Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light. (Matt11:28-30)

O Jesus! when you were a Pilgrim on earth, you said: "Learn of Me for I am gentle and humble of heart and you will find rest for your souls." 0 Mighty Monarch of Heaven, yes, my soul finds rest in seeing you, clothed in the form and nature of a slave (Phil 2:7), humbling yourself to wash the feet of your apostles. I recall your words that teach me how to practice humility: "I have given you an example so that you may do what I have done. The disciple is not greater than the Master .... If you understand this, happy are you if you put them into practice» (Jn 13,15-17). Lord, I do understand these words that came from your gentle and humble Heart and I want to practice them with the help of your grace.

I want truly to humble myself and to submit my will to that of my sisters. I do not wish to contradict them nor seek to see whether or not they have the right to command me. O my Beloved, no one had this right over you and yet you obeyed not only the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph but even your executioners. Now in the Sacred Host I see you at the height of your annihilations. How humble you are, O divine King of Glory... O my Beloved, how gentle and humble of heart you seem under the veil of the white Host!... O Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, make my heart like yours. (St Therese of Child Jesus 'Prayer for acquiring humility')

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Selected Poems and Prayers composed by the Saints of Carmel in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Beauty and Queen of Carmel.

Mother of Mount Carmel, I kiss your Holy Scapular and thank you for this precious gift. Help and guide me always. I place my confidence in your intercession. Never has it been known, dearest Lady and Mother, that anyone who fled to your protection was left unaided. 

(Bl Nuno Alvares Pereira,1360-1411)

Mary and Carmel
For a long time Carmel had been planning
   Widespread honours for you, and in its happy caves it trains sons
who in white clocks will witness to perpetual chastity
for you and will bind your name with the name of this Mount
in everlasting  covenant. 
You are purer than gold
You are whiter than snow. 
You are brighter than the star of Venus.
Your virginity was not vitiated by child-bearing, 
nor can your brightens be darkened by any stain.
You certainly were not bound to this legitimate
custom, and in all justice you could have renounced these gifts.
Time will come when a future age will remember us
and on this solemn day will offer your honour on the altars
and will carry candles in long procession of a well-celebrated liturgy.
Then your priest, processing in golden vestments,
will chant your hymns and will sent forth a sweet-smelling cloud
throughout the Church and the breeze will
spread the pleasant scent far and wide,
and because our paths cross at this point,
posterity will call this day Hypante in the Greek language, 
and it will be lit up with numberless torches. 

(Bl Baptist Spagnoli of Mantua 1447-1516)

Supplication to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary
Glory of the world, Queen of Heaven, Mother
of the Almighty.harbour for mankind, soothing breeze in adversity,
As in my memory I call my sins to mind,
I am ashamed to open my lips in your sight.
For you lack any stain. You are brighter than gold,
which the smith submitted to the cracking fire ten times.

However, I am sacrificed by the consuming waves of the nether world,
and my members are besmirched by the mud of hell.
But as often as I call to mind your heart of mercy
that shame of mine haunts me just a little less.
Hope gives me a pledge that you will prove to be benign and gentle
and it promises your help to us.
Thus, do not be disgusted by my uncleanness, 
always grant me your favour before your Son.
Subdue my senses which seek pleasure in earthly goods
which poison the mind and rush to wrong doing.
Make heavenly nourishment give taste to our lips,
make love of God pierce my heart,
Make me look down on the earth; make me conquer hell,
While anger seizes the evil spirits,
Be my guide at the critical moments of my life,
nor let any hand attack me in body.
Under your care, may I be allowed to return to the kingdom of heaven,
and with shattered yoke to submit my vows to you.
May your Child, at your intercession, govern
me and my house in every adversity. 

(Bl Baptist Spagnoli of Mantua, 1447-1516)

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 again. Receive me, therefore, O Mary, and keep me within yourself. 

 (St Mary Magdalen de'Pazzi 1566-1607)
 

I venerate you a thousand times, O true Mother of my Lord Jesus Christ: - Hail Mary
I venerate you, O sovereign Queen of the ANgels, Empress of the Universe: - Hail Mary.
I venerate you, most kindly Virgin Mary, most worthy mother of my Saviour Jesus: - Hail Mary 
 (St Theresa Margaret Redi of the Sacred Heart, 1747-1770).

Mary, you are the standart, the model,
The mirror, support, and firm strength of the virtues.  

(Bl Francis Palau y Quer, 1811-1872)

We entrust our task to our Most Holy Mother, the Virgin Mary, under her maternal care,
If there is anything to correct, let it be corrected once and for all; may the good that is done continue to increase. Toward this purpose, may God's love flood your souls along this earthly life, and finally lead you to the fountain of love, that is, to God Himself in eternity. 

(St Raphael Kalinowski, 1835-1907)

The bread set aside for me, my beautiful Mother has blessed it.
Now that my life on earth is drawing to its close, 
I ask you good Mother, to keep me forever beside you.
My food is the desire I have, dearest Mother, to see you;
The water my thirsty soul drinks is my love for you.
My true life, my soul's life, grows more vigorous by
loving you;
The rest I take is to seek you, restless, day and night  

(Bl Mary of Jesus Crucified, 1846-1878)

O Mary, my dear Mother, grant me the grace never to stain the robe of innocence that you will give me on the day of my profession (St Therese of the Child Jesus, 1873-1897)

Virgin full of Grace
Now 'tis at Nazareth, O Virgin full of grace,
In poverty abiding, you never knew desire;
Now ecstasy nor miracle nor rapture there had place,
To fill your life with splendour, O Queen of
heavenly choir!
Ah! Countless are the little ones that throng the earth today,
Unfearing, without tremour, to you they lift their eyes,
Incomparable Mother, 'tis by the common way
It pleases you to go, that you may lead them to the skies.
Throughout this exile sad I long, O mother mine,
To dwell with you, to follow each day your path above.
In contemplating you, enraptured, I divine in your pure, 
gentle heart the deep abyss of love,
Your gentle gaze maternal will banish all of fear,
It teaches me to weep, it teaches happiness. 
 (St Therese of Child Jesus, 1873-1897)

O faithful Virgin, when you uttered your 'fiat', the greatest of all mysteries was accomplished in you. In what peace and recollection did you live and act! Teach me to sanctify my most trivial actions and to spend myself for others when charity requires it, yes all the while to remain like you the constant adorer of God within me. (Bl Elizabeth of the Trinity, 1880-1906)

O Virgin most faithful, you remain night and day in profound silence, in ineffable peace, in a divine prayer that never ceases, your soul ever inundated with heavenly light. Your heart is like a crystal that reflects the divine One, the Guest who dwell in you, the Beauty that knows no setting. O Mary, you draw heaven down to you: see, the Father commits His Son to you that you may be His mother, and the Spirit of love overshadows you. The Blessed Three come to you, and all heaven is opened and abases itself before you...I adore the mystery of this God who made flesh in you, O Virgin Mary.

Mother of the Word, show me your mystery after the Incarnation of the Lord; how you lived buried in adoration...Keep me ever in a divine embrace. Let me carry upon me the stamp of this God of love. (Bl Elizabeth of the Trinity, 1880-1906)

Song

My heart is stirred by a noble theme:

I address my poem to the king. Psalm 45:1

A festive song streams from my heart,
Which to the King I dedicate
My tongue shall take the pen's swift part
His praises duly to behold
He is most glorious to behold
His arm is powerful and bold.


The Queen stands ever by His side
In splendid gold-brocaded gown;
Demure young maidens with her stride
Whom He has raised to high renown.
A joyous chorus, sweet they sing,
Entering the place of the King.
(St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, 1891-1942)

Vineyard of Carmel
Come, Love, to the vineyard
In the morning dew,
There we'll watch in silence,
It vineyards bloom anew,
If the grapes are growing,
Life with vigour glowing,
Fresh the vine and true.

From the heights of Heaven
Holy Mother descend,
Lead unto your vineyard
Our beloved friend.
Dew and rain let gently
Drop from His kind hand
And the balm of sunshine
Fall on Carmel's land.

Young vines, newly planted,
True though they be,
Grant them life eternal
A gift of grace from Thee.
Trusted vintners strengthen 
Their frail and feeble powers,
Shield them from the enemy
Who in darkness cowers.

Holy Mother grant reward
For your vintners' care
Give them, I beseech you,
Crown of Heaven fair.
Don't let raging fire
Kill these vines, we pray,
And frant your life eternal
To each young shoot some day.
(St Benedicta of the Cross, 1891-1942)

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! 

(St Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, 1900-1920)

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Saints of Mt Carmel litany - click for link

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St Thomas More - 475th Anniversary of his martyrdom

Today is anniversary of St Thomas' execution and martyrdom. He was loving father, husband, statesman, writer and lawyer, man of magnanimous integrity and faith. 

“[If a leader allows weariness to so grip] the mind that its strength is sapped and reason gives up the reins, if a [leader] is so overcome by heavy-hearted sleep that he neglects to do what the duty of his office requires…--like the cowardly ship’s captain who is so disheartened by the furious din of the storm that he deserts the helm, hides away cowering in some cranny, and abandons the ship to the waves—if a [leader] does this, I would certainly not hesitate to juxtapose and compare his sadness with the sadness that leads as [Paul] says, to hell….”(St Thomas More "The Sadness of Christ" - the book  written before his execution)

After 'Catholic and Loving It!' blog

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Madonna of the Precious Blood - click to read more

The picture is representation of Madonna of the Precious Blood. Please follow the link on the title to read insightful post from St Gaspar's Retreat blog and see more images.

"Truly it is right and just, our duty and our salvation,

always and everywhere to give you thanks,

Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,

through Christ our Lord.

Christ, upon coming into the world,

offered to You the Body you had prepared for Him

together with the Precious Blood formed by the Holy Spirit

in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This is the Blood in which Mary, the Daughter of Zion,

recognized the fulfillment of the ancient forms and shadows

and the end of every other sacrifice and offering.

This is the Blood shed by her Son when,

after eight days, He was circumcised and called Jesus,

the name given him by the Angel

before she bore Him in purest love.

This is the Blood she saw streaming from His wounds

when, with deepest sorrow, she followed Him in His Passion

even to the place of His sacrifice.

This is the Blood that flowed with water from His piercèd side,

the Blood that she offered to you, standing at the foot of the Cross

united to the redeeming work of her Son, both Priest and Victim.

This is the Blood by which,

in virtue of a wonderful disposition of your providence,

Mary was preserved from every stain of Adam's sin

so as to be a Mother full of grace

and worthy of the Lamb without blemish.

This is the Blood of the New and Eternal Covenant,

the Blood in which the martyrs above have washed their robes,

the Blood by which the Church on earth is, day by day, renewed in joy.

This is the Blood

by which we have confidence to come into your presence

where together with the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints,

we join our voices to the jubilation of the angels of heaven

to sing the ceaseless hymn of praise. (From the Preface of the Mass)

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Feast of Visitation - click to read more

"And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda" (Luke 1:39-47)

O Mary, you cannot give me a share in your great privileges as Mother of God; these belong to you alone! But you want me to share in your virtues, giving me examples of them by yourself. If, then, sincere humility, magnanimous faith, and delicate, sympathetic charity are lacking in me, how can I excuse myself? O Mary, O Mother of mercy, you who are full of grace, nourish us, your poor little ones, with your virtues! (St Bernard)

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St Therese and her 'little way'

When I read the story like this from St Therese' autobiography, I really better understand what is her 'little way' of perfection.

One day at recreation the portress came to ask for a Sister to do some special work. I had a childish longing to do it, and I was the one chosen. I therefore began to fold our work, but without hurrying, which enabled my neighbour to be ready first, for I knew how delighted she would be to take my place. The Sister who had asked for help remarked laughingly: "You were so slow that I guessed you would not add this jewel to your crown!" The Community all thought I was following my natural inclination.

I cannot tell you how much this little incident helped me to become indulgent. It even prevents my feeling proud when I am judged favourably, for I say to myself: if my little acts of virtue seem to be imperfections, it is quite possible for my imperfections to be considered virtues, and so I say with St Paul: "To me it is very small things to be judged by you, or by man's day; but neither do I judge my own self. For I am not conscious to myself of anything, yet am I not hereby justified, but he that judgeth me is the Lord" (1 Cor 4: 3, 4)(St Therese, Story of the Soul).

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Feast of St Peter and St Paul - click to read

"Fight like a good soldier: and if sometimes thou fall through frailty, rise up again, with greater strength than before, confiding in My more abundant grace; but take great care thou yield not to any vain complacency and pride. Through this, many are led into error, and sometimes fall into incurable blindness. Let this fall of the proud, who foolishly rely on their own strength, serve for a warning, and keep thee always humble." (Imitation bk 3, ch 6)

" I understand why St Peter fell. He counted too much on the affection he felt for Our Lord, instead of relying on the strength of divine grace. I am quite sure that if he had said to Our Lord: 'Master, give me the courage to follow Thee even unto death,' he would have obtained the grace. I wonder why Our Lord, knowing what would happen, did not say to him: "Ask Me for the grace to accomplish what you desire"? I think it was in order to teach us two lessons: firstly, that His visible presence did not teach the Apostles more than we can learn from the inspirations of grace; secondly, that having chosen St Peter to govern the Church, whose members would include so many sinners, He wished him to learn by experience what man is without the help of God. That is why Our Lord said to him before his fall: Thou being once converted, confirm thy brethren (Luke 22:32), i.e. tell them the story of your fall, and show them by your own experience how necessary it is to rely solely upon God.  (St Therese "Conseils et Souvenirs")

"Upon this rock I will build my church"

Pillars of the earth (Ps 75[74], 4): this is what the apostles are, but those whose feast we celebrate in the first place. They are the two pillars who support the Church by their teaching and prayer and example of steadfastness. It was the Lord himself who set up these two pillars. To begin with they were weak and unable to support either themselves or anyone else. And in this the Lord's great plan was made manifest: for if they had always been strong then one might have thought their strength came from themselves. And so, before he strengthened them, our Lord wanted to show what they were capable of so that everyone would know their strength came from God.  It was the Lord who set up these pillars of the earth, that is to say, of the Holy Church. And hence we are heartily to extol our holy fathers who underwent so many sufferings for the Lord and who persevered with such strength. To persevere in times of joy, prosperity and patience is nothing. But this is what greatness is: when one is stoned, lashed, beaten for Christ's sake and one perseveres with Christ in spite of it (2 Cor 11:25). With Paul it is greatness to be cursed and to bless..., to be like the world's rubbish and make it our glory (1 Cor 4: 12-13)... And what shall we say about Peter? Even if he had not endured anything for Christ, yet he suffered that we might celebrate him because today he was crucified for him. The cross was his way. (St Aelred of Rielvaux, Cistercian monk, from Sermon 16, for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul ) 
After Daily Gospel
 

Picture represents Rembrandt's painting 'Two  scholars disputing (St Peter and St Paul)'

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The saints that are highest in the sight of God are the least in their own eyes, and the more glorious they are, the more humble are in themselves. (Imitation Bk2.ch.10)

When asked what we were call her when praying to her after her death, she replied humbly: "Call me little Therese" (Conseils et Souvenirs)

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The Blessed Virgin and the Priesthood

When God decided to become man in his Son, He needed the freely-spoken yes of one of his creatures. God does not act against our freedom. And something truly extraordinary happens: God makes himself dependent on the free decision, the yes of one of his creatures; he waits for this yes. St Bernard of Clairvaux explained dramatically in one of his homilies this crucial moment in universal history when Heaven, earth and God himself wait for what this creature will say. Mary's yes is therefore the door through which God was able to enter the world, to become man. So it is that Mary is truly and profoundly involved in the Mystery of the Incarnation, of our salvation. And the Incarnation, the Son's becoming man, was the beginning that prepared the ground for the gift of himself; for giving himself with great love on the Cross to become Bread for the life of the world. Hence sacrifice, priesthood and Incarnation go together and Mary is at the heart of this mystery. (Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, August, 2009)

Picture: Jacopo Bellini's Madonna with the Child 

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Vigil of the Nativity of St John the Baptist

"May God give us the grace to love Him and save souls for Him." St Therese of Child Jesus

Picture of St Therese in St Peter's Church in Salzburg

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New! Year for Priest under the patronage of St John Marie Vianney - click to read the Papal letter

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI proclaims special year for Priests commencing on 19th June 2009 till 19th June 2010 under the patronage of St John Mary Vianney. The year will mark also special celebration of the 150th Anniversary of St John Mary Vianney's death.

An encyclical Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia on St John Vianney written by Pope John XXIII in 1959.

Short biography by Dom Ernest Graft (Monk of Buckfast) - THE CURE OF ARS (ST. JEAN MARIE BAPTISTE VIANNEY, 1786-1859) 1952 edition available from EWTN library.

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June, a month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love. ( Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque)

Prayer suggestion for the month of June:

O Jesus, only Son of God, only Son of Mary,
I offer Thee the most loving Heart of Thy divine Mother
which is more precious and pleasing to Thee than all hearts.

O Mary, Mother of Jesus,
I offer Thee the most adorable Heart of Thy well-beloved Son,
who is the life and love and joy of Thy Heart.

Blessed be the Most Loving Heart
and Sweet Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ
and the most glorious
Virgin Mary, His Mother,
in eternity and forever.
Amen. (St Eudes)

After 'Mary's Vitamin' 

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Praying for Priests with St Therese

St Therese founded the apostolate for priests with her novices when she was asked to serve as a spiritual sister for young seminarian, Maurice Belliere, and young priest, Adolphe Roulland. Both priests served Our Lord in dangerous missions, in Algier and China. St Therese in her apostolic zeal consecrated her life for priests, out of love for the souls they were to take care of. The year for priests came to the end, let us pray the beautiful prayer St Therese composed for priests, in particular, for missionaries. 

O my Jesus! I thank you for having fulfilled one of my greatest desires, that of having a brother, a peirst, an apostle...I feel unworthy of this favour. And yet, since you grant your little spouse the grace of working specially for the sanctification of a soul destined for the priesthood, I offer You joyfully all the prayers and sacrifices at my disposal. I ask you, O my God, not to look at what I am but what I should be and want to be, a religious wholly inflamed with Your love. You know, Lord, that my ambition is to make You know and loved. Now my desire will be realized. I can only pray and suffer, but the soul to whom You unite me by the sweet bonds of charity will go and fight in the plain to win hearts for You, while on the mountain of Carmel I will pray that You give him victory. Divine Jesus, hear the prayer I offer You for him who wants to be your Missionary. Keep him safe amid the dangers of the world. Make him feel increasingly the nothingness and vanity of passing things and the happiness of being able to despise them for Your love.  May he carry out his sublime apostolate on those around him. May he be an apostle worthy of Your Sacred Heart...

O Mary! gentle Queen of Carmel, it is to you that I entrust the soul of the future priest whose unworthy little sister I am. Teach him even now how lovingly you handled the Divine Child Jesus and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, so that one day he may go up to the Holy Altar and carry in his hands the King of Heaven.

I ask You also to keep him safe beneath the shadow of Your virginal mantle until the happy day when he leaves this valley of tears and can contemplate Your splendour and enjoy for all eternity the fruits of his glorious apostolate...Therese of Child Jesus, unworthy Carmelite religious.

From the letter of St Therese to Fr Adolphe:

Reverend Father,

I feel unworthy to be associated in a special way with one of the missionaries of our adorable Jesus, but since obedience entrusts me with this sweet task, I am assured my heavenly Spouse will make up for my feeble merits (upon which I in no way rely), and that He will listen to the desires of my soul by rendering fruitful apostolate. I shall be truly happy to work with You for the salvation of souls. it is for this purpose I became Carmelite nun; being unable to be an active missionary,  I wanted to be one through love and penance just like Saint Teresa, my seraphic Mother...I beg you, Reverend Father, ask for me from Jesus, on the day He deigns for the first time to descend from Heaven at your voice, ask Him to set me on fire with His Love so that I may enkindle it in hearts. For a long time I wanted to know an Apostle who would pronounce my name at the Holy Altar on the day of his first Mass....I wanted to prepare for him the sacred linens and the white host destined to veil the King of heaven...The God of Goodness has willed to realize my dream and to show me once again how pleased He is to grant the desires of souls who love Him alone.

After 'Praying for Priests with St Therese'

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Every Priestly Vocation Passes through the Heart of the Blessed Virgin

We cannot live, we cannot look at the truth about ourselves without letting ourselves be looked at and generated by Christ in daily Eucharistic Adoration, and the Stabat of Mary, "Woman of the Eucharist," beneath her Son's Cross, is the most significant example of contemplation and adoration of the divine Sacrifice that has been given to us. ...the Holy Mother of God remains an indispensable foundation of the whole of priestly life. The relationship with her cannot be resolved in pious devotional practice but is nourished by ceaseless entrustment to the arms of the ever Virgin of the whole of our life, of our ministry in its entirety. Mary Most Holy also leads us, like John, beneath the Cross of her Son and Our Lord in order to contemplate, with her, God's infinite Love: "He who for us is Life itself descended here and endured our death and slew it by the abundance of his Life" (St Augustine, Confessions, IV, 12)....Pope St Pius X said: "Every priestly vocation comes from the heart of God but passes through the heart of a mother." This is true with regard to obvious biological motherhood but it is also true of the "birth" of every form of fidelity to the Vocation of Christ. We cannot do without a spiritual motherhood for our priestly life: Let us entrust ourselves confidently to the prayer of the whole of Holy Mother Church, to the motherhood of the People, whose pastors we are but to whom are entrusted our custody and holiness; let us ask for this fundamental support. ( Pope Benedict XVI's Message on the Day of Prayer for Priests for the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, May 30, 2008.)

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Beatification of Fr Jerzy Popieluszko - click for link

Fr Jerzy Popiełuszko was a Polish priest who was a staunch anti-communist and associated with the strikers of the Solidarity Union. In his sermons, he interwove spiritual exhortations with political messages, criticizing the Communist system and motivating people to protest. During the period of martial law in Poland, the Catholic church was the only force that could voice protest comparatively openly, with the regular celebration of Mass presenting opportunities for public gatherings in churches. Fr Popiełuszko's sermons were routinely broadcast by Radio Free Europe, and thus became famous throughout Poland for their uncompromising stance against the regime. Communist secret police (SB) tried to silence and intimidate him. When those techniques did not work, they fabricated evidence against him; he was arrested in 1983, but soon released on intervention of the clergy and pardoned by an amnesty.

Several months later, in October 13th, 1984, a car accident was set up to kill Jerzy Popiełuszko but he managed to escaped it. The alternative plan was to kidnap him, and it was carried out on October 19th, 1984. The priest was brutally beaten to death by three Security Police officers. Then, his body was dumped into the Vistula Water Reservoir near Włocławek from where it was recovered on October 30, 1984. The cult of Fr Popieluszko developed rapidly in Poland soon after his tragic death and he is venerated as a martyr. To read the post commemorating him click HERE

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The Invitation to the Banquet - Second Sunday after Pentecost

"A certain man made a great supper, and invited many" (Lk 14:16-24). This is God who makes the supper, the great supper is His Kingdom where souls will find full abundance of spiritual blessings while on earth, and eternal happiness in the next life. This is the real meaning of the parable, but we may also see in the supper and in the man preparing it, the figure of the Eucharistic banquet and of Jesus, inviting men to partake of His Flesh and Blood. The Church sings: "The table of the Lord is set for us, Wisdom [the Incarnate Word] has prepared the wine and laid the table" (Roman Breviary). Jesus Himself, when announcing the Eucharist, addressed His invitation to all: "I am the Bread of life! He that cometh to Me shall not hunger, and he that believeth in Me, shall never thirst...Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead. This is bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die" (Jn 6:35.49.50). St John Chrysostom says: "He whom the angels look upon with fear, and dare not gaze upon steadfastly because of His dazzling splendour, becomes our Food; we are united to Him, and are made one body and one flesh with Christ" (Roman Breviary). Jesus could not offer man a more precious banquet than the Eucharist, yet, how do men answer His invitation? Many just shrug their shoulders, with skeptical smile on their lips: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" (Jn 6:53), others are too attached to earthly goods or pre-occupied with business affairs and refuse His invitation: "I have bought a farm and I must needs go out and see it; I pray thee, hold me excused" "I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to try them; I pray thee, hold me excused" they say. Others are so immerse in pleasures of senses, that they lost their taste for the things of the spirit, and go their way, not even asking to be excused.

All these excuses are for things that in the end vanish as quickly as mist before the sun and still are preferred to Christ's Gift, the Bread of Angels and the pledge of eternal life. But even those who follow Christ's invitation but accept it coldly, almost through force of habit, and they are those whom Christ has invited to follow Him and whom He has called by the sweet name of friend. How often Jesus finds the hearts of His friends filled with thousands thoughts, trifles, and wordily affections, while there is so little room for Him, the divine Guest! Yet, everything should be reserved for Him. Let us say sorry to our Beloved for every unnecessary and useless thought and trifle that took our heart and make us forget Him even while approaching the Banquet Table. And let us say how much we desire to love him and have Him always imprinted in our hearts.

Let us pray with St Augustine: "O Sacrament of mercy! O seal of unity! O bond of charity! He who wishes to live, finds the home and the dwelling where he can live. O Lord, I approach Your table with faith, there to become incorporated in You in order to be vivified by You" and "Grant, O Lord, that I may be inebriated with the riches of Your house, and let me drink from the torrent of Your delights. Since You are the fountain of life, there with You, and not elsewhere, is the source of my life. I will drink of it in order to live; I will not rely upon myself and be lost; I will not be satisfied with what I have and die of thirst; I will approach the source of the spring where the water never fails".

Based on 'Divine Intimacy' meditations.

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On Prayer With Our Lady

"God will never forget us and there is something you and I can always do. We can keep the joy of loving Jesus and his Holy Mother in our hearts, and share that joy with all we come in contact with." (Mother Teresa of Calcutta, 1994)

It is beautiful to gather and pray together. Perhaps you know two or three people who might be willing to pray the Holy Rosary in a group with you. You could sing as part of your praying, or rest in silence in contemplative prayer between decades. Group prayer does not require everyone to be spontaneous with prayer intentions or to pray aloud. "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Mt 18:20).

After 'A Moment with Mary'
Picture of Mary in prayer by Albrecht Durer

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...Our Lady accompanies us every day in our prayer. In his last Encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, our beloved Pope John Paul II presented her to us as "Woman of the Eucharist" throughout her life (cf. 53).

"Woman of the Eucharist" through and through, beginning with her inner disposition: from the Annunciation, when she offered herself for the Incarnation of the Word of God, to the Cross and to the Resurrection; "Woman of the Eucharist" in the period following the Pentecost, when she received in the Sacrament that Body that she had conceived and carried in her womb... (Pope Benedict XVI "Marian Thoughts")

Credits: text after 'A Moment with Mary', the picture represents main altar in St James' Cathedral in Innsbruck with miraculous image of Our Lady with the Child by Lucas Cranach .

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Feast of Corpus Christi - click to read

Devotion to the Sacred Heart should bring us to a life of intimate union with Jesus who, we know, is truly present and living in the Eucharist. The two devotions - to the Sacred Heart  and to the Eucharist - are closely connected. The Sacred Heart explains the mystery of the love of Jesus by which he becomes bread in order to nourish us with His substance, while in the Eucharist we have the real presence of the same Heart living in our midst. It is wonderful to contemplate this Heart of Jesus as the symbol of His infinite love, but it is even more wonderful to find Him always near us in the Sacrament of the altar. Jesus lives not only in heaven where His sacred humanity dwells in glory, but He lives also on earth wherever the Eucharist is reserved. In speaking of the Eucharist, Our Lord says to us: "Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world" (Mt 28:20). In Holy Communion, then, this Heart beats within us, it touches our heart; through the love of this Heart, we are fed with His Flesh and with His Blood, so that we may abide in Him and He in us. "In the Eucharist," says Benedict XV, "this divine Heart governs us and loves us by living and abiding with us, so that we may live and abide in Him, because in this Sacrament.....He offers and gives Himself to us as victim, companion, viaticum and the pledge of future glory." Jesus said: "He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh my Blood abideth in Me and I in him" (Jn 6:57). The word "abideth" means that our union with the divinity of Christ does not cease after the sacred species are consumed. The three divine Persons dwell continually in souls in the state of grace; but there is also a certain enduring union with Jesus' sacred humanity, even when Christ is no longer substantially present in the one who has received Holy Communion, He is there by the influence of His operative presence and by the effusion of His grace. (Fragments from "The Sacred Heart and the Eucharist" - Ven Gabriel of St Mary Magdalene, OCD)

Encyclicals on the Holy Eucharist were written by Pope Leo XIII Mirae Caritatis and Pope Paul VI Mysterium Fidei

Homilies of Pope Benedict XVI on the solemnity of the Corpus Christ may be read HERE and HERE

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