At MATINS
The reading of the holy Gospel according to John
Lesson i: c. 11, 47-54
At that time: The chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council against Jesus and said, What do we; for this man doth the miracles? If we let him alone so, all will believe in him; and the Roman will come, and take away our place and nation. But one of them, named Caiphas, being the high priest that year, said to them: you know nothing. Neither do you consider that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this he spoke not of himself: but being the high of that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation. And not only for the nation, but to gather together in one the children of God, that were dispersed. From that day therefore they devised to put him to death. Wherefore Jesus walked no more openly among the Jews; but he went into a country near the desert, unto a city that is called Ephrem, and there he abode with his disciples.

Homily of St. Augustine, Bishop
Treatise 49 on John
The chief priest and the Pharisees took counsel together; and yet they did not say: Let us believe. For these abandoned men took more thought how to do harm, that they might destroy him, than how to take counsel for themselves, that they might escape destruction; and yet they were afraid, and did in a manner take counsel together. For they said: What do we, for this man doth miracles? If we let him alone so, a;; will believe in him; and the Romans will come, and take way our place and nation. They feared to lose temporal things, and took no thought for eternal life, and thus they lost both together.
R.Thou art my God , depart not from me: For trouble is very near, and there is none to help me.
V. But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help far from me: look towards my defense.

Lesson ii
For after the Lord had suffered and was entered into glory, the Romans took away from them their place and nation, by conquering them and carrying them away; and that pursues them, which was said elsewhere: But the children of the kingdom shall go into the exterior darkness. But this was what they feared, that, if all should believe in Christ, there would be none left to defend the city and temple of God against the Romans; for they imagined that the teaching of Christ was directed against that temple and against the laws of their fathers.
R. I am cast upon thee from the womb, from my mother's womb thou art my God, depart not from me: For trouble is very near, and there is none to help me.
V. Save me from the lion's mouth, and my lowliness from the horns of the unicorns.

Lesson iii
But one of them, named Caiphas, being the high-priest that year, said to them: You know nothing; neither do you consider that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this he spoke not of himself: but being the high priest of that year, he prophesied. From this we learn that even wicked men may foretell the future by the spirit of prophecy; this, however, the Evangelist ascribed to a divine sacrament, for this man was the pontiff, that is to say, the High Priest.
R. O Lord, my trouble is very near and there is none to help me: before they pierce my hands and feet, deliver me from the mouth of the lion, That I may declare thy name unto my brethren.
V. O God, deliver my soul from the sword, and my only one from the power of the dog.

Collect
Mercifully infuse thy grace into our hearts, we beseech thee, O Lord: that, refraining from sin by voluntary chastisement, we may be rather afflicted in time than condemned to punishment for eternity. Through Our Lord.
Collect
Grant, we beseech there, almighty God: that we who seek the grace of thy protection, may, being freed from all evils, serve thee with an easy mind. Through Our Lord. Read whole post......

Thursday in Passion Week.
The Roman Breviary
At MATINS
Lesson i
The reading of the holy Gospel according to Luke c.7, 36-50
At that time: One of the Pharisees desired Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the house of the Pharisee, and sat down to meat. And behold a woman that was in the city, a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment. And standing behind at his feet, she began to wash his feet, with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. And the Pharisee, who had invited him, seeing it, spoke within himself, saying: This man, if he were a prophet, would know surely who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, and she is a sinner. And Jesus answering, said to him: Simon, I have something to say to thee. But he said: Master, say it. A certain creditor had two debtors, the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And whereas they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which therefore of the two loveth him most? Simon answering, said: I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said to him: Thou has judged rightly. And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon: Dost thou see this woman? I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she with tears hath washed my feet, and with her hair hath wiped them. Thou gavest me no kiss: but she, since she came, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint; but she with ointment hath anointed my feet. Wherefore I say to thee: Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, he loveth less. And he said to her: Thy sins are forgiven thee. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves: Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman: Thy faith hath made thee safe, go in peace.

Homily of St. Gregory, Pope
Homily 33 on the Gospel

Thinking upon the penitence of Mary Magdalen I am, more ready to weep than to say aught. For what heart of stone would not be softened to a like penance by the tears of this sinner? She considered what she had done, and would not be moderate in what she was doing then. She broke in upon the guests, she came unasked, she brought her tears to the banquet. You may understand with what sorrow she burns, in that she is not ashamed to weep even at a feast.
R. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the sinner, and out of the hand of transgressor, and of the unjust: For thou art my patience.
V. O my God, be not thou far from me: O my God, make haste to help me.

Lesson ii
But this woman, whom Luke calls a woman that was sinner, is named by John, Mary; and we believe she was that Mary from whom, as Mark bears witness, seven devils were cast forth. And what is signified by seven devils, if not all the vices? For since all time is counted by periods of seven days, rightly by the number seven is signified completedness. Mary then had seven devils, because she was full of the vices.
R. They are multiplied who afflict me, and say:There is no salvation for him in his God: Arise, Lord, save me, O my God.
V. Lest my enemy say at any time, I have prevailed against him.

Lesson iii
But, behold, when she saw the stains of the foulness, she ran to wash herself at the fountain of mercy, and had no shame before the guests. Indeed, since she felt so much shame in herself, she counted it for nothing to be outwardly disgraced. What, therefore, shall we wonder at, brethren? That Mary came, or that the Lord received her? Received her, shall I say, or not rather, draw her? But it were better to say: both drew her and received her: for in his mercy he drew her inwardly, and in his meekness he received her outwardly.
R. How long shall enemy my enemy be exalted over me? Consider, and hear me, O Lord my God.
V. They that trouble me will rejoice when I am moved, but I have trusted in thy mercy.

Collect
Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God: that the dignity of human nature, which has been impaired by intemperance, may be restored by the practice of salutary self-denial

Collect
Be propitious to thy people, we beseech thee, O Lord: that, rejecting those things which displease thee, they may be filled with the delights of thy communion. Read whole post......

Wednesday in Passion Week
The Roman Breviary

At MATINS
The Reading of the Holy Gospel according to John
Lesson i: c.10, 22-38
At that time: It was the feats of the dedication at Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch. The Jews therefore came round about him, and said to him: How long dost thou hold our souls in suspense? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them: I speak to you and you believe not: the works that I do in the name of the my Father, they give testimony of me. But you do nnot believe, because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice: and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them life everlasting; and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall pluck them out of my hand. That which my Father hath given me, is greater than all: and no one can snatch them out of the hand of my Father. I and the Father are one. The Jews then took up stones to stone him. Jesus answered them: many good works I have showed you from my Father; for which of those works do you stone me? The Jews answered him: For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them: Is it not written in your law: I said you are gods? If he called the gods, to whom the word of God was spoken, and the scripture cannot be broken; Do you say of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world: Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God?
If I do not the works of my Father believe me not. But if I do, though you will not believe me, believe the works : thou you
may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.

Homily of St. Augustine, Bishop
Treatise 48 on John
The Encaenia was the feast of the dedication of the Temple. For in Greek, kainon signifies new. Whenever anything new was dedicated, it was called encaenia. And now this word has passed into common use. If a man puts on a new tunic, he is said to encaeniare (to renovate). This day, then, on which the temple, was dedicated, was kept by the Jews as a solemn festival; they were keeping this same feast when the `lord spoke these words, which we have just read.
O Lord, I went about sorrowful all the day long: for my soul is filleth with illusions: And they that sought after my soul used violence
V. My friends and my neighbours have drawn near, and stood against me; and they that were near me stood afar off.

Lesson ii
It was winter, and Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch. The Jews therefore came round about him, and said to him: How long dost thou hold our souls in suspense? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Not that they desired the truth, but they were planning a false accusation. It was winter, and they were cold: for they were loth to draw near to that divine fire. If to draw near is to believe, then he who believes draws near, and he who denies, retires. The soul is not moved by the feet, but by the affections.
R. O Lord, turn not, turn not away thy face from thy servant: For I am in trouble, O hear me speedily.
V. Draw nigh unto my soul and deliver it, save me because of mine enemies.

Lesson iii
They has become icy cold in the charity that shows affection, and they burned with the desire to do as injury. They were far away, and yet were there: they did not draw near by believing in him, yet they pressed close by persecuting him. They sought to hear from the Lord: I am Christ; and perhaps they did understand something of Christ as to his manhood. For the prophets had preached Christ; but the divinity of Christ expressed both in the prophets and in the Gospel itself, is not grasped even by heretics: how much less, then, by the Jews, so long as the veil is upon their hearts?
R. Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes, and I will weep day and night? For my nearest brother hath supplanted me, And every friend hath dealt deceitfully against me.
V. Let their way become dark and slippery: and let the Angel of the Lord pursue them.

Collect
We beseech thee, O God, by the sanctification of this fast, mercifully to enlighten the hearts of thy faithful: and grant unto those upon whom thou bestowest the grace of devotion a favourable hearing when they call upon thee. Through Our Lord. Read whole post......

Tuesday in Passion Week
The Roman Breviary

At MATINS
The reading of the holy Gospel according to John
Lesson i:c.7, 1-13
At that time: Jesus walked in Galilee, for he would not walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him. Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand. And his brethren said to him: Pass from hence, and go to Judea; that thy disciples also may see thy works which thou dost. For there is no man that doth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, manifest thyself to the world. For neither did his brethren believe in him. Then Jesus said to them: My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth: because I gave testimony of it, that the works thereof are evil. Go you up to this festival day: because my time is not yet accomplished. When he had said these things, he himself stayed in Galilea. But after his brethren were gone up, then he also went up to the feast, not openly, but, as it were, in secret. The Jews therefore sought him on the festival day, and said: Where is he? And there was much murmuring among the multitude concerning him. For some said: He is a good man. And others said: No, but he seduceth the people. Yet no man spoke openly of him, for fear of the Jews.

Homily of St. Augustine, Bishop.
Treatise 28 on John
In this chapter of the Gospel, brethren, our Lord Jesus Christ more especially commends himself to our faith, in respect of his humanity. For, indeed, he ever aimed at this, in his deeds and words, that men might believe him to be both God and man: God who made us, man who sought us: God with the Father always, man with us in time. For he would not have sought man whom he has made, if he himself had not become that which had made. But remember this, and never let it depart from your hearts: Christ was made man in such a way, that he never ceased to be God. Still remaining God, he, who had made man, assumed man's nature.
R. Thou art my helper and protector, O Lord: and in thy word have I greatly hoped: Depart from me, ye wicked and I will meditate on the commandments of my God.
V. I have hated the unjust: and thy law have I loved.

Lesson ii
When, therefore, as man, he hid himself, we must not think that he had lost his power, but only to have afforded an example to the weak. For when he willed, he was apprehended; when he willed, he was slain. But because, in time to come, his members, that is, the faithful, would not have this power that he, our God, had; in that he kept himself hid, in that he concealed himself as if thereby to avoid being put to death, he indicated that his members were to do this in future, those members of his in whom he truly lives.
R. I will teach the unjust thy ways: and the wicked shall be converted unto thee; Deliver me from sins of blood, O God, thou God of my salvation.
V. Lord, thou shalt open my lips; and my mouth shall declare thy praise.

Lesson iii
For Christ is not merely in the head, and not in the body; but the whole Christ is in the head and in the body. And therefore, he is what his members are: but his members are not necessarily what he is. Were his members not himself, he would not have said to Saul: Why persecutest thou me? For Saul was persecuting on earth, not him, but his members, that is, the faithful. And yet he did not choose to say, my saints, or my servants, or, more honourably still, my brethren; but: Me, that is, my members, of whom I am the head.
R. Take not away my soul, O God, with the wicked, nor my life with men of blood: redeem me, O Lord.
V. Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man, and rescue me from the unjust man.

Collect
May our fasts be acceptable to thee, O Lord: and, by expiating our sins, render us worthy of thy grace, and conduct us at last to eternal remedies
Collect
Grant us, we beseech, Lord, a persevering obedience to thy will: that in our day the people who serve thee may increase both in merit and number. Read whole post......

Monday in Passion Week.
The Roman Breviary
At MATINS
The reading of the Holy Gospel according to John.
Lesson i: c.7, 32-39
At that time: The rulers and Pharisees sent ministers to apprehend Jesus. Jesus therefore said to them: yet a little while I am with you: and then I go to him that sent me. You shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither you cannot come. The Jews therefore said among themselves: Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? Will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles? What is this saying that he hath said: You shall seek me, and shall not find me; and where I am, you cannot come? And on the last, and great day of the festivity, Jesus stood and cried, saying: If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. He that believeth in me, as the scripture saith, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Now this he said of the Spirit which they should receive, who believed in him: for as yet the Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Homily of St. Augustine, Bishop.
Treatise 31 on John
How could they apprehend him, if, as yet, he were unwilling? Since, then, they could not apprehend him because he did not will it, they were that they might hear what he was teaching. And what was he teaching? Jesus therefore said to them: Yet a little while I am with you. What you wish to do now, you shall do hereafter; but not just now, for I do not will it now. Why am I now as yet unwilling? Because yet a little while I am with you, and then I go to him that sent me. I must fulfil my charge, and thus come to my Passion.
R. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the sinner, and out of the hand of the transgressor, and of the unjust: For thou art my patience.
V. O my God, be not thou far from me: O my God, make haste to help me.

Lesson ii
You shall seek me, and shall not find me; and where I am, thither you cannot come. Here he has already foretold his resurrection: for they would not acknowledge him when he was present with them, and afterwards they sought him, seeing the multitude already believing in him. For great signs were wrought, even when the Lord was risen again and ascended into heaven. And again, mighty deeds were done by his disciples; but he wrought by them as he wrought by himself; indeed, he himself had told them: Without me you can do nothing. When that lame man who sat at the gate, rose up at the voice of Peter, and walked upon his own feet, so that man marveled, Peter thus addressed them, saying that he had not done this by his own power, but by the power of him whom they themselves had slain. Many, being stung with remorse, said: What shall we do?
R. They that watched for my life took counsel together, saying: God hath forsaken him, Pursue and take him: for there is none to deliver him: O my God, be not thou far from me: O my God, make haste to help me.
V. All my enemies whispered together against me; they have devised evils against me, saying.

Lesson iii
For they saw themselves bound by a monstrous crime of impiety, when they slew him whom they ought to have revered and adored: and this, they thought, was beyond all pardon. It was indeed a great crime, and to think upon it might bring them to despair; yet they ought not to have despaired, since it was for them that the Lord was pleased to pray to pray while he hung upon the cross. For he had said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. He saw, among the many strangers, some who belonged to him; he begged forgiveness for these, from whom he was still receiving outrages. For he heeded not that he was dying at their hands, but only that he was dying for them.
R. My enemies spoke indeed peaceably unto me, but in their anger they troubled me: Thou hast seen, O Lord, be not thou silent, depart not from me.
V. As for me, when they molested me, I was clothed with hair-cloth, and I humbled my soul with fasting.

Collect
Sanctify our fasts, we beseech thee, O Lord: and mercifully bestow upon us the pardon of all our faults. Through Our Lord.
Collect
Grant thy people, we beseech thee, O Lord, health of mind and body: that, cleaving to good works, they may ever deserve to be defended by thy protection.Through Our Lord. Read whole post......

The First Sunday of the Passion
Jesus Persecuted from "Divine Intimacy" by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene OCD

PRESENCE OF GOD - O Jesus, help me to enter into the mystery of Your Passion; deign to associate me with it, so that I may participate in Your resurrection.

MEDITATION
1. Today Passiontide begins, a time especially consecrated to the remembrance and loving contemplation of the sorrows of Jesus. The veiled crucifix and statutes, the absence of the Gloria Patri in the responsories of the Divine Office, the suppression of the psalm Judica me at the beginning of Mass - are all signs of mourning by which the Church commemorates Our Lord's Passion. Pope St. Leo exhorts us to participate "in the Cross of Christ, in order that we also may do something which will unite us to what He has done for us, for as the Apostle says, 'if we suffer with Him, we shall be glorified with Him.' " Therefore, we must not only meditate on Jesus' sufferings, but also take part in them; only by bearing His Passion in our heart and in our body (2Cor 4,10) shall we be able to share in its fruits. So it is that in the liturgy of this season the Church repeats more insistently than ever: "If you hear the voice of the Lord makes itself heard these days, not by words, but by the eloquent testimony of deeds, by the great events of the Passion - a mystery which gives us the most convincing proof of His infinite love for us. Let us, therefore, open our heart to the sublime lessons of the Passion: let us see how much Jesus has loved us and how much we ought to love Him in return; let us learn that, if we wish to follow Him, we, too, must suffer and bear the Cross with Him and after Him. At the same, let us open our heart to a lively hope; for our salvation is in the Passion of Jesus. In today's Epistle (Heb 9, 11-15) St. Paul presents to us the majestic figure of Christ, the Eternal High Priest, who "by His Blood, entered once into the holies, [that is, heaven] having obtained eternal redemption." The Passion of Jesus has redeemed us; it has opened once again our father's house to us; it is then the motive for our hope.

2. The Gospel (Jn 8,46-59) narrates an instance of the pressing hostility of the Jews, an evident prelude to the Passion of Jesus. In their hardened hearts they had absolutely refused to acknowledge the mission of the Saviour; as a result, they schemed in a thousand ways to oppose His teaching and to belittle Him before the people by declaring Him a liar and one possessed by the devil. Their animosity had increased to the point where they decided to stone Him: "They took up stones therefore to cast at Him." Jesus' death was already decreed by the Jews, but the hour fixed by His Father had not yet come, so "Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the Temple."
This passage in the Gospel allows us to consider the conduct of Jesus in the presence of His persecutors: we see zeal for their souls, meekness, personal disinterestedness, and total abandonment to God. St. Gregory the Great wrote: "Consider, beloved brethren, the meekness of the Lord. He, who had come to remit sins, said, 'Which of you will convince me of sin?' He, who by virtue of His divinity, could justify sinners, does not disdain to prove by reasoning that he is not a sinner." the calumnies continued: "Thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil." The divine Master answered, always with meekness, only what was necessary to testify to the truth: "I have not a devil, but I honour My Father, and you have dishonoured Me." Then he placed His reputation and His cause in the hands of God. "I seek not My own glory; there is One that seeketh and judgeth." In the meantime, throughout all the discussions, He did not cease to instruct and to enlighten minds, attempting to draw them away from error. Always forgetful of Himself, He thought only of the good of souls. It was precisely in these painful circumstances that Jesus gave us precious instruction: "He that is of God, heareth the words of God....If any man keep My word, he shall not see death forever." Let us gather these lessons from the lips of our persecuted master, and keep them in our heart with a jealous care. In our day, too, the world is filled with his enemies, those who oppose His doctrine and despise His Passion. Let us, at least, believe in Him and be His faithful friends.

COLLOQUY
"Praise be to You, O most merciful God, who willed to redeem us and restore us by the Passion, the sufferings, the scorn, and the poverty of Your Son, when we were wretched outcasts and condemned prisoners. I run to Your Cross, O Christ - to suffering, scorn, and poverty; with all my strength I desire to be transformed in You, O suffering God-Man, who loved me so much that You endured a horrible, shameful death for the sole purpose of saving me, and to give me an example, so that I would be able to endure adversity for love of You. It is the perfection and true proof of love to conform myself to You, O Crucified One, who for my sins willed to undergo a cruel death, delivering Yourself entirely to tortures, as a victim. O my suffering God, only by reading the book of Your life and death shall I be able to know You and to penetrate Your mystery. Grant me, then, a profound spirit of prayer, springing not only from my lips, but also from my heart and soul, so that I shall be able to understand the lessons of Your Passion!
"Yet more, in the book of Your Cross I see Your infinite meekness, by which, although being cursed, You did not curse nor avenge Yourself, but on the contrary, You pardoned and won heaven for the very ones who were crucifying You'" (St. Angela of Foligno). Read whole post......

Saturday - Day of Our lady

Fourth Week of Lent. "The Glories of Mary" by St. Alphonsus of Liquori

'Sermon on the Dolours of Mary - Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother'

Behold we are about to consider a new kind of martydrom; we have to consider a Mother condemned to see her innocent Son die as malefactor on an infamous gibbet. This Mother is Mary, who indeed, with too great reason, is called by the Church the Queen of Martyrs; yes, for Mary in the death of Jesus Christ suffered a more cruel martydrom than all others martyrs; for

i. Her Martydrom was ever equalled.
ii Her Martydrom was without relief.

FIRST POINT. her martydrom was never equalled
I. the words of the prophet Jeremias explain my meaning in this point: "To what shall I compare thee? or to what shall I like thee, O daughter of Jerusalem?....for great as the sea is thy destruction; who shall heal thee?" No, the acuteness of the suffering of Mary are not to be compared, even with those of all martyrs united. 'The martydrom of Mary,' says Saint Bernard, 'was not caused by the executioner's sword, but proceeded from bitter sorrow of heart. In other martyrs torments were inflicted on the body; but Mary's sorrow was in her heart and soul, verifying in her the prophecy of Saint Simeon, "Thy own soul a sword shall pierce".
II. Arnold of Chartres writes, that 'whoever had been on Mount Calvary, to witness the great sacrifice of the Immaculate Lamb, would there have beheld two great altars, the one in the body of Jesus, the other in the heart of Mary; for on that mount, when the Son sacrificed His body by death, Mary sacrificed her soul by compassion. So much so, says St. Antoninus, that, whereas other martyrs sacrifice their own life, the Blessed Virgin consummated her martydrom by sacrificing the life of her Son a life which she loved far more than her own, and which caused her to endure a torment which exceeded all other torments ever endured by any mortal on earth.
III. As a general rule, the suffering of children are also sufferings of their mothers who are present at and witness their torments. This Saint Augustine declares, when speaking of the mothers who are present at and witness their torments. This St. Augustine declares, when speaking of the mother of the Machabees, who witnessed the execution of her children, martyred by order of the cruel Antiochus: he says, that 'love caused her to endure in her soul all the torments inflicted on each of her children. Erasmus adds, that 'mothers suffer more at the sight of the suffering of their children than if the torments were inflicted on themselves.' This, however, is not always true; but in Mary it was verified; for she certainly suffered more in witnessing the sufferings of her Son than she would have done had she endured all His torments in her own person. 'All the wounds,' says Saint Bonaventure, 'which were scattered over the body of Jesus were united in the heart of Mary, to torment her in the Passion of her Son; so that, as Saint Lawrence Justinian writes, 'the heart of Mary, by compassion for her Son, become a mirror of His torments, in which might be seen faithfully reflected the spittings, the blows, the wounds, and all that Jesus suffered'. We can therefore say that Mary, on account of the love she bore Him, was in heart, during the Passion of her Son, struck, scourged, crowned with thorns, and nailed to the very cross of her Son.
IV. The same St. Lawrence considers Jesus, on His road to Calvary, with the cross on His shoulders, turning to Mary, and saying to her, 'Alas, my own dear Mother, whither goest thou? what a scene wilt thou witness? Thou wilt be agonised by My suffering, and I by thine. But the loving Mother would follow Him all the same, though she knew that, by being present at His death, she would have to endure a torment greater than any death. She saw that her Son carried the cross to be crucified upon it; and she also took up the cross of her sorrows, and followed her Son carried the cross to be crucified with Him. Hence Saint Bonaventura considers Mary standing by the cross of her dying Son, and asks her, saying , 'O Lady, tell me where didst thou then stand - was it near the cross? No, thou wast on the cross itself, crucified with thy Son.' On the words of the Redeemer foretold by the prophet Isaias, "I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a men with me." Richard of Saint Lawrence says, 'It is true, O Lord, that in the work of human redemption Thou didst suffer alone, and that there was not a man who suficiently pitied Thee; but there was a woman with Thee, and she was Thine own Mother; she suffered in her heart all that Thou didst endure in Thy body.
V. To show the sufferings endured by other martyrs, they are represented with the instruments of their torture; St Andrew with a cross, St Paul with a sword, St Lawrence with the gridiron; Mary is represented with her dead Son in her arms; for He alone was the instrument of her martydrom and compassion, and compassion for Him made her the Queen of Martyrs.... Read whole post......

Fourth Week after Lent. "Dark night of the Soul" by St. John of the Cross
Chapter X.
Of the way in which these souls are to conduct themselves in the dark night
During the time, then, of the aridities of this night of the sense (wherein God effects these change of which we have spoken above, drawing forth the soul from the life of sense into that of the spirit - that is, from meditation to contemplation - wherein it no longer has any power to work or to reason with its faculties concerning the things of God, as has been said), spiritual persons suffer great trials, by reason not so much of the aridities which they suffer, as of the fear which they have of being lost on the road, thinking that all spiritual blessing is over for them and that God has abandoned them since they find no help or pleasure in good things. Then they grow weary, and endeavour (as they have been accustomed to do) to concentrate their faculties with some degree of pleasure upon some object of meditation, thinking that, when they are not doing this and yet and yet are conscious of making an effort, they are doing nothing. This effort they make not without great inward repugnance and unwillingness on the part of their soul, which was taking pleasure in being in that quietness and ease, instead of working with its faculties. So they have abandoned the one pursuit, yet draw no profit from the other; for, by seeking what is prompted by their own spirit, they lose the spirit of tranquility and peace which they had before. And thus they are like to one who abandons what he has done in order to do it over again, or to one who leaves a city only to re-enter it, or to one who is hunting and lets his prey go in order to hunt it once more. This is useless here, for the soul will gain nothing further by conducting itself in this way, as has been said. Read whole post......

Fourth Week of Lent. "Dark Night of the Soul" by St. John of the Cross

Chapter ix continued
6. But, as I say, when these aridities proceed from the way of the purgation of sensual desire. Although at first the spirit fells no sweetness, for the reasons that we have just given, it feels that it is deriving strength and energy to act from the substance which this inward food gives it, the which food is the beginning of a contemplation that is dark and arid to the senses; which contemplation is secret and hidden from the very person that experiences it; and ordinarily, together with the aridity and emptiness which it causes in the senses, it gives soul an inclination and desire to be alone and in quietness, without being able to think of any particular thing or having the desire to do so. If those souls to whom this comes to pass knew how to be quiet at this time, and troubled not about performing any kind of action, whether inward or outward, neither had any anxiety about doing anything, then they would delicately experience this inward refreshment in that ease and freedom from care. So delicate is this refreshment that ordinarily, if a man have desire or care to experience it not; for, as I say, it does its work when the soul is most at ease and freest from care; it is like the air which, if one would close one's hand upon it, escapes.
7. In this sense we may understand that which the Spouse said to the Bride in the Songs, namely: 'Withdraw thine eyes from me, for they make me to soar aloft.' (Canticles vi,4). For in such a way God bring the soul into this state, and by so different a path does he lead it that, if it desires to work with its faculties, it hinders the work which God is doing in it rather than aids it; whereas aforetime it was quite the contrary. The reason is that, in this state of contemplation, which the soul enters when it forsakes meditation for the state of proficient, it is God Who is now working in the soul; He binds its interior faculties, and allows it not to cling to the understanding, nor to have delight in the will, nor to reason with the memory. For anything that the soul can do of its own accord at this time serves only, as we have said, to hinder inward peace and the work which God is accomplishing in the spirit by means of that aridity of sense. And this peace, being spiritual and delicate, performs a work which is quiet and delicate, solitary, productive of peace and satisfaction and far removed from all those earlier pleasures, which were very palpable and sensual. This is the peace which, says David, God speaks in the soul to the end that he may make it spiritual. And this leads to the third point. Read whole post......

Fourth Week of Lent. "Dark Night of the Soul" by St. John of the Cross.
Chapter ix
Of the signs by which it will be known that the spiritual person is walking along the way of this night and purgation of the sense
4. For the cause of this aridity is that God transfers to the spirit the good things and the strength of the senses, which, since the soul's natural strength and senses are incapable of using them, remain barren, dry and empty. For the sensual part of a man has no capacity for that which is pure spirit, and thus, when it is the spirit that receives the pleasure, the flesh is left without savour and is too weak to perform any action. But the spirit, which all the time is being fed, goes forward in strength, and with more alertness and solicitude than before, in its anxiety not to fail God; and if it is not immediately conscious of spiritual sweetness and delight, but only of aridity and lack of sweetness, the reason for this is the strangeness of the exchange; for its palate has been accustomed to those other sensual pleasures upon which its eyes are still fixed, and, since the spiritual palate is not yet made ready or purged for such subtle pleasure, until it finds itself becoming prepared for it by means of this arid and dark night, it cannot experience spiritual pleasure and good, but only aridity and lack of sweetness, since it misses the pleasure which aforetime it enjoyed so readily.
5. These souls whom God is beginning to lead through these solitary places of the wilderness are like to the children of Israel, to whom in the wilderness God began to give food from heaven, containing within itself all sweetness, and, as is there said, it turned to the savour which each one of them desired. But withal the children of Israel felt the lack of the pleasures and delights of the flesh and the onions which they had eaten aforetime in Egypt, the more so because their palate was accustomed to these and took delight in them, rather than in delicate sweetness of the angelic manna; and they wept and sighed for the fleshpots even in the midst of the food of Heaven. To such depth does the vileness of our desires descend that it makes us to long for our own wretched food and to be nauseated by the indescribable blessings of Heaven. Read whole post......

Fourth Week of Lent. "Dark Night of the Soul" by St. John of the Cross
CHAPTER vii
Wherein is expounded the first line of the first stanza, and a beginning is made of the explanation of this dark night
This night, as we say, which is contemplation, produces in spiritual person two kinds of darkness or purgation, corresponding to the two parts of man's nature - namely, the sensual and the spiritual. And thus the one night or purgation will be sensual, wherein the soul is purged according to sense, which is subdued to the spirit; and the other is a night or purgation which is spiritual, wherein the soul is purged and stripped according to the spirit, and subdued and made ready for the union of love with God. The night of sense is common and comes to many: these are the beginners; and of this night we shall speak first. The night of the spirit is the portion of very few, and these are they that are already practiced and proficient, of whom we shall treat thereafter.
2. The first purgation or night is bitter and terrible to sense, as we shall now show. The second bears no comparison with it, for is horrible and awful to the spirit, as we shall show presently. Since the night of sense is first in order and comes first, we shall first of all say something about it briefly, since more is written of it, as of a thing that is more common; and we shall pass on to treat more fully of the spiritual night, since very little has been said of this, either in speech or in writing, and very little is known of it, even by experience.
3. Since, then, the conduct of these beginners upon the way of God is ignoble, and has much to do with their love of self and their own inclinations, as has been explained above, God desires to lead them further. He seeks to bring them out of that ignoble kind of love to a higher degree of love for Him. To free them from the ignoble exercises of sense and meditation (wherewith, as we have said, they go seeking God so unworthily and in so many ways that are unbefitting), and to lead them to a kind of spiritual exercise wherein they can commune with Him more abundantly and are freed more completely from imperfections. For they have now had practiced for some time in the way of virtue and have persevered in meditation and prayer, whereby, through the sweetness and pleasure that they have found therein, they have lost their love for the things of the world and have gained some degree of spiritual strength in God; this has enabled them to some extent to refrain from creature desires, so that for God's sake they are now able to suffer a light burden and a little aridity without turning back to a time which they found more pleasant. When they are going about these spiritual exercises with the greatest delight and pleasure, and when they believe that the sun of Divine favour is shining more brightly upon them, God turns all this light of theirs into darkness, and shut them the door and the source of the sweet spiritual water which they were tasting in God whensoever and for as long as they desired. (For, as they were weak and tender, there was no door closed to them, as Saint John says in the Apocalypse, iii, 8). And thus He leaves them so completely in the dark that they know not wither to go with their sensible imagination and meditation; for they cannot advance a step in meditation, as they were wont to do aforetime, their inward senses being submerged in this night, and left with such dryness that only do they experience no pleasure and consolation in the spiritual things and good exercises wherein they were wont to find their delights and pleasures, but instead, on the contrary, they find insipidity and bitterness in the said things. For, as I have said, God now sees that they have grown a little, and are becoming strong enough to lay aside their swaddling clothes and be taken from the gentle breast; so He sets them down from His arms and teaches them to walk on their own feet; which they feel to be very strange, for everything seems to be going wrong with them.
4. To recollected person this commonly happens sooner after their beginnings than to others, inasmuch as they are freer from occasions of backsliding, and their desires turn more quickly from the things of the world, which is necessary if they are to begin to enter this blessed night of sense. Ordinarily no great time passes after their beginnings before they begin to enter this night of sense; and the great majority of them do in fact enter it, for they will generally be seen to fall into these aridities.
5. With regard to this way of purgation of the senses, since it is so common, we might here adduce a great number of quotations from Divine Scripture, where many passages relating to it are continually found, particularly in the Psalms and the Prophets. However, I do not wish to spent time upon these, for he who knows not how to look for them there will find the common experience of this purgation to be sufficient. Read whole post......

Fourth Week after Lent. "Words of life - On the Margin of the Missal" by Dom Columba Marmion

Primordial disposition of Christ Jesus: to seek the glory of His Father
St. Paul tells that the first throb of the soul of Jesus on entering into this world was one of infinite intensity towards His Father. We see Him like a giant, rejoice to run the way, in pursuit of the glory of His Father. This is His primal disposition. "I seek not My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." To the Jews, He proves that He comes from God, that His doctrine is divine, because He seeks the glory of Him that sent Him (Gospel of the Mass). He seeks it to such a degree that He has no solicitude of His own. He has ever these words upon upon His lips: "My Father"; His whole life is but the magnificent echo of this cry:Abba, Pater. All for Him is summed up in seeking the will and the glory of His Father. And what constancy in this search! He Himself declares to us that he never deviated from it: "I do always the things that please [My Father]"; at the supreme hour of His last farewell, at the moment when about to deliver Himself up to death, He tells us that all the mission He had received from His Father was accomplished. Read whole post......

Third week of Lent. "Divine Intimacy" by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen OCD

'To be hidden from myself'

PRESENCE OF GOD - O Jesus, totally consecrated to the glory of the Father through complete forgetfulness of Yourself, teach me how to forget myself.

MEDITATION.
1. In order to enter the fullness of the hidden life, it is not enough to hide oneself from the attention of others; we must also hide from ourselves, that is, forget ourselves, avoiding all excessive concerns about ourselves. We can be preoccupied with self not only from a material point of view. To be overly concerned about one's spiritual progress, about the consolations which God gives or does not give, about the state of aridity in which one may be - all this is often the sign of a subtle spiritual egoism, a sign that the soul is more occupied with itself than with God. We must learn to forget ourselves, to hide from ourselves, by refusing to examine too minutely what is happening within our soul, and by not attaching too much importance to it, renouncing even the satisfaction of wanting to know the exact condition of our spiritual life. It is well to understand that God often permits painful, obscure states just because He wants the soul to live hidden from itself. This was the aim of St.Teresa Margaret's program of self-effacement; she intended not only "to live, as it were, hidden and unnoticed" among her sisters, but "to be, in a certain manner, hidden and unknown to herself, to die to herself without knowing it and without feeling any pleasure in this mystical spiritual death, burying in Christ, in a very subtle way, every thought and personal reflection, even in the spiritual and eternal order." This is what complete forgetfulness of self explicitly proposes to one who renounces even the spiritual satisfaction of recognising his own immolation. But in order to avoid turning one's thoughts inward, the soul must focus its aspiration elsewhere; hence the negative exercise of not thinking of itself must accompany the positive exercise of fixing its center in Christ . Of "burying in Christ" every thought, every preoccupation with self, even in the spiritual order. No one can succeed in turning away from himself unless he concentrates all his attention on the object of his love. St. Teresa Margaret completely forgot herself; her thoughts were absorbed "in Christ", her one Well-Beloved.

2. A soul entirely oblivious of self is also completely disinterested. It no longer serves God in a mercenary spirit, with more regard for the reward which it may receive than for His glory, but it is "at His service", according to St. Teresa's beautiful expression, "gratuitously, as great lords serve their king" (Letters). This should be the attitude of an interior soul called by God to a life of intimacy with Him. Such a one should act not as a hireling, but as a daugther or a spouse. Here we have one of the most beautiful fruits of the hidden life. St. John of the Cross teaches that "more pleasing to God is one good work, however small it be, that is done in secret with no desire to be known, than a thousand that are done with the desire that they be known to men. For he that with purest love does such works for God's sake, not only cares nothing to have men see him, but does them not even that God Himself may see him. Such a man,, even though God were never to know it, would not cease to render Him the same services, with the same joy and purity of love" (Spiritual Maxims I, 20). We find this same delicate thought in St. Theresa of the Child Jesus "If the good God Himself were not to see my good deeds (which is impossible), I would not be disturbed. I love Him so much that I would want to please Him, without His knowing that it is I who am doing it. (Counsels and Souvenirs).
This total purity of intention makes the soul act for God alone and never for personal interest, even of a spiritual nature. God will certainly reward our good works, but concern about this is wholly abandoned to Him as long as the soul is intent only on giving Him pleasure. The hidden life thus finds its culminating point in a complete disinterestedness, not only concerning human rewards and praises, but also in regard to spiritual consolations; our soul seeks God alone and God alone is sufficient for us. Even if, apparently unaware of our love and our services, He leaves us in aridity and abandonment, we do not worry nor stop on this account, since the one motive which actuates us is to please God alone.

Colloquy
O my God. Teach me how to forget myself, to bury every preoccupation, all excessive care of myself in You. Why do I wish to serve You, O Lord? Why do I desire to love You and to advance in the path of sanctity? Would it be for my own interest or foolish self-complacency? Oh! How mean the spiritual life which would have such vain and low aims! No, my God, You have created me for Your glory, and I humbly ask to be able to live for it alone, without personal interest or satisfaction!.....
O Lord, how admirable are your ways! Blessed be this interior obscurity which protects me from dangers of spiritual pride! No, my God, I do not ask You to change my path; on the contrary, I beg of complete self-effacement, veiled not only from the eyes of others, but even from my own. And if, by Your grace, there is anything good in me, it will be for Your pleasure and not mine; if I were to take satisfaction in it, everything could be ruined in a moment. Keep me, then, in the shadow of Your wings, teach me how to serve You out of pure love; show me how to forget myself entirely, to hide all concern for myself in You, to put my soul into Your hands with complete abandon. In order to gain it for You, I give it up for you, I want to lose it in You; in You I shall find it again clothed in Your beauty. Read whole post......

Third Week of Lent. "Meditation for Lent" From St. Thomas Aquinas
THE PRICE OF OUR REDEMPTION
You are bought with a great price
The indignities and sufferings anyone suffers are measured according to the dignity of the person concerned. If a king is struck in the face he suffers a greater indignity than does a private person. But the dignity of Christ is infinite, for He is a divine person. Therefore, any suffering undergone by him, even the least conceivable suffering, is infinite. Any suffering at all, then, undergone by Him, without His death, would have sufficed to redeem the human race. St. Bernard says that the least drop of the blood of Christ would have suffered for the redemption of us all. And Christ could have shed that one drop without dying. Therefore, even without dying he could, by some kind of suffering, have redeemed, that is, bought back, all mankind. Now in buying two things are required, an amount equal to the price demanded and the assigning of that amount to the purpose of buying. For if a man gives a price that is not equal in value to the thing to be bought, we do not say that he has bought it, but only that he has partly bought it, and partly been given it. For example, if a man buys for ten shillings a book that is worth twenty shillings, he has partly bought the book and it has, partly, been given to him. Or again, if he puts together a greater price but does not assign it to the buying, he is not said to buy the book. If therefore when we speak of the redemption and buying back of the human back of the human race we have in view the amount of the price, we must say that any suffering undergone by Christ, even without His death, would have sufficed, because of the infinite worth of His person. If, however, we speak of the redemption with reference to the setting of the price to the purpose in hand, we have then to say that no other suffering of Christ less than His death, was set by God and by Christ as the price to be paid for the redemption of mankind. And this was do far for three reasons:
1. That the price of our redemption should not only be infinite in value, but be of the same kind as what it bought, i.e., that it should be with a death that He bought us back from death.
2. That the death of Christ would be not only the price of redemption but also an example of courage, so that men would be not afraid to die for the truth. St.Paul makes mention of this and the preceding cause when he says, That, through death, he might destroy him who had the empire of death (this is the first cause) , and might deliver them, who through the fear of death were all their lifetime subject to servitude (this for the second cause) (Heb.ii.14,15).
3.That the death of Christ might be a sacrament to work our salvation; we, that is dying to sin, to bodily desires and to our own will through the power of the death of Christ. These reasons are given by St.Peter when he says, Christ who died once for our sins, the just for the unjust; that he might be offer us to God, being put to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit (1 Pet.iii.18).
And so it is that mankind has not been redeemed by any other suffering of Christ without His death.
But, as a matter of fact, Christ would have paid sufficiently for the redemption of mankind not only by giving His own life but by suffering any suffering no matter how slight, if this slight suffering had been the thing divinely appointed, and Christ would thereby have paid sufficiently because of the infinite worth of His person. Read whole post......

Third Week of Lent. "Meditations for Lent" from St. Thomas Aquinas
'CHRIST IS TRULY OUR REDEEMER'
You were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled - 1 Pet.i.19
By the sin of our first parents, the whole human race was alienated from God, as is taught in the second chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians. It was not from God's power that we were thereby cut off, but from the sight of God's face to which His children and His servants are admitted. Then again we descended beneath the usurped power of the devil. Man had consented to the devil's will and, thereby, had made himself subject to the devil; subject, that is to say, as far as was in man's power, for since he was not his own property, but the property of another, he could not really give himself away to the devil.
By His Passion, then, Christ did two things. He freed us from the power of the enemy, conquering him by virtues which were the very contraries to the vices by which he had conquered man - by humility, namely, by obedience and by an austerity of suffering that was in direct opposition to the enjoyment of forbidden food. Furthermore, by making satisfaction for the sin committed, Christ joined man with God and made him the child and servant of God. This emancipation had about it two things that make it a kind of buying. Christ is said to have bought us back or to have redeemed us inasmuch as he snatched us from the power of the devil, as a king is said, by hard-fought battles, to redeem us inasmuch as He placated God for us, paying as it were the price of His satisfaction on our behalf, that we might be freed both from the penalty and from the sin. This price, His precious blood, he paid - that he might make satisfaction for us - not to the devil but to God. Again, by the victory that His Passion was, he took us away from the devil.
The devil had indeed had dominion over us, but unjustly, since what power he had was usurped. Nevertheless, it was but just that we should fall under his yoke, seeing that it was by him we were overcome. This is why it was necessary that the devil should be overcome by the very contrary of the forces by which he had himself overcome. For he had not overcome by violence, but by a lying persuasion to sin. Read whole post......

Saint Benedict of Nursia
Founder of western monasticism, born at Nursia, c. 480; died at Monte Cassino, 543. The only authentic life of Benedict of Nursia is that contained in the second book of St. Gregory's "Dialogues". Benedict was the son of a Roman noble of Nursia, a small town near Spoleto, and a tradition, which St. Bede accepts, makes him a twin with his sister Scholastica. His boyhood was spent in Rome, where he lived with his parents and attended the schools until he had reached his higher studies. Then "giving over his books, and forsaking his father's house and wealth, with a mind only to serve God, he sought for some place where he might attain to the desire of his holy purpose; and in this sort he departed [from Rome], instructed with learned ignorance and furnished with unlearned wisdom" (Dial. St. Greg., II, Introd. in Migne, P.L. LXVI). There is much difference of opinion as to Benedict's age at the time. It has been very generally stated as fourteen, but a careful examination of St. Gregory's narrative makes it impossible to suppose him younger than nineteen or twenty. He was old enough to be in the midst of his literary studies, to understand the real meaning and worth of the dissolute and licentious lives of his companions, and to have been deeply affected himself by the love of a woman (Ibid. II, 2). He was capable of weighing all these things in comparison with the life taught in the Gospels, and chose the latter, He was at the beginning of life, and he had at his disposal the means to a career as a Roman noble; clearly he was not a child, As St. Gregory expresses it, "he was in the world and was free to enjoy the advantages which the world offers, but drew back his foot which he had, as it were, already set forth in the world" (ibid., Introd.). If we accept the date 480 for his birth, we may fix the date of his abandoning the schools and quitting home at about A.D. 500.

Benedict does not seem to have left Rome for the purpose of becoming a hermit, but only to find some place away from the life of the great city; moreover, he took his old nurse with him as a servant and they settled down to live in Enfide, near a church dedicated to St. Peter, in some kind of association with "a company of virtuous men" who were in sympathy with his feelings and his views of life. Enfide, which the tradition of Subiaco identifies with the modern Affile, is in the Simbrucini mountains, about forty miles from Rome and two from Subiaco. It stands on the crest of a ridge which rises rapidly from the valley to the higher range of mountains, and seen from the lower ground the village has the appearance of a fortress. As St. Gregory's account indicates, and as is confirmed by the remains of the old town and by the inscriptions found in the neighbourhood, Enfide was a place of greater importance than is the present town. At Enfide Benedict worked his first miracle by restoring to perfect condition an earthenware wheat-sifter (capisterium) which his old servant had accidentally broken. The notoriety which this miracle brought upon Benedict drove him to escape still farther from social life, and "he fled secretly from his nurse and sought the more retired district of Subiaco". His purpose of life had also been modified. He had fled Rome to escape the evils of a great city; he now determined to be poor and to live by his own work. "For God's sake he deliberately chose the hardships of life and the weariness of labour" (ibid., 1).

A short distance from Enfide is the entrance to a narrow, gloomy valley, penetrating the mountains and leading directly to Subiaco. Crossing the Anio and turning to the right, the path rises along the left face oft the ravine and soon reaches the site of Nero's villa and of the huge mole which formed the lower end of the middle lake; across the valley were ruins of the Roman baths, of which a few great arches and detached masses of wall still stand. The ruins of these vast buildings and the wide sheet of falling water closed up the entrance of the valley to St. Benedict as he came from Enfide; today the narrow valley lies open before us, closed only by the far off mountains. In St. Benedict's day, five hundred feet below, lay the blue waters of the lake. On his way from Enfide, Benedict met a monk, Romanus, whose monastery was on the mountain above the cliff overhanging the cave. Romanus had discussed with Benedict the purpose which had brought him to Subiaco, and had given him the monk's habit. By his advice Benedict became a hermit and for three years, unknown to men, lived in this cave above the lake. St. Gregory tells us little of these years, He now speaks of Benedict no longer as a youth (puer), but as a man (vir) of God. Romanus, he twice tells us, served the saint in every way he could. The monk apparently visited him frequently, and on fixed days brought him food.

During these three years of solitude, broken only by occasional communications with the outer world and by the visits of Romanus, he matured both in mind and character, in knowledge of himself and of his fellow-man, and at the same time he became not merely known to, but secured the respect of, those about him; so much so that on the death of the abbot of a monastery in the neighbourhood (identified by some with Vicovaro), the community came to him and begged him to become its abbot. Benedict was acquainted with the life and discipline of the monastery, and knew that "their manners were diverse from his and therefore that they would never agree together: yet, at length, overcome with their entreaty, he gave his consent" (ibid., 3). The experiment failed; the monks tried to poison him, and he returned to his cave. From this time his miracles seen to have become frequent, and many people, attracted by his sanctity and character, came to Subiaco to be under his guidance. For them he built in the valley twelve monasteries, in each of which he placed a superior with twelve monks. In a thirteenth he lived with "a few, such as he thought would more profit and be better instructed by his own presence" (ibid., 3). He remained, however, the father or abbot of all. With the establishment of these monasteries began the schools for children; and amongst the first to be brought were Maurus and Placid.

The remainder of St. Benedict's life was spent in realizing the ideal of monasticism which he has left us drawn out in his Rule. Read whole post......

Preparation for Confession - Scripture readings

"The Holy Bible - translated from the Latin Vulgate" 1914

Be perfect like your heavenly Father
Matthew 5; 20-48

20. For I tell you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
21. You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.
22. But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
23. If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath any thing against thee;
24. Leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother: and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift.
25. Be at agreement with thy adversary betimes, whilst thou art in the way with him: lest perhaps the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
26. Amen I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing.
27. You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not commit adultery.
28. But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29. And if thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish, rather than thy whole body be cast into hell.
30. And if thy right hand scandalise thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish, rather than that thy whole body go into hell.
31. And it hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce.
32. But I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, excepting for the fornication, maketh her to commit adultery: and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery.
33. Again you have hard that it was said to them of old, Thou shalt not forswear thyself: but thou shalt perform thy oaths to the Lord.
34. But I say to you not to swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God:
35. Nor by the earth, for it is his footstool: nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king:
36. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
37. But let your speech be yea, yea: no, no: and that which is over and above these, is of evil.
38. You have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth.
39. But I say to you not to resist evil: but if one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other.
40. And if a man will contend with thee in judgment, and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him.
41. And whosoever will force thee one mile, go with him other two.
42. Give to him that asketh of thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not away.
43. You have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thy enemy.
44. But I say to you, Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you:
45. That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust.
46. For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? Do not even publicans do this?
47. Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.

Lessons of Christian virtues - Never repay evil for evil
Romans 12:1-21

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service.
2. And be not conformed to this world; but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.
3. For I say, by the grace that is given me, to all that are among you, not to be more wise than it behoveth to be wise, but to be wise unto sobriety, and according as God hath divided to every one the measure of faith.
4. For as in one body we have many members, but all the members have not the same office:
5. So we being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
6. And having different gifts, according to the grace that is given us, either prophecy. To be used according to the rule of faith;
7. Or ministry, in administering; or he that teacheth, in doctrine;
8. He that exorteth, in exorthing; he that giveth, with simplicity; he that ruleth, with carefulness; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.
9. Let love be without dissimulation. Hating that which is evil, cleaving to that which is good.
10. Loving one another with the charity of brotherhood, with honour preventing one another.
11. In carefulness not slothful. In spirit fervent. Serving the Lord.
12. Rejoicing in hope. Patient in tribulation. Instant in prayer.
13. Communicating to the necessities of the saints. Pursuing hospitality.
14. Bless them that persecute you: bless and curse not.
15. Rejoice with them that rejoice; weep with them that weep.
16. Being of one mind one towards another. Not minding high things, but consenting to the humble. Be not wise in your own conceits.
17. To no man rendering evil for evil. Providing good things, not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men.
18. If it be possible, as much as is in you, have peace with all men.
19. Revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved; but give place unto wrath, for it is written:Revenge is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.
20. But if your enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him to drink. For, doing this, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head.
21. Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good.

Give up your old way of life - Put on the new man and fly sin
Ephesians 4: 17-32

17. This then I testify in the Lord: That henceforward you walk not as also the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind.
18. Having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts.
19. Who despairing, have given themselves up to lasciviousness, unto the working of all uncleanness, unto covetousness.
20. But you have not so learned Christ;
21. If so be that you have heard him, and have been thought in him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22. To put off, according to former conversation, the old man, who is corrupted according to the desire of error.
23. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind:
24. And put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth.
25. Wherefore putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbour; for we are members one of another.
26. Be angry, and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your anger.
27. Give not place to the devil.
28. He that stole, let him now steal no more; but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have something to give to him that suffereth need.
29. Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth, but that which is good, to the edification of faith, that it may administer grace to the hearers.
30. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God: whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31. Let all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and clamour, and blasphemy, be put away from you, with all malice.
32. And be you kind one to another; merciful, forgiving one another, even as God hath forgiven you in Christ. Read whole post......

St. Gabriel the Archangel


"Fortitudo Dei", one of the three archangels mentioned in the Bible....he is the angel of the Incarnation and of Consolation, and so in Christian tradition Gabriel is ever the angel of mercy while Michael is rather the angel of judgment. At the same time, even in the Bible, Gabriel is, in accordance with his name, the angel of the Power of God, and it is worth while noting the frequency with which such words as "great", "might", "power", and "strength" occur in the passages referred to above. The Jews indeed seem to have dwelt particularly upon this feature in Gabriel's character, and he is regarded by them as the angel of judgment, while Michael is called the angel of mercy. Thus they attribute to Gabriel the destruction of Sodom and of the host of Sennacherib, though they also regard him as the angel who buried Moses, and as the man deputed to mark the figure Tau on the foreheads of the elect (Ezekiel 4). In later Jewish literature the names of angels were considered to have a peculiar efficacy, and the British Museum possesses some magic bowls inscribed with Hebrew, Aramaic, and Syriac incantations in which the names of Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel occur. These bowls were found at Hillah, the site of Babylon, and constitute an interesting relic of the Jewish captivity. In apocryphal Christian literature the same names occur, cf. Enoch, ix, and the Apocalypse of the Blessed Virgin.
As remarked above, Gabriel is mentioned only twice in the New Testament, but it is not unreasonable to suppose with Christian tradition that it is he who appeared to St. Joseph and to the shepherds, and also that it was he who "strengthened" Our Lord in the garden (cf. the Hymn for Lauds on 24 March). Gabriel is generally termed only an archangel, but the expression used by St. Raphael, "I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord" (Tob., xii, 15) and St. Gabriel's own words, "I am Gabriel, who stand before God" (Luke 1, 19), have led some to think that these angels must belong to the highest rank; but this is generally explained as referring to their rank as the highest of God's messengers, and not as placing them among the Seraphim and Cherubim (cf. St. Thomas, I, Q. cxii, a.3; III, Q. xxx, a.2, ad 4um). Read whole post......

After http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/
Saint Peter tells us in his First Epistle (v, 5): "Be ye humbled therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in the time of visitation: casting all your care upon Him, for He hath care of you. Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist ye, strong in faith: knowing that the same affliction befalls your brethren who are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will Himself perfect you and confirm you and establish you."

"Blessed are they that trust in Him" (Ps. ii, 13)." They that hope in the Lord, " says Isaias, "shall renew their strength.... They shall walk and not faint" (xl, 31).

We have a perfect model of this abandonment to divine providence in Saint Joseph, in the many difficulties that beset him at the moment of our Lord's birth at Bethlehem, and again when he heard the mournful prophecy of the aged Simeon, and during all the time that elapsed from the flight away from Herod into Egypt until the return to Nazareth.

Following his example, let us live our lives in that same spirit, fulfilling our daily duties, and the grace of God will never be wanting. By His grace we shall be equal to anything He asks of us, no matter how difficult it may sometimes be.
Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. Read whole post......

Devotion to St. Joseph

All for Jesus - All for Mary
All to imitate thee O Patriarch St. Joseph

Joseph is of royal descent from David. Joseph's family came from Bethlehem in Judea but he had moved to Nazareth in Galilee, where he was a builder. He was bethrothed to Mary, became alarmed when he found Mary was pregnant though she had not lived with him, and was dissuaded from divorcing her by the angel of the Lord who told him her pregnancy was "by the Holy Spirit." He was with Mary at the birth of Jesus and the visit by th Magi at Bethlehem. He took Mary and the child to Egypt to escape Herod's massacre of the infants, and after the death of Herod, brought them back to Nazareth. He and Mary had Jesus circumcised and presented to the Lord in the Temple in Jerusalem. When Jesus was twelve Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem, lost him, and found him discoursing with the doctors in the Temple.
Joseph was declared Patron of the Universal Church by Pope Pius IX in 1870; a model for fathers of families by Pope Leo XIII, who confirmed that his pre-eminent sanctity places him next to the Blessed Virgin among the saints, in his encyclical Quanquam pluries in 1889; a protector of workingmen by Pope Benedict XV; and in 1955 Pope Pius XII established the feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1. March 19 is the feast day of St. Joseph

Novena to St. Joseph
Thirty Days' Prayer to St. Joseph
For Any Special Intention

Ever blessed and glorious Joseph, kind and loving father, and helpful friend of all in sorrow! You are the good father and protector of orphans, the defender of the defenseless, the patron of those in need and sorrow. Look kindly on my request. My sins have drawn down on me the just displeasure of my God, and so I am surround- ed with unhappiness. To you, loving guardian of the Family of Nazareth, do I go for help and protection.

Listen, then, I beg you, with fatherly concern, to my earnest prayers, and obtain for me the favors I ask.

I ask it by the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God, which moved Him to take our nature and to be born into this world of sorrow.

I ask it by the weariness and suffering you endured when you found no shelter at the inn of Bethlehem for the holy Virgin, nor a house where the Son of God could be born. Then, being everywhere refused, you had to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth to the world's Redeemer in a cave.

I ask it by the loveliness and power of that sacred Name, Jesus, which you conferred on the adorable Infant.

I ask it by that painful torture you felt at the prophecy of holy Simeon, which declared the Child Jesus and His holy Mother future victims of our sins and of their great love for us.

I ask it through your sorrow and pain of soul when the angel declared to you that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies. From their evil plan you had to flee with Him and His Blessed Mother to Egypt. I ask it by all the suffering, weariness, and labors of that long and dangerous journey.

I ask it by all your care to protect the Sacred Child and His Immaculate Mother during your second journey, when you were ordered to return to your own country. I ask it by your peaceful life in Nazareth where you met with so many joys and sorrows.

I ask it by your great distress when the adorable Child was lost to you and His Mother for three days. I ask it by your joy at finding Him in the Temple, and by the comfort you found at Nazareth, while living in the
company of the Child Jesus. I ask it by the wonderful submission He showed in His obedience to you.

I ask it by the perfect love and conformity you showed in accepting the Divine order to depart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary. I ask it by the joy which filled your soul, when the Redeemer of the world, triumphant over death and hell, entered into the possession of His kingdom and led you into it with special honors.

I ask it through Mary's glorious Assumption, and through that endless happiness you have with her in the presence of God.

O good father! I beg you, byall your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me and obtain for me what I ask. (Here name your petitions or think of them.)

Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers everything that is useful to them in the plan of God. Finally, my dear patron and father, be with me and all who are dear to me in our last moments, that we may eternally sing the praises of JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH

" A blameless life, St. Joseph, may we lead, by your kind patronage from danger freed."


This prayer may be said during any 30 days of the year.

Other Prayers

Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires. Oh, St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me from your divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So that, having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers. Oh, St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you, and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while he reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls-Pray for us.

Protector of Holy Church

O Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary and virginal father of Christ Jesus, you have been charged with the protection of the universal Church, so that you might extend to all the children of the Kingdom the care you first took of the members of the Holy Family.

From the high heavens where you are now living with Jesus and Mary, be the protector and guide of the people of God walking toward its eternal goal.

Bring together from the four corners of the earth the elect of the Kingdom, so that they may live united in one Body. Lead all Christians to the union of charity in the unity of faith.

Secure for the Holy Father, for all our bishops united to him, and for all of us who make up with them the Church of God, the graces of light and strength to understand always more clearly the teaching of Jesus Christ.

Sustain those among us who are fervent, wake up the lukewarm, uphold those who are in distress, convert the sinners, heal the sick and comfort the afflicted. Make the peace of God shine upon us, so that we may help establish His rule over the world in an atmosphere of freedom. Amen.

Saint Joseph, Model of All who Labor

Oh glorious Saint Joseph, model of all who are devoted to labor. Obtain for me the grace to work in the spirit of penance in expiation of my many sins. To work conscientiously, placing love of duty above my own inclinations, To gratefully and joyfully deem it an honor to employ and to develop by labor the gifts I have received from God, To work methodically, peacefully, and in moderation and patience without ever shrinking from it through weariness or difficulty to work, above all with purity of intention and unselfishness. Having unceasingly before my eyes death and the account I must render of good not done, talents unused, and vain complacency in success. All so baneful to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all to imitate thee, oh patriarch Saint Joseph. This shall be my motto for life and eternity. AMEN.

Saint Joseph, Father and Guardian

Saint Joseph, Father and Guardian of Virgins, into whose faithful keeping were entrusted innocency itself, Christ Jesus and Mary, the Virgin of virgins. I pray and beseech thee through Jesus and Mary those pledges so dear to thee; to keep me from all uncleanliness: grant my mind be untainted, my heart pure, and my body chaste. Help me always to serve Jesus and Mary in perfect chastity. AMEN Read whole post......