Our Morning Offering – 8 June – Month of the Sacred Heart” – Monday of the Tenth week in Ordinary Time, Year A
O Divine Jesus! Lonely in So Many Tabernacles By St Pope Pius X (1835-1914) “Pope of the Blessed Sacrament”
O Divine Jesus!
Lonely today in so many Tabernacles,
without visitor or worshipper,
I offer Thee my lonely heart.
May it’s every beat be a prayer of love to Thee.
Thou are ever watching under the Sacramental Veils,
in Thou love, Thou never sleeps
and Thou are never weary of Thy vigils for sinners.
O Loving Jesus!
O Lonely Jesus!
may my heart be a lamp,
the light of which shall burn and beam
for Thee alone.
Watch, Sacramental Sentinel!
Watch for the weary world,
for the erring soul
and for Thy poor lonely child.
O Jesus, my God, I adore Thee,
here present in the Sacrament of Thy love.
Amen
Indulgences: 100 days each time before the Tabernacle 300 days each time before the Blessed Sacrament Exposed (St Pope Pius X – 3 July 1908) Prayers to the Sacred Heart 15th Ed 1936
Sunday Reflection – 7 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
The Sacred Heart is the Holy Eucharist
By Ven Servant of God John A Hardon SJ (1914-2000)
It is impossible to identify the Holy Eucharist too closely with Jesus Christ. We should remember He is in the Holy Eucharist not merely with His substance.
I have corrected many of my students over the years who tell me “Transubstantiation means that the substance of bread and wine become the substance of Jesus Christ.”
I reply, “No, transubstantiation means the substance of bread and wine are no longer there. The substance of bread and wine is replaced, not only by the substance of Christ’s Body and Blood. What replaces the substance of bread and wine is Jesus Christ!”
Everything that makes Christ, Christ replaces what had been the substance of bread and wine.
The substance of bread and wine become the whole Christ.
Therefore, Christ in the Holy Eucharist is there with His human heart.
Is it a living heart? Yes! That is why the revelations our Lord made to St Margaret Mary about promoting devotion to the Sacred Heart were all made from the Holy Eucharist.
Why do we equate the Sacred Heart with the Holy Eucharist?
Because the Holy Eucharist is the whole Christ with His human heart. According to St Margaret Mary, the Sacred Heart is the Holy Eucharist.
So it follows, that devotion to the Sacred Heart is devotion to the Holy Eucharist.
It is infinite Love Incarnate living in our midst in the Blessed Sacrament.
Thought for the Day – 7 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Promises Made to Those Who Practise Devotion to the Sacred Heart
“When Jesus appeared to St Margaret Mary Alacoque and commanded her to propagate the worship of His Sacred Heart, He promised very special blessings to those who would be truly devoted to His Sacrd Heart and spread this devotion among others. “I will give them all the graces necessary for their state in life…consolation in all their trouble…peace in their families…blessings on all their undertakings.”
These promises are an inducement to us, to love Jesus and to spread devotion to His Sacred Heart.
Our Divine Saviour, is not content with having loved us so much during His mortal life and given us His Precious Blood, the Blessed Eucharist and His most Holy Mother, for our salvation. He sees that His infinite love is not returned as it ought to be and seems to exercise a gentle pressure, in order to compel us to love Him. “Behold this Heart which has so loved men that It spare nothing…to prove to them It’s love. And, in return, I receive from the greater part of men, nothing but ingratitude, by the contempt, irreverence, sacrileges and coldness with which they treat Me in this Sacrament of Love.”
“I thirst, I burn with a consuming desire for men’s love and I find none to quench this thirst, according to My wish, by making any return of love.”
Quote/s of the Day – 7 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity and The Memorial of Blessed Ana of Saint Bartholomew OCD (1550-1626) and Venerable Matthew Talbot (1856 – 1925)
“In all our undertakings — when we enter a place or leave it, before we dress, before we bathe, when we take our meals, when we light the lamps in the evening, before we retire at night, when we sit down to read, before each new task — we trace the Sign of the Cross on our foreheads.”
Tertullian (160-220)
Father of the Church
“O adorable mystery! In the name of God, the Omnipotent Father, who created me! In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Son of the living God, who bled for me! In the name of the Holy Spirit, who has been poured out on me!”
St John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
“Silence is precious. by keeping silence and knowing how to listen to God, the soul grows in wisdom and God teaches it, what it cannot learn from men.”
“Our Lord became a spring for us, so that we should not die of thirst among all the miseries that surround us.”
“How truly He said in the Gospel that He came to serve and not to be served! What tremendous goodness! Can we fail to be shamed by Your words and deeds and the patience You show for us everyday?”
Bl Ana of St Bartholomew (1550-1626)
“How can anyone be lonely, with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament?”
“As to nobility of blood, true nobility is to be derived only, from the Blood of the Son of God.”
“Three things I cannot escape: the eye of God, the voice of conscience, the stroke of death. In company, guard your tongue. In your family, guard your temper. When alone guard your thoughts.”
Thought for the Day – 6 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Worship of the Sacred Heart
in Relation to the Love of God and of Our Neighbour
“There is nothing sentimental about having devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Neither does this devotion consist only in prayers and pious practices.
It is much deeper than this.
It should flood our whole being, enkindle the fire of divine love in our hearts and transform our lives in accordance with the commands of Jesus.
A love which is not active cannot be genuine, it is only a passing emotion.
Our love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus should be real and effective.
As far as possible, it should change us into living replicas of Jesus Christ.
“You are my friends,” He said, “if you do the things I command you” (Jn 15:14).
Which commands does He mean?
All of them, of course. “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29). “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24). “Thy shalt love the Lord thy God, with they whole heart and with they whole soul” (Mt 22:37).
Anyone who practises these precepts and all others which are contained in the Gospel, is sincerely devoted to the Sacred Heart.
If anyone neglects to put them into practice but is satisfied with prayers, aspirations and the performance of spiritual exercises, his devotion is empty and has no foundation.
These prayers, aspirations and pious practices have their value, insofar, as they can attract God’s grace.
But, we must co-operate with God’s grace by our good actions.
Then our devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, will be sincere and effective.”
Our Morning Offering – 6 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” and a “Marian Saturday” – Saturday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A
Prayer to the Two Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary
O Heart of Jesus pierced for our sins
and giving us Your Mother on Calvary!
O Heart of Mary pierced by sorrow
and sharing in the sufferings of your divine Son
for our redemption!
O sacred union of these Two Hearts!
Praised be the God of Love who united them together!
May we unite our hearts and every heart
so that all hearts may live in unity and in imitation
of that sacred unity, which exists in these Two Hearts.
Triumph, O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary!
Reign, O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus!
– in our hearts, in our homes and families,
in the hearts of those who as yet do not know You
and in all nations of the world.
Establish in the hearts of all mankind the sovereign triumph
and reign of your Two Hearts so that the earth may resound
from pole to pole with one cry:
Blessed forever be the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
and the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary!
Obtain for me a greater purity of heart
and a fervent love of the spiritual life.
May all my actions be done for the greater glory of God
in unions with the divine heart of Jesus
and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Hear and answer our prayers and intentions
according to Your most merciful will.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 5 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Sacred Heart and the Holy Viaticum
“The infinite love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus accompanies us through life. Our Lord loved us so much, that He gave His life for us – there could not possibly be any greater love than this. “Greater love than this no-one has, that one lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). The Heart of Jesus beats for us continually and His gaze follows us everywhere, especially when we are in danger or in temptation.
Since Jesus loved us so much, that He died for us, it is incredible that He would ever abandon us. Even though He is now happy and beyond suffering in Heaven, He still loves us dearly. But if the Sacred Heart enfolds us now in a close embrace of love, He will certainly protect us in a very special manner at the moment of death, that moment on which, depends an eternity of joy or of suffering.
Let us reflect on what happened when Jesus was hanging upon the Cross. He gave us all His love and all His Precious Blood and, with His dying breath, He gave us the last treasure He possessed, His Blessed Mother. Omnipotent though He was, He could not give us anything more. He had exhausted His infinite love, giving us, not merely all that He possessed but, giving us Himself also.
One of the thieves who was being crucified along with Him, turned towards Him, a look of repentance and of supplication. His Heart was filled with love and mercy and He said to the penitent thief: “This day, thou shalt be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:43). These are comforting words. Someday we also shall be in agony and shall turn to Jesus in our final hour. Then Jesus, in the Blessed Eucharist, will come to us for the last time. Let us pray earnestly that the Viaticum may bring us the same consolation which the words of Jesus gave to the good thief: “This day, thou shalt be with me in paradise!”
Our Morning Offering – 5 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Friday of the Ninth week in Ordinary Time
O Heart of Jesus, All Love By St John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
O Heart of Jesus all love,
I offer You these humble prayers for myself
and for all those,
who unite themselves with me in spirit to adore You.
O holiest Heart of Jesus most lovely,
I intend to renew and to offer to You,
these acts of adoration and these prayers,
for myself, a wretched sinner
and for all those, who are associated with me
in Your adoration,
through all moments which I breath,
even to the end of my life.
I recommend to You, O my Jesus,
Holy Church, Your dear spouse
and our true Mother,
all just souls and all poor sinners,
the afflicted, the dying and all mankind.
Let not Your Blood be shed for them in vain.
Finally, deign to apply it in relief
of the souls in Purgatory
and of these in particular
…………………..….
Amen
Thought for the Day – 4 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Sacred Heart of Jesus
and the Blessed Eucharist
“It is from the loving Heart of Jesus that His innumerable gifts come to us – His graces, the Sacraments, the supernatural work of our redemption. His many acts of mercy and compassion, of which we read in the pages of the Gospel, show us the immensity of the love which His Heart bore for us.
The greatest of all His gifts to us, is the Eucharist, for in the Eucharist, He gives us, not merely His gifts but Himself, the Author of all these gifts. There are three great mysteries which show us, in a special way, the infinite love of God for us and indicate, although in a manner which we cannot clearly comprehend, that He is love itself. “God is love.” (1 Jn 4:8) These three mysteries are the Creation, the Incarnation and the Eucharist. God, infinitely perfect and happy in Himself, wished to impart something of His infinite perfection. He created the universe and made man master of it. But, ungrateful man separated himself from God by sin. He became engulfed in an abyss of evil from which he was incapable of rising to return to God, his only good. Then God, in another mysterious act of love, became man. The Eternal Word assumed a human form, taught us the way to Heaven, gave us the means of reaching it and died for our sins on the Cross. We could never meditate sufficiently on this profound mystery of love.
There was more to follow, however. When Jesus was returning to His heavenly Father, He wished to remain among us. During His earthly life, He had given Himself completely up, to the final immolation on Calvary. But, He wished to give us Himself for all time, until the end of the world. This is the explanation of the Eucharist, which is Jesus dwelling amongst us as our nourishment and as our consolation in life and at the hour of death.
By means of this wonderful gift, we can live the life of Jesus Himself!”
Our Morning Offering – 4 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Thursday of the Ninth week in Ordinary Time, Year A
Prayer to the Sacred Heart When the Clock strikes the Hour By St Gertrude the Great (1256-1302)
O most sweet Jesus,
I commend to Your Sacred Heart,
all that I have done in the hour that is gone,
to be cleansed and purified
and offered to God the Father,
for His eternal praise.
And whatsoever I shall do,
in the hour that is beginning,
I resolve to do
simply and purely,
for the glory of God
and for the salvation of all mankind,
in union with Your Passion.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 3 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Revealed in the Gospel
“If we meditate on the pages of the Gospel, we shall find that they are vibrant with the infinite love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Let us, in imagination, enter the cave of Bethlehem and kneel before the crib where the Divine Infant is lying. Darkness is all around, darkness over the earth, darkness in the minds and hearts of the majority of men. But, now, the heavens open and from the brightness the voices of angels ring out, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace among men of goodwill.” Who is this infant? He is the Eternal Word, the substantial image of God, Who, for love of us, has been made man. He is the Infinite One Who has willed to unite Himself with the finite, in order to lift us towards Himself. This little heart is throbbing like that of any baby but, in this throb, is expressed the love of the God-Man. It is a profound mystery, that God should have loved man so much, that He became a tiny infant. Yet, He did this so that we might love Him more easily and in order to show us His own immeasurable love. There is about this Infant, a fascination, at once human and divine, which compels us to love Him, even as Mary, Joseph and the simple shepherds loved Him. He is asking us for love, adoration and complete surrender. Can we refuse Him?
Now let us take ourselves in imagination to Calvary and kneel at the foot of the Cross. The heart which began to beat with the sacred love in the manger at Bethlehem, has given everything for us, has poured forth it’s precious blood for our salvation and, has bestowed on us, as a final gift, the Blessed Mother of God. Now, this heart is consumed with love for us and ceases to beat only when it has give us everything. “It is consummated” (Jn 19:30). At Bethlehem we have experienced a joyful ecstasy of love. Here, at the foot of the Cross, we should experience a deep sorrow, which will cause us to weep for our sins and to transform our lives after the model of Jesus Christ.”
Our Morning Offering – 3 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Wednesday of the Ninth week in Ordinary Time
O Sacred Heart of Jesus By St Gertrude the Great (1256-1302)
O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
fountain of eternal life,
Your Heart is a glowing furnace of Love.
You are my refuge and my sanctuary.
O my adorable and loving Saviour,
consume my heart with the burning fire
with which Yours is aflamed.
Pour down on my soul those graces
which flow from Your love.
Let my heart be united with Yours.
Let my will be conformed to Yours in all things.
May Your Will be the rule of all my desires and actions.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 2 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Necessity of Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
“Considered as the cult of the love of God and of His Incarnate Son, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is a necessary and obligatory religious practice. God loved us so much, that He willed that the Eternal Word should assume a human nature, instruct us concerning the way to Heaven and give us the means necessary to reach it and, die upon the Cross, in order to impart to us, the merits of the shedding of His Precious Blood. It is obvious, then, that we have a strict duty to make a return of homage and love, for such great love on God’s part. “God so loved the world,” the Gospel says, “that He gave His only-begotten Son that those who believe in Him, may not perish but may have life everlasting” (Jn 3:16). “In this, has the love of God been shown in our case,” St John adds in his first epistle, “that God has sent His only-begotten Son into the world that we may live through Him” (1 Jn 4:9).
It is the mystery of the immeasurable love of God, that He became man, suffered and died for us. We should offer Him, in return, not only the affection of our hearts but, also, our adoration, gratitude and the dedication of our entire lives in His service. As He lived and died for love of us, so we should live and die for love of Him. As His human-divine actions were aimed at our salvation, so we should aim all our thoughts and actions at the promotion of His glory. In this way, writes Pope Pius XI, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, becomes the synthesis of Christianity and the guide to more perfect knowledge, love and imitation of Christ (Encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor, AAS 1928, p.167).”
Our Morning Offering – 2 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Tuesday of the Ninth week in Ordinary Time, Year A
Morning Offering to the Sacred Heart (Treasury of the Sacred Heart 1950)
Everyday of my life belongs to You,
O my God
and every action of my life
should be performed with the pure intention
of honouring You alone.
From this moment, I offer them
to Your Sacred Heart and by this offering,
I consecrate them without reserve to Your glory.
What a motive for performing
all my actions with all possible perfection!
Do not permit them, O my divine Saviour,
to be sullied by any motives unworthy of
Your Sacred Heart.
I renounce all that could lessen
the merit of my offering.
I renounce all vanity,
self-love and human respect.
Grant, O my God,
that I may commence, continue
and end this day in Your grace
and solely from the pure motive
of pleasing and honouring You.
Amen
Catholic Devotion for June
JUNE – THE MONTH OF THE SACRED HEART
The Sacred Heart of Love – Hope of a Hopeless World
If there is an age whose sole hope lies in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, it is our own.
The evils committed by mankind today can scarcely be exaggerated.
To mention just a few, these include blasphemy, the destruction of the family through abortion, divorce, euthanasia, widespread pornography, immoral fashions and lifestyles, homosexuality and so on.
As Pope Pius XI once said, the contemporary world is so morally depraved that at any moment it could be plunged into a deeper spiritual misery than that reigning in the world when Our Blessed Redeemer was born.
In consideration of so many crimes, the idea of divine vengeance naturally comes to mind.
When we view this sinful world, groaning beneath the weight of a thousand crises and a thousand afflictions but nevertheless unrepentant, when we consider the alarming progress of neo-paganism, which is on the verge of conquering humanity (in some countries has already done so!) and when, on the other hand, we consider the lack of resolve, foresight and unity among the so-called remnant, we are understandably terrified at the grim prospects of catastrophes that this generation may be calling upon itself.
It seems, that now, we are already facing these catastrophes.
Nevertheless, since God is not only just but also merciful, we pray to the Sacred Heart, that the gates of salvation have not yet been shut against us.
A people unrelenting in its impiety has every reason to expect God’s rigor. However, He Who is infinitely merciful, does not want the death of this sinful generation but that it “be converted…and live” (Ezech.18:23).
His grace thus insistently pursues all men, inviting them to abandon their evil ways and return to the fold of the Good Shepherd.
God is charity, so the simple mention of the Most Holy Name and Sacred Heart of Jesus evokes love.
It is the infinite, limitless love that drove the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity to become man.
It is the love manifested in that supreme moment of the Last Supper when, after generously washing the feet of His apostles, He instituted the Holy Eucharist.
It is the love in that last pardon of Dismas, which enabled the dying thief to steal heaven.
Finally, it is the love manifested in the supreme gift of a Heavenly Mother for a wretched humanity!
In venerating the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Church specially praises the infinite love demonstrated by Our Lord Jesus Christ to men. Since His Heart is the symbol of love, by venerating His Heart, the Church celebrates Love.
Among the promises made by our Lord to St Margaret Mary was the assurance that, “Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart, never to be blotted out.”
Thought for the Day – 1 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
“All devotions which have been approved by the Church are valuable because they are acts of religion which have as their object, the author of all holiness and source of all goodness.
By these acts, God is adored, thanked and supplicated by His children who have been redeemed by the Precious Blood of Christ.
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin and to the Saints, is also directed, ultimately, towards God, Who has endowed His faithful servants, especially the Mother of Jesus, with His gifts and graces and has established them as mediators by His Throne.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, however, is not one of the many pious practices merely permitted or recommended by the Church.
Fundamentally, it is a devotion which is essential for any Christians, insofar, as it is the cult of the love of God made man for our sakes.
We know that Christianity is the religion of love. “God is love and he who abides in love, abides in God and God in him” (1 Jn 4:16).
Everything flows from God’s love for mankind – both the Creation and the Redemption, for God created us out of love and redeemed us with the love of His only-begotten Son Who became man and died for us and, both the Old and the New Law, for the basis of the Old Law was “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength,” (Deut 6:4) and the commandment of charity, was called by Jesus His own commandment, on which His entire teaching was based.
The Sacraments, especially the Blessed Eucharist, have their origin in the same infinite love.
So have the graces which God gives us, our justification, through the merits of our Redeemer and the final reward for which we hope in Heaven.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart is the worship of this infinite love, of which, it is a living symbol.”
Our Morning Offering – 1 June – The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus – Monday of the Ninth week in Ordinary Time, Year A
Daily Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Prayers to the Sacred Heart 1936 – 15th Edition, Dublin
O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
filled with infinite love,
broken by our ingratitude
and pierced by our sins,
yet loving us still,
accept the Consecration
we make to Thee,
of all that we are
and all that we have.
Take every faculty
of our souls and bodies,
only day by day
draw us, nearer and nearer
to Thy Sacred Heart,
and there, as we shall hear the lesson,
teach us Thy Holy Way.
Amen
In the last General Audience, held by St Pope John in the Vatican Basilica (15 May 1963) before his death. He exhorted us to:
Look to Mary
Moments with Saint Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)
“Is it possible for a Christian not to love the holy Mother of Jesus, whom He has regarded with affection since His childhood, to whom He prayed with the first words He ever uttered and to whom He has trustfully turned for help in the difficult moments of His life?
All find in her and for her, a tender expression of confidence and gentleness – this is a great comfort to us, a great comfort at all times.
In this month of May, good Christians, increase a hundredfold, their tributes of profound veneration for Mary ….
We must cherish in our hearts, a fervour that will strengthen us and enable us, to look to Jesus and to Our Lady with great confidence, so that we may not only await but, hasten the triumph of the Lord’s charity and grace, by our enthusiasm and virtuous living and through our apostolate.
This fervour, must promote brotherly love and induce us to reject all motives for division among us.
We must be impelled, in short, to love all that unites us, because the Lord came to redeem the whole world and He is always continuing His work of salvation, mercy and peace.”
Thought for the Day – 31 May – “Mary’s Month” – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Pray for Us … at the Hour of Our Death
“We have come to the end of this month, which we have dedicated to Mary. Let us remember, however, that apart from this month of May we should dedicate our whole lives to her, up to final moment of death. We are always in need of Mary’s patronage and intercession with God. Let us always have recourse to her, therefore, especially in danger and in suffering but, most especially, at the decisive moment of death, for this is the moment on which eternity depends. This day will arrive sooner or later but, it will certainly come, “at an hour that you do not expect” (Lk 12:40).
In the second part of the Hail Mary, the Church places on our lips, these words of supplication: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.” How many times we have recited this prayer! But do we ever think of death? Let us remember that a mediation on death is the most valuable lesson in life. One day, we shall find ourselves face-to-face with God, drawing our last breath on earth. It may be on a sick bed, it may be in the middle of a street – we do not know. It may be after a long illness at the end of which we are comforted by the Holy Sacraments and blessed by a priest, or it may be quite unexpected. But, it is certain that death will come. Let us aim, therefore, at being always prepared, so that it may not come when we have no good works to offer and when our hearts are full of ourselves and of worldly interests. Like Mary, let us lead lives of holiness and we shall be sure to die holy deaths. Let us beseech our heavenly Mother to be by our side at that final moment to sustain us in the conflict and to consign our souls to her divine Son, Jesus. Amen.”
The Bible of the Poor
Moments with Saint Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)
“When our forefathers built their churches, they adorned them with sacred imagery, paintings or stained glass illustrating the mysteries of the life of Jesus and Mary.
It was like having a Gospel open for everyone to read, easily understood by all and rightly called, “the Bible of the Poor.”
This is just what the Rosary of Mary has been to us for seven hundred years, a joy to our eyes and hearts in the contemplation, in so many images, of the chief episodes in the life and mission of Jesus and of Mary – of Jesus, the Son of God, our Redeemer, of Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother too.
It is a prayer that rises from our lips and our innermost hearts, begging for the divine gifts that may satisfy the needs of individuals and of the whole Church.
What a great and mysterious thing is human life too, Christian life! a sequence and interwoven pattern of it’s own joys, sorrows and triumphs.
Is this not so, my brothers?
And so, in the Rosary, we combine the little bibles of our lives with the Great and True Mysteries of the bible of the lives of our souls! Amen.”
Thought for the Day – 30 May – “Mary’s Month” – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Ascension of Jesus
“When we meditate on the Ascension, we should humbly ask God, to give us the grace, to strip ourselves of our sins and defects. Then we shall be able to fly towards Him with love and hope in this life and, when our soul has been set free from the body which imprisons it on earth, we shall be able to set out on our last joyful flight into His presence. These are the reflections which should be in our minds around the feast of the Ascension. These are the desires which we should foster and the resolutions which we should form. Let us ask Our Lord, to bless them.
O Mary, my most holy Mother, implore your divine Son Jesus, now ascended into Heaven, that I may be more detached from the useless and passing goods of this earth. Ask Him to purify my soul from every stain of sin and to strengthen my will, in it’s good resolutions. Ask Him that my heart may rise nearer to God and to you, through it’s desire for perfection. Amen.”
Our Morning Offering – 30 May – “Mary’s Month” – Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter
O Lady, I Call upon You By St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Mellifluous Doctor
Run, hasten, O Lady,
and in your mercy help your sinful servant,
who calls upon you,
and deliver him from the hands of the enemy.
Who will not sigh to you?
We sigh with love and grief,
for we are oppressed on every side.
How can we do otherwise than sigh to you,
O solace of the miserable,
refuge of outcasts,
ransom of captives?
We are certain that when you see our miseries,
your compassion will hasten to relieve us.
O our sovereign Lady and our Advocate,
commend us to your Son.
Grant, O blessed one,
by the grace which you have merited,
that He who through you
was graciously pleased to become a partaker
of our infirmity and misery,
may also, through your intercession,
make us partakers, of His happiness and glory.
Amen
Mary’s Visit to Her Cousin, Elizabeth
Moments with Saint Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)
“What gentleness and charm in this three months’ visit made by Mary to her beloved cousin!
Each of them is about to bear a child but, for the Virgin Mother, this is the most sacred maternity that it is possible to imagine on earth.
Their two souls mingle and respond in a sweet harmony: “Blessed are you among women” (Lk 1:42), on the one hand and, on the other, “God, my Saviour, has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden, for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed” (Lk 1:48).
What takes place here, at Ain-Karim on the hill of Hebron, sheds a light, both very human and divine, on the relations that bind Christian families, brought up in the ancient tradition of the Holy Rosary – the Rosary recited every evening at home, in the family circle, the Rosary recited not just in or or a hundred or a thousand families but by every family, by everyone, everywhere in the world, wherever the is one of us “Suffering, fighting and praying” (A Manzoni, La Pentecost v 6) someone who has answered a call to the Priesthood or to Missionary service or to a dream which will turn out to be an apostolate, or wherever men are constrained by those legitimate, if obligatory demands of labour or trade, military service, study, teaching or any other occupation.
There is a beautiful reunion, during the ten Hail Marys of the Mystery, of so many countless souls, linked together by blood or by domestic ties, in a relationship which hallows and, thereby strengthens, the love that binds our dearest ones together – parents and children, brothers and relations, people from the same locality, people of the same race.
All this, with the purpose and intention of sustaining, increasing and irradiating that universal charity, the exercise of which, is the most profound joy and supreme honour, of our lives.”
Thought for the Day – 29 May – “Mary’s Month” – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Great Exile
“Let us turn away from this spectacle of a corrupt and corrupting world and raise our fearful gaze towards Mary. What a contrast! She was wholly pure and beautiful. Her mind was always in contact with God. Her heart was full of the love of God and of her neighbour, whose redemption from the slavery of sin, she ardently desired to achieve by co-operating with her divine Son. All her desires and actions were in harmony with the will of God, so that she lived completely in God. Let us think about ourselves. What place has Jesus in our approach to life? Let us try and think of Him more often. Let us meditate on the eternal truths, on the commandments of God and on the precepts of the Church which He has founded. Let us endeavour to make all our actions conform with these commandments. Above all, let us seek to love God more and more and, let us pray constantly, for those countless souls who ignore and reject Him. Then we shall be content in the midst of the trials of this world, for we shall have God in our hearts.”
Our Morning Offering – 29 May – “Mary’s Month” – Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter and the Memorial of St Pope Paul VI (1897-1978)
Look Down Most Blessed Virgin Mother By St Pope Paul VI (1897-1978)
Look down with maternal clemency,
most Blessed Virgin, upon all your children.
Consider the anxiety of Bishops
who fear that their flocks
will be tormented by a terrible storm of evils.
Heed the anguish of so many people,
fathers and mothers of families
who are uncertain about their future
and beset by hardships and cares.
Soothe the minds of those at war
and inspire them with “thoughts of peace.”
Through your intercession,
may God, the avenger of injuries, turn to mercy.
May He give back to nations
the tranquillity they seek
and bring them to a lasting age of genuine peace and joy.
Amen
The Assumption of Mary into Heaven
Moments with Saint Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)
“The queenly figure of Mary is illuminated and glorified in the highest dignity which a creature may attain.
What grace, sweetness and solemnity in the scene of Mary’s “falling asleep,” as the Christians of the East imagine it!
She is lying in the serene sleep of death, Jesus stands beside her and clasps her soul, as if it were a tiny child, to His Heart, to indicate the miracle of her immediate resurrection and glorification.
The Christians of the West, raising their eyes and hearts to heaven, choose to portray Mary borne body and soul to the eternal Kingdom.
The greatest artist saw her thus, incomparable in her divine beauty.
Oh let us too go with her, borne aloft by her escort of angels!
This is the source of consolation and faith, in days of grief or pain, for those privileged souls – such as we can all become, if only we respond to grace – whom God is silently preparing for the most beautiful victory of all, the attainment of holiness.
The mystery of the Assumption, brings home to us the thought of death, of our own death and gives us a sense of serene confidence; it makes us understand and welcome the thought, that the Lord will be, as we wish Him to be, near us in our last agony, to gather into His own Hands, our immortal soul.
“May your grace be always with us, Immaculate Virgin.”
Thought for the Day – 28 May – “Mary’s Month” – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Living the Gospel
“The doctrine of the Gospel is so sublime that no generation has yet been able to practice it fully.
Only the Blessed Virgin and the Saints have approached the peak of perfection indicated by Christ. “You are to be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).
How far have we advanced?
We are not expected, obviously, to achieve the absolute perfection of our heavenly Father.
But, we are obliged to strive towards it with the help of the grace of God.
It maybe that our particular circumstances excuse us from fulfilling the evangelical counsels but, we have no option but to obey the precepts of the Gospel.
We are under no obligation to sell all our possessions and give the money to the poor but, it is too bad for us if our hearts are not detached from earthly things and in contact with God.
We must be prepared to face the consequences, if we do not observe the precepts of justice and charity towards God and our neighbour.
We are especially obliged to help those who are in need of any kind, with whatever we have to spare in the way of material assistance or advice.
It is our own misfortune, too, if we do not mortify ourselves, accept the will of God, even in suffering and, empty our hearts of worldly attachments, in order to fill them with spiritual preoccupations.
Let us remember, that we belong to God!
All our thoughts and desires should, therefore, be directed towards God alone!
Most Holy Mary, you sought always to reflect in your own soul, the beauty and sanctity of your divine Son, by obeying His teaching in a heroic manner.
Obtain for me, the grace, to be detached from worldly affairs, especially from sin.”
Our Morning Offering – 28 May – “Mary’s Month” – Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter and The Memorial of St Germanus (c 490-576)
Most Holy Virgin, My Consolation By St Germanus (c 490-576)
Most Holy Virgin!
Who are the greatest consolation
that I receive from God,
you who art the heavenly dew
which assuages all my pains,
you who are the light of my soul
when it is enveloped in darkness,
you who are my guide in unknown paths,
the support of my weakness,
my treasure in poverty,
my remedy in sickness,
my consolation in trouble,
my refuge in misery,
and the hope of my salvation,
hear my supplications,
have pity on me,
as becomes the Mother of so good a God
and obtain for me a favourable reception
of all my petitions at the throne of mercy.
Amen
The Annunciation
Moments with Saint Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)
“This is the first shining point of union between heaven and earth – the first of those events which were to be the greatest of all time.
The Son of God, Word of the Father, “without whom was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3), in the order of creation, in this mystery takes on human nature and becomes a man, in order to save and redeem all men, all mankind.
When Mary Immaculate, the finest and most fragrant flower of all creation, said in answer to the angel’s greeting: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord” (Luke 1:38), she accepted the honour of divine motherhood, which was, in that moment, realised within her.
And we, born once in our father Adam, formerly the adopted sons of God but fallen from that high estate, are now once more brothers, adopted sons of the Father, restored to His adoption by the redemption which was already begun.
At the foot of the Cross, we shall all be children of Mary, with that same Jesus, whom she has conceived on that day.
From that day onwards, she will be Mother of God (Mater Dei) and our Mother (Mater Nostra) too.
What sublimity, what tender love is this first mystery!
When we reflect on this, we see that our chief and constant duty is, to thank the Lord who deigned to come to save us and for this purpose, made Himself man, our brother man; He has joined us by becoming the Son of a woman and by making us, at the foot of the Cross, the adopted sons of this woman. He wanted us, who were the adopted sons of His Heavenly Father, to be the sons of His own Mother.
Let the intention of our prayer, as we contemplate this first picture offered to our thoughts, be, besides a constant feeling of gratitude, a real and sincere effort to acquire humility, purity and ardent love for the Blessed Virgin, who provides the most precious example of all these virtues.”
Thought for the Day – 27 May – “Mary’s Month” – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
A Lesson from Scripture
God alone
“Mary lived a life of poverty and suffering, even though, she was close to Jesus, Who could have made her wealthy and happy on this earth by a single act of His will.
But she never asked her divine Son for worldly happiness.
She regarded Jesus, as her only treasure and her happiness consisted in perfect obedience to the will of God.
When she arrived in Bethlehem with her holy Spouse, St Joseph, she could not find room in the inn nor in any of the houses.
This did not matter to her.
She found refuge in a stable and there, she gave birth to Jesus, the only treasure of her life.
When Herod planned to kill the Divine Infant, Mary did not ask for a miracle in order to escape but, undertook a long and difficult journey into exile.
Only once did she ask her Divine Son for a miracle.
Then, it was not for herself but for the newly-married couple at Cana, who had run short of wine.
What is our attitude?
How important are worldly matters to us?
What place has God in our hearts?
Are we chasing after money, pleasure and success?
If we worry a great deal about these things, we shall suffer torment and disillusionment.
The final disillusionment will be the restlessness of our hearts, which can find peace and lasting happiness in God alone.”
AnaStpaul 
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