Category: CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month

Posted in GOOD FRIDAY, JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, LENT- 2025, MATER DOLOROSA - Mother of SORROWS, The PASSION, The SACRED PASSION - Meditations for LENT

Lenten Meditations – 18 April – The Descent from the Cross

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Lenten Meditations – 18 April – With Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900) Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“The Sacred Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ”
“Short Meditations for Lent”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

Good Friday
The Descent from the Cross

Read St Mark xv:38-46
(See below)

+I. No sooner is the sacrifice consummated and the last drop of the Precious Blood shed from Our Lord’s Sacred Heart, than all is changed.
That lifeless Body is now treated with the utmost respect and veneration. See how gently and carefully Joseph and Nicodemus wind linen bands around the Limbs and lower it to the ground reverently, adoring that Body which only a few hours before had been a laughing-stock and object of contempt. Henceforth, no more ignominy, no more contempt, no more ill-usage but the love and adoration of Saints and Angels for all eternity.

+2. Our Lady receives the Body of her Son.
What were her thoughts as she gazes into the Five Wounds and sees how, from Head to Foot, it is covered with gaping wounds, sores and bruises, battered out of all recognition by the cruelty of man!?
O Mother of Sorrows, great as an ocean, is thy sorrow! What must thy hatred of sin be, when thou seest what it has wrought in the Divine Beauty of thy spotless Son!
What a mixture of agonised compassion and mournful sorrow and hope and consolation and gratitude and triumph ant joy, fills thy sacred soul while thou lookest upon the Dead Body of thy Divine Son!

+3. The day on which Jesus died, is indeed well named, Good Friday.
It is the day when Jesus consummated His victory over sin and death.
While we mourn over His sufferings and our sins which caused them, we must also rejoice exceedingly, at the thought of Satan conquered and Heaven opened and millions of sinners cleansed from sin, in His Most Precious Blood!

St Mark 15:38-46
[38] And the veil of the temple was rent in two, from the top to the bottom. [39] And the centurion who stood near Him, seeing that crying out in this manner, He had given up the ghost, said: Indeed this man was the Son of God. [40] And there were also women looking on afar off, among whom was Mary Magdalen and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joseph and Salome, [41] who also, when He was in Galilee followed Him and ministered to Him and many other women who came up to Jerusalem, with Him. [42] And when evening was now come (because it was the Pasch-eve, that is, the day before the sabbath).[43] Joseph of Arimathea, a noble counsellor, who was also himself looking for the Kingdom of God, came and went in boldly to Pilate and begged the Body of Jesus. [44] But Pilate wondered that he should be already dead. And sending for the centurion, he asked him if he were already dead. [45] And when he had understood it by the centurion, he gave the Body to Joseph.
[46] And Joseph buying fine linen and taking Him down, wrapped Him in the fine linen and laid Him in a sepulchre which was hewed out of a rock. And he rolled a stone to the door of the sepulchre. [Mark 15:38-46]

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, FATHERS of the Church, GOOD FRIDAY, HOLY WEEK, MATER DOLOROSA - Mother of SORROWS, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, STATIONS of the CROSS, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The SECOND COMING, The SEVEN LAST WORDS of CHRIST, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 18 April – There they crucified Him – John 19:18

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One Minute Reflection – 18 April – Good Friday – The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St John 18:1-40.19:1-42 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“There they crucified Him and with Him two others, one on either side and Jesus between them. ” – John 19:18

REFLECTION – “Truly, you are a hidden God!” (Is 45:15).   Why hidden?   Because He had neither form nor beauty, yet power was in His Hands.   It was there His fortitude was hidden.

Was He not hidden when He submitted His Hands to brutes and His Palms received the nails?   The print of the nails gleamed on His Hands and His innocent Side received the wound.   They shackled His Feet in fetters, the iron pierced His soles and His Feet were fastened to the tree.   These wounds did God suffer on our behalf, at the hands of His own people, in His own home.   O how marvellous are His Wounds by which the wounds of the world were healed!   How victorious His Wounds, by which He slew death and stung hell! … Therefore, O Church, O dove, You have coverts in the rock and a hollow in the wall in which to rest (cf. Sg 2:14). …

And what will you do … when He comes in the clouds with great power and majesty? (cf Mt 24:30)   He will come down with Heaven and earth ablaze and by the terror of His coming, He will dissolve the elements.   When He has come, the Sign of the Cross will be seen in the sky and the beloved One will show the scars of His Wounds and the prints of the nails, by which He was transfixed in His own home!” … St Amadeus of Lausanne (1108-1159) – Cistercian Monk, Bishop

PRAYER – Deliver us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, from all evils, past, present and to come and by the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God and of the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul and of all the Saints, mercifully grant peace in our days, that through the assistance of Thy mercy we may be always free from sin and secure from all disturbance. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Faithful Cross! above all other, One and only noble Tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom, None in fruit thy peer may be.
Sweetest wood and sweetest iron,
Sweetest weight is hung on thee. (Antiphons).

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Quote/s of the Day – 16 April – “Jesus remember me” Luke 23:42

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Quote/s of the Day – 16 April – Spy Wednesday in Holy Week – Isaias 53:1-12, Luke 22:39-71; 23:1-53

“Jesus remember me”

Luke 23:42

“Blessed are those who have not seen
and have believed.”
John 20:29

“Blessed, therefore, is everyone
who believes the message
of the holy Apostles who, as Saint Luke says,
were eyewitnesses of Christ’s actions
and “ministers of the word” (Lk 1,2).”

St Cyril of Alexandria (380-444)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“Because it is not by raising a dead man,
commanding the sea and wind,
or casting out demons that He is able
to change the thief’s sinful soul
but, by being Crucified,
pinned down by nails,
covered with insults, spitting, mockery and torture,
so that you might see the two sides
of His Sovereign Power.
He shook all creation,
split the rocks (Mt 27:51)
and drew to Himself the brigand’s soul,
hard as stone, to cover it with honour…”

St John Chrysostom (347-407)
Father & Doctor of the Church

“… He effected a wonderful exchange with us,
through mutual sharing –
we gave Him the power to die,
He will give us the power to Live!”

St Augustine (354-430)
Father and Doctor of Grace

“Sacrilegious tongues blaspheme the God
Who preserves their existence!
… you should be damned forever
and, instead of thanking Him for His goodness,
you, at the very time
that He bestows His favours upon you,
YOU blaspheme His Holy Name!”

St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
Most Zealous Doctor

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, DYING / LAST WORDS, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY WEEK, Our MORNING Offering, POETRY, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 16 April – In Thine Hour of Holy Sadness

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Our Morning Offering – 16 April – “Spy” Wednesday in Holy Week

In Thine Hour of Holy Sadness
By St Bernard (1090-1153)
Father & Doctor of the Church

In Thine hour of holy sadness
could I share with Thee, what gladness
should Thine Cross to me be showing.
Gladness past all thought of knowing,
bowed beneath Thine Cross to die!
Blessed Jesus, thanks I render
that in bitter death, so tender,
Thou now hear Thy supplicant calling,
Save me Lord!
and keep from falling, from Thee,
when my hour is nigh.
Amen.

Posted in JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, LENT- 2025, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, The PASSION, The SACRED PASSION - Meditations for LENT

Lenten Meditations – 15 April – The Thirst upon the Cross

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Lenten Meditations – 15 April – With Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900) Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“The Sacred Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ”
“Short Meditations for Lent”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

Tuesday in Holy Week
The Thirst upon the Cross

Read St John xix:28, 29

[28] Afterwards, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished that the scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst. [29] Now there was a vessel set there full of vinegar. And they, putting a sponge soaked in vinegar upon a stalk of hyssop, put it to His Mouth. [John 19:28-29]

+1. There is nothing which causes such agonising thirst as loss of blood.
The prayer of the wounded soldier upon the battle-field is always for a drink of water; he forgets all other pain in his burning thirst.
What must have been the intolerable suffering of Our Lord, Whose Sacred Body had been gradually drained of every droop of Blood! All day long the Blood had been flowing – at the scourging, on the way to Calvary, as He was dragged hither and thither, with the sharp cords cutting His wrists. And now upon the Cross ,as from Hands and Feet a stream bedewed the ground, fiercer and fiercer grew the burning, parching Thirst which consumed Him.
O my Jesus, was there no-one to quench that Thirst endured for us?

+2. Our Lord’s Thirst was to atone especially for the sins of intemperance and self-indulgence in drink.
Every sin of drunkenness and excess or self-indulgence in our food and drink, added to that Thirst and made it still more intolerable.
My God, forgive me any such offences and help me to deny myself some lawful indulgence that by self-denial, I may atone for my sins and assuage, in some degree that Sacred Thirst Thou didst endure for me.

+3. There was, however, a deeper meaning in Our Lord’s cry: “I Thirst!” He was Thirsting for the souls of sinners, Thirsting for the love of ungrateful men, Thirsting for my love!
He Thirsts for it still that I may be more faithful to His
grace.
O my Jesus, help me to love Thee more and more!

Posted in BREVIARY Prayers, GOOD FRIDAY, HYMNS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The LAMB of GOD, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 14 April – Sing, My Tongue, The Saviour’s Glory By St Venantius Fortunatus

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Our Morning Offering – 14 April – Monday in Holy Week

Sing, My Tongue, The Saviour’s Glory
By St Venantius Fortunatus (c530 – c609)
Bishop, Father o the Church
Trans. Fr Edward Caswell CO (1814-1878)

Sing, my tongue, the Saviour’s glory;
Tell His triumph far and wide;
Tell aloud the famous story
Of His Body Crucified;
How upon the Cross a Victim,
Vanquishing in death, He Died.

Thus did Christ to perfect manhood
In our mortal flesh attain:
Then of His free choice He goeth
To a death of bitter pain;
And as a Lamb, upon the altar
Of the Cross, for us is slain.

Lo, with gall His thirst He quenches!
See the thorns upon His Brow!
Nails His tender Flesh are rending!
See, His Side is open’d now!
Whence, to cleanse the whole creation,
Streams of Blood and Water flow.

Faithful Cross, O Tree all beauteous!
Tree all peerless and Divine!
Not a grove on earth can shew us
Such a flower and leaf as thine.
Sweet the nails and sweet the wood,
Laden with so sweet a load!

Lofty Tree, bend down thy branches,
To embrace thy Sacred load;
Oh, relax the native tension
Of that all too rigid wood;
Gently, gently bear the Members
Of thy dying King and God.

Tree, which solely wast found worthy
The world’s great Victim to sustain;
Harbour from the raging tempest!
Ark, which sav’d the world again!
Tree, with sacred Blood anointed
Of the Lamb for sinners slain.

Blessing, honour everlasting,
To the immortal Deity;
To the Father, Son, and Spirit,
Equal praises ever be:
Glory through the earth and Heaven
To Trinity in Unity.

This Hymn is used for Passiontide and on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14 Sept) in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Breviary.
This is the original text of this hymn as it appears in the Lyra Catholica (1849).
Part I is used for Matins and Part II is used for Lauds.
Tune (Church Hymns): “St Lawrence”

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on JOY, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY FACE, The LAMB of GOD

Quote/s of the Day – 13 April – Palm Sunday

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Quote/s of the Day – 13 April – Palm Sunday – Philippians 2:5-11, Matthew 26:36-75; 27:1-60 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Behold the hour is at hand
and the Son of man shall be betrayed
into the hands of sinners.”
Matthew 26:45

“Because of sin, O innocent One,
You were set before the criminal’s judgement seat;
When Thou return in the Father’s glory
Do not judge me together with him.
Thou have put on crimson,
Set the scarlet cloak over Thee
As a dishonour and an affront,
As Pontius Pilate’s soldiers thought it to be.”

St Nerses Chnorhali (1102-1173)
Armenian Bishop

(Jesus, Only Son of the Father 708-724)

“Lord Jesus, whether Thy Face
be glorious or humiliated,
we always see wisdom shining in It.
On Thy Face shines the refulgence
of Eternal Light (Wis 7:26).
O Lord, may Thy Light,
the Light of Thy Face (Ps 4:7),
always shine upon us, in sorrow as in happiness…
Thou art joy and salvation for all,
both when Thou ride on a donkey
and when Thou hang from a Cross!”

Blessed Guerric of Igny (c1080-1157)
Cistercian Abbot

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One Minute Reflection – 11 April – “Behold, thy mother” – John 19:27

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One Minute Reflection – 11 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Friday of Passion Week – St Leo I, the Great (c400-461) Pope, Confessor, Father and Doctor of the Church – Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows – Judith 13:22, 25 – John 19:25-27–Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Behold, thy mother” – John 19:27

REFLECTION – “Woman, this is thy son. This is thy mother.” By what right is the disciple. whom Jesus loved, the son of the Lord’s mother? By what right is she his mother? By the fact that, without pain, she brought into the world the salvation of us all, when she gave birth in the flesh to the God-Man. But now, she is in labour, with great pain as she stands at the foot of the Cross!

At the hour of His Passion, the Lord Himself rightly compared the Apostles to a woman in childbirth, when He said: “When a woman is in labour she is in anguish because a child is born into the world” (cf Jn 16:21). How much more, then, might such a Son compare such a Mother, the Mother standing at the foot of His Cross, to a woman in labour? What am I saying? “Compare?” She is indeed truly a woman and truly a mother and, at this hour, she is truly experiencing the pains of childbirth. When her Son was born she did not experience the anguish of giving birth in pain as other women do; it is now that she is suffering, that she is crucified, that she experiences sorrow; like a woman in labour because her hour has come ( Jn 16:21; cf 13:1; 17:1). …

When this hour has passed, when the sword of sorrow has completely pierced her soul in labour (Lk 2:35), then, no more will she “remember the pain because a child has been born into the world” – the new Man Who renews the entire human race and reigns forever over the whole world, truly born, beyond all suffering, immortal, the Firstborn from the Dead. If the Virgin has thus brought the salvation of us all into the world, in her Son’s Passion, then she is, indeed, the Mother of us all!” – Rupert of Deutz (c1075-1130) Benedictine Monk, Theologian, Exegete and Writer – (Commentary on Saint Johns Gospel, 13).

PRAYER – O God, in Whose Passion the sword, according to the prophecy of blessed Simeon, pierced through the soul of Mary, the glorious Virgin and Mother, mercifully grant that we, who reverently commemorate her piercing through and her suffering, may, by the interceding glorious merits of all the Saints faithfully standing by the Cross, obtain the abundant fruit of Thine Passion. Who lives and reigns with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, Holy Name PRAYERS, In the PRESENCE of GOD, JANUARY month of THE MOST HOLY NAME of JESUS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on LOVE, The HOLY NAME, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 10 April – ‘Forgiven … Because she has loved much …’ Luke 7:47

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Quote/s of the Day – 10 April – Thursday in Passion Week –Ferial Day – Daniel 3:25, 34-45 – Luke 7:36-50 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“She began to bathe His feet with her tears
and wiped them with the hair of her head
and kissed His feet
and anointed them with ointment.”

Luke 7:38

“Wherefore I say to you,
her sins, many as they are,
shall be forgiven her
because she has loved much.
But he, to whom little is forgiven,
loves little.”

Luke 7:47

“Remember not our former iniquities,
let Thy mercies speedily prevent us,
for we are become exceeding poor.
Help us, O God, our Saviour
and for the glory of Thy Name, O Lord,
deliver us and forgive us our sins,
for Thy Name’s Sake.”

Psalm 78:8-9

“A servant of the Lord
stands bodily before men
but mentally,
he is knocking at the gates of Heaven.
with prayer.”

St John Climacus (c 525-606)
Father of the Church

“For, just as water extinguishes a fire,
just so, does charity blot out our sins.”

St John of God (1495-1550)

“ I shall spend every moment loving.
One who loves, does not notice her trials;
or perhaps, more accurately,
she is able to love them.
I shall do everything for Heaven, my true home.
There, I shall find my Mother,
in all the splendour of her glory.
I shall delight with her
in the joy of Jesus Himself,
in perfect safety.”

St Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879)

Posted in OUR Cross, QUOTES on JOY, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, STATIONS of the CROSS, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The SACRED PASSION - Meditations for LENT, The STATIONS of the CROSS

Lenten Meditations – 9 April – Simon of Cyrene

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Lenten Meditations – 9 April – With Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900) Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“The Sacred Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ”
“Short Meditations for Lent”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

Wednesday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent
Simon of Cyrene

Read St Mark xv:21

[21] And they forced one Simon a Cyrenian coming out of the country, who passed by, the father of Alexander and of Rufus, to take up His Cross. [Mark 15:21]

+1. Our Blessed Lord falls again and again, beneath the weight of the Cross until it becomes evident to the soldiers that He will never be able to drag it to the place of execution.
They accordingly lay hold of a heathen passing by, Simon the Cyrenian and him they compel to carry the Cross. How little Simon knew the happiness in store for him when those rough soldiers seized him and force him, to the ignominious task, of carrying the instrument of His punishment. for a public criminal!
How often we too fail to recognise God’s wonderful designs of mercy, in the sudden disagreeable and contradictory events and circumstances we encounter!

+2. Simon at first, bore the Cross angrily and reluctantly, chafing under the hardship inflicted upon him. But, as he carries it, somehow an unaccountable change embraced him.
It has the power to change his heart and, to make of him, a devoted follower of the Crucified, one of the pillars of the Apostolic Church.
Thus, many a cross which we reluctantly carry, proves to be really the means of our sanctification and salvation!

+3. Before Simon arrives at the summit of Calvary, the Cross had endeared itself to him.
He has recognised that, to carry it for Jesus, was no hardship but a privilege and a joy. In fact the greatest of his life!
So too, the Saints learn to love their cross, to embrace it, to seek it, to carry it with all joy, to be almost discontented if they are without it. This is the very height of peace and felicity; for those who find their joy in the cross, find cause for rejoicing and happiness, everywhere around them.

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, ONE Minute REFLECTION, Quote on SELF-ABANDONMENT, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, The PASSION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection –9 April – ‘You owe your whole life to Christ Jesus’…’ St Bernard

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One Minute Reflection –9 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Wednesday in Passion Week – Ferial Day – Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-19, 25 – John 10:22-38 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“The Jews then took up stones to stone Him. Jesus answered them: Many good works I have shown you from my Father. For which of those works, do you stone Me?” – John 10:31-32

REFLECTION – “You owe your whole life to Christ Jesus, for He gave His Life for your life and endured bitter torments that you might not have to endure eternal torment … Is there anything which will not seem sweet to you, after you have gathered into your heart, all the bitter sufferings of your Lord? … As the heavens are higher than the earth (Is 55:9) so is His Life higher than our life and yet, it has been given for our life. As mere nothingness cannot be compared to any other thing, so our life cannot be measured against His…

When I have dedicated to Him, all that I am, all of which I am capable, it will still be like a star compared to the sun, a drop of water to a river, a single stone to a tower, a grain of sand to a mountain. I have nothing but two small things, very small indeed – my body and my soul or, rather, only one, small thing – my will. And am I not going to give it to Him, Who has gone before; so small a being as I, with such blessings, to Him Who, in giving Himself wholly, has wholly redeemed me? Otherwise, were I to keep my will for myself, with what face, what eyes, what spirit or conscience, would I take my refuge in the merciful heart of our God? How could I dare to pierce that strong rampart guarding Israel and cause, not just a few drops but torrents of the Blood to flow which flows from the five parts of His Body, as the price of my Redemption?” – St Bernard (1091-1153) Cistercian Abbot, Father & Doctor of the Church (Selected Sermons).

PRAYER – In Thy mercy, O Lord, may this hallowing fast enlighten the hearts of Thy faithful people and since Thou have given them the desire to serve Thee, lend a gracious ear to their prayers.Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in GOD ALONE!, Holy Name PRAYERS, In the PRESENCE of GOD, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS to THE HOLY GHOST, QUOTES on COURAGE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on THE WORLD, The HOLY GHOST, The HOLY NAME, The IMITATION of CHRIST, Thomas a Kempis

Our Morning Offering – 9 April – The Love of Thy Name

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Our Morning Offering – 9 April – Wednesday in Passion Week

The Love of Thy Name
By Thomas à Kempis CRSA (1380-1471)
The Imitation of Christ
(Book 3 Ch 26:1-4)

My God, Sweetness beyond words,
make bitter all the carnal comfort
which draws me from love of the eternal
and lures me to its evil self,
by the sight of some delightful good
in the present.
Let it not overcome me, my God.
Let not flesh and blood conquer me.
Let not the world and its brief glory
deceive me, nor the devil trip me by his craftiness.
Give me courage to resist,
patience to endure
and constancy to persevere.
Give me the soothing unction of Thy spirit,
rather than all the consolations of the world
and in place of carnal love,
infuse into me,
the love of Thy Name.
Amen

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOMINICAN OP, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, OUR Cross, Quote on SELF-ABANDONMENT, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, STATIONS of the CROSS, The GOOD SHEPHERD, The HOLY CROSS, The SIGN of the CROSS, The STATIONS of the CROSS, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 7 April – ‘ … By the Cross, we put on Christ …;

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Quote/s of the Day – 7 April – Monday in Passion Week

“By the Cross, death was slain
and Adam was restored to life.
The Cross is the glory of all the Apostles,
the Crown of the Martyrs,
the Sanctification of the Saints.
By the Cross, we put on Christ
and cast aside our former self.
By the Cross we, the sheep of Christ,
have been gathered into one flock,
destined for the Sheepfold of Heaven.”

St Theodore the Studite (759-826)
Abbot, Confessor, Father of the Church

“He who findeth his life, shall lose it
and he, who shall lose his life for Me,
shall find it. ”
Matthew 10:39

“My dear child, accept this cross from God and bear it –
it will turn into a truly lovable cross,
if you would hand these trials over to God,
accept them from Him with true abandonment
and thank God for them:
“My soul magnifies the Lord”
in everything (cf Lk 1:46).
Whether God takes or gives, the Son of Man
must be raised up on the Cross …
Dear child, leave all that behind;
rather, give your attention to true abandonment …
and think about accepting to bear
the cross of temptation, rather than going
in search of spiritual sweetness …
Our Lord has said: “If anyone wishes to come after Me,
let him take up his cross and follow Me” (Lk 9:23).”

Fr JohannesTauler OP (c1300-1361)
Dominican Priest and Friar,
renowned Preacher and Theologian

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, GOD ALONE!, JESUIT SJ, OUR Cross, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on CONSOLATION, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY CROSS

Our Morning Offering – 7 April – A Prayer to Seek the Consolation of the Cross

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Our Morning Offering – 7 April – Monday in Passion Week

This is My Joy, To Follow My Saviour
A Prayer to Seek the Consolation of the Cross
By St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)

Jesus, love of my soul,
centre of my heart!
Why am I not more eager to endure pains
and tribulations for love of Thee,
when Thou, my God,
have suffered so many for me?
Come, then, every sort of trial in the world,
for this is my delight,
to suffer for Jesus.
This is my joy,
to follow my Saviour
and to find my consolation
with my Consoler on the Cross.
This is my happiness,
this my pleasure –
to live with Jesus,
to walk with Jesus,
to converse with Jesus,
to suffer with and for Him,
this is my treasure!
Amen

Posted in JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, The PASSION, The SACRED PASSION - Meditations for LENT

Lenten Meditations – 2 April – The Scourging

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Lenten Meditations – 2 April – With Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900) Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“The Sacred Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ”
“Short Meditations for Lent”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

Wednesday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent-
The Scourging

Read St Matthew xxvii:27-30

[27] Then the governor’s soldiers taking Jesus into the hall, gathered together unto Him the whole band; [28] and stripping Him, they put a scarlet cloak about Him. [29] And plaiting a crown of thorns, they put it upon His Hea, and a reed in His right Hand. And bowing the knee before Him, they mocked Him, saying: Hail, King of the Jews. [30] And spitting upon Him, they took the reed and struck His Head. [Matthew 27:27-30]

+1. When the Jews had shouted for Barabbas and threatened Pilate to denounce him as disloyal to Rome, if he released Jesus, the governor made one more attempt to save the life of Christ.
He ordered Him to be severely scourged, hoping thereby, to move the Jews to pity. Vain attempt at a fresh compromise with his conscience! Pilate only involved himself in deeper guilt and Christ, in a greater agony of suffering. Nothing ever succeeds, except a bold, fearless obedience to God’s holy inspirations.

+2. Our Lord is handed to the scourgers, who strip Him naked and then begin their impious barbarity. The Pharisees are said to have plied them with drink to make them more reckless in their cruelty. Blow succeeds blow, from those many-lashed , iron-pointed scourgers. First His Sacred Flesh becomes red and swollen under the stripe, then the Blood begins to flow, then the iron points lacerate and tear His delicate Body until it is one great wound!
Listen as He piteously moans under the anguish! See Him covered in Blood ! O my Jesus, what must be Thy love to endure this for me!

+3. At length, the executioners cut the cords and Christ falls heavily in a pool of His own Blood. What has brought the King of Heaven to this condition of abject misery? It is the sins of men, especially the sinful indulgence of the body. It was to atone for sins of luxury and impurity and drunkenness that the spotless Lamb of God was thus tortured.
Alas! how often have I been indulgent to my body!
How have I yielded to the cravings of sense!

Posted in INDULGENCES, Our MORNING Offering, PAPAL PRAYERS, PRAYERS & NOVENA to St Joseph, PRAYERS TO St Joseph, PRAYERS to the SAINTS, QUOTES on CHASTITY, QUOTES on PURITY

Our Morning Offering – 2 April – An Indulgenced Prayer to St Josephfor Holy Purity

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Our Morning Offering – 2 April – On the First Wednesday of the Month, Wednesday being St Joseph’s day, we especially invoke his aid in all our needs

An Indulgenced Prayer to St Joseph
for Holy Purity
(Indulgence of 100 days, Once a Day –
Pope Pius IX,4 February 1877)

Guardian of virgins
holy virgin and father, Joseph,
to whose faithful custody
Christ Jesus, Innocence itself
and Mary, virgin of virgins,
were committed;
I pray and beseech thee,
by these dear pledges, Jesus and Mary
that, being preserved from all uncleanness,
I may, with spotless mind, a pure heart
and chaste body, ever serve
Jesus and Mary, most chastely
all the days of my life.
Amen

Posted in "Follow Me", APRIL -MONTH of the RESURRECTION and the BLESSED SACAMENT, AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

1 April – Devotions for the Month of April – The Resurrection and The Blessed Sacrament – ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life’

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Devotions for the Month of April

The Resurrection and The Blessed Sacrament

The Month of April is dedicated both to devotion to the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Holy Eucharist – the proof of the promise of the Love of God and of ETERNAL LIFE.

“My brethren, when was it that the Lord made Himself recognised? — When He broke the bread. — So, we ourselves are convinced too, that when we break the bread, we recognise the Lord. — If He had not wanted to be recognised until that moment, it was for our sakes, we, who were not to see Him in the flesh but who were yet to eat Him in the flesh. ” – St Augustine (354-430) Father, Doctor of Grace

“I am the Resurrection and the Life,
he who believes in Me,
although he be dead, shall live.”

John 11:25

“I am the Living Bread
Who came down from Heaven.
If any man eat of this Bread,
he shall live forever
and the Bread that I will give,
is My Flesh, for the Life of the world.”

John 6:51-52

“If we follow Christ closely we shall be allowed,
even on this earth,
to stand, as it were,
on the threshold of the heavenly Jerusalem
and enjoy the contemplation,
of that everlasting Feast,
like the blessed Apostles,
who, in following the Saviour as their leader,
showed and still show,
the way to obtain the same gift from God.
They said – See, we have left all things and followed Thee.
We too follow the Lord
and we keep His Feast
by deeds rather than by words.”

St Athanasius (297-373)
Father & Doctor of the Church

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, Holy Name PRAYERS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on Lukewarmness, Quotes on SALVATION, The HOLY NAME, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The REDEMPTION

Our Morning Offering – 1 April – Complete Us, O Lord Jesus Christ, For the Glory of Thy Holy Name

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Our Morning Offering – 1 April – Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Lent

Complete Us, O Lord Jesus Christ,
For the Glory of Thy Holy Name.
By St Anselm (1033-1109)
Magnificent and Marian
Doctor of the Church

O Lord Jesus Christ,
our Redemption and our Salvation,
we praise Thee and give Thee thanks.
Although we are unworthy of Thy benefits
and cannot offer to Thee,
the devotion Thou deserves,
let Thy loving-kindness complete,
whatever our weakness attempts.
Before Thee, O Lord,
we lay all our desires
and whatever our heart rightly wishes,
it is because of Thy gifts.
Help us to love Thee as Thou commands.
Do not let Thy gifts be unfruitful.
Complete what Thou hast begun,
give what Thou hast made us desire,
convert our lukewarmness
into fervent love of Thee,
for the glory of Thy Holy Name.
Amen

Posted in MARCH the month of ST JOSEPH, Meditations on ST JOSEPH, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on THE MYSTICAL BODY, St JOSEPH

Thought for the Day – 31 March – St Joseph, Protector of the Faithful

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Thought for the Day – 31 March – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

“Short Meditations for March, St Joseph”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

31st Day — St Joseph, Protector of the Faithful

+I. When God bade St Joseph arise and take the Child and His Mother and fly into Egypt, He was committing unto him, under the guise of Jesus and Mary, the care of the Universal Church. As to Mary were entrusted all Christians in the words, “Woman, behold thy son”
so to St Joseph, in the Angel’s message. He was to be our guardian and protector. He was to keep us safe on the dangerous journey of life! he was to console us and care for us in darkness and sorrow, while we wait in this land of exile for the summons to our true home. Joseph, too, is to bring us safely into the promised land at last.
O holy St Joseph, be my friend and my protector and my keeper, amid all difficulties and dangers and temptations.

+2. St Joseph has care of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, as he had care of the Mortal Body of Jesus. He has to watch over it and guard its temporal interests. He has to defend it against the bitter enemies who seek its destruction. How often he has driven them back!
How often, when all seemed lost, he has restored peace and prosperity, to the Church of God! No weapon aimed against it can harm it, for God has given to St Joseph, the privilege of keeping it ever safe.

+3. St Joseph is also the protector of all his clients. In their temporal affairs how trusty a friend, saving them in circumstances apparently hopeless!
In spiritual necessities how prompt to aid, how unfailing in resource! Oh, trust in St Joseph, wait patiently for him and he will obtain for thee the desires of thy heart

Posted in BREVIARY Prayers, HYMNS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS & NOVENA to St Joseph, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS TO St Joseph, PRAYERS to the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 31 March – Joseph, the Praise and Glory of the Heavens

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Our Morning Offering – 31 March – Goodbye to “The Month of Saint Joseph”

Caelitum, Ioseph, decus
Joseph, the Praise and Glory of the Heavens
By Fr Juan Escollar (Died 1700)

Joseph, the praise and glory of the heavens,
Sure pledge of life and safety of the wide world,
as in our joy we sing to thee, in kindness
listen to our praises.

Thou by the world’s Creator wert appointed
Spouse of the Virgin, thee He willed to honour.
Naming thee father of the Word and guardian
of our salvation.

Thou, thy Redeemer, lying in a stable,
whom long ago foretold the choir of Prophets,
sawest rejoicing and thy God adorest
Humble in childhood.

God, King of Kings and Governor of the ages,
He at Whose word the powers of hell do tremble,
He Whom the adoring heavens ever worship,
called thee protector.

Praise to the Triune Godhead everlasting,
Who with such honour mightily hath blest thee.
O may He grant us at thy blest petition
Joys everlasting.
Amen

This Hymn is used at Matins for the Feast of St Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary (19 March). It is also the Hymn for Lauds for the Feast of St Joseph the Worker on 1 May.
Translation by Alan G McDougall (1895-1964).

Posted in ASPIRATIONS and EJACULATIONS, Holy Family PRAYERS, In the PRESENCE of GOD, JANUARY month of THE MOST HOLY NAME of JESUS, Meditations on ST JOSEPH, PARTIAL Indulgence, QUOTES on DEATH, St JOSEPH

Thought for the Day – 29 March – St Joseph’s Happy Death

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Thought for the Day – 29 March – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

“Short Meditations for March, St Joseph”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

29th Day – St Joseph’s Happy Death

+1. Never, to any of the children of men, did death come so bereft of its terrors, as to St Joseph. One who had lived so continually in the Presence of his God, had no cause to fear it. One whose thoughts, aspirations, hopes affections, had always been in Heaven, regarded
death as a stepping-stone to his true home and to the presence of his God. One on whose breast Jesus had nestled lovingly, had already had a foretaste of Paradise and was absorbed by the longing desire to be there. Have I the same reasons to welcome death?

+2. Yet, if anyone ever had reason to dread the separation from earth, it was St Joseph. None ever left behind, wife or child, who were a thousandth part as dear as Mary and Jesus were to Joseph. Did it cost him nothing to say farewell? No , for from Jesus he could never be separated and, if the veil of flesh prevented him for a short time, from unity with his virgin spouse, yet they would soon meet in endless union before the throne of God. The pain of separation disappeared at the thought of eternal bliss.
If the company of Jesus and Mary was so sweet on earth, what would it be in Heaven where all is perfect!?

+3. What a beautiful death was St Joseph’s!
Nursed in the arms of Jesus and Mary, his last hours were one long ecstasy. No anxious, no distressing thought, was possible in that sweet company . For St Joseph death was only falling asleep to wake in Paradise. He is, therefore, the Patron of a good death . Pray earnestly to Jesus, Mary and Joseph that you may die in peace in their blessed company.

Indulgenced Holy Family Aspiration

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
I give Thee my heart and my soul;
Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
assist me in my last agony;
Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
may I breathe forth my soul in peace with Thee.”

(Indulgence of 300 days, Each Time.
Pope Pius VII, 26 August 1814)

Posted in MARCH the month of ST JOSEPH, Meditations on ST JOSEPH, St JOSEPH

Thought for the Day – 28 March – St Joseph’s Venerable Age

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Thought for the Day – 28 March – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

“Short Meditations for March, St Joseph”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

28th Day – St Joseph’s Venerable Age

+1. St Joseph, during his long life, had been fulfilling the meaning of the name he bore with unbroken constancy. He had been “adding” to the brightness of his virtues and the treasure of his merits, with an ever-increasing speed. In the company of Jesus and Mary, he had made more rapid progress than any of the other Saints.
O Joseph, what fervour must have been thine! what charity, what perfect purity! Was there an Archangel in Heaven equal to thee in love of God? How different thy lightning advance in grace to my sluggish slowness!

+2. What was the secret of St Joseph’s high perfection? It was the calm, quiet peacefulness and tranquillity which enabled his pure soul to reflect the likeness of God, in so wonderful a manner and quickened his ears to catch the faintest whisper of Divine grace. We cannot imagine him ever hurried, or impetuous, or anxious or disorderly.
If we could remove those defects we should soon become more like St Joseph.

+3. As St Joseph grew old and his natural powers began to fail, the beauty of his soul became more and more apparent. Some think that, like Moses, he suffered none of the infirmities of age. At all events, he who as foster-father of Jesus, occupied in some way,, the place of the Eternal Father upon earth, must have been an old man of incomparable beauty, the type and ideal of a Saint and Patriarch. Never was gray hair crowned with such glory and honour, as his, whose happy old age had been spent with Jesus and Mary.

Posted in MARCH the month of ST JOSEPH, Meditations on ST JOSEPH, QUOTES on PURITY, St JOSEPH

Thought for the Day – 27 March – St Joseph’s Purity of Heart

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Thought for the Day – 27 March – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

“Short Meditations for March, St Joseph”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

27th Day – St Joseph’s Purity of Heart

“Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.”
One might almost think that Our Lord, in uttering these words, was thinking of His foster-father.
It was because of his purity of heart that he had the privilege of seeing God face-to-face under the veil of flesh, for nearly thirty years.
Let us see what this meant.

+1. It meant that St Joseph must have been free from all sin, as far as was possible, to one who did not possess, Our Lady’s singular privilege. The authority over the sinless Lamb of God, would scarcely have been entrusted to one who was sinful. The constant association, the exchange of endearing love, implied that His father was the purest of all men.
To me, too, Christ commits Himself in Holy Communion to be my guest and the food of my soul. What ought I to be!?

+2. Purity of heart involves too, a knowledge of God. Who, save His Mother, knew Jesus as Joseph did? Who watched so intensely each movement, each look, each word? Who sought to imitate them and drink in His spirit, as Joseph did? Who was modelled so perfectly after the likeness of Christ?
How distant is my likeness to Christ? Nay, how unlike am I, alas to Him?!

+3. St Joseph had the extraordinary privilege of ministering, with his own hands, to Jesus, a privilege which the Angels must needs have envied him.
His ministry to Jesus was a source of continual grace. His acts of love to Jesus, were acts of love to God. All was done for Jesus, knowing, he was doing it for God.
O happy Joseph! Teach me to minister to others for Jesus’ Sake !

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Prayers and Novena, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MOTHER of GOD, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, The INCARNATION

Quote/s of the Day – 27 March – St John Damascene

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Quote/s of the Day – 27 March – St John Damascene (675-749) Confessor, Father and Doctor of the Church

“By the Cross all these things have been set aright…

It is a seal that the destroyer may not strike us,
a raising up of those who lie fallen,
a support for those who stand,
a staff for the infirm,
a crook for the shepherded,
a guide for the wandering,
a perfecting of the advanced,
salvation for soul and body,
a deflector of all evils,
a cause of all goods,
a destruction of sin,
a plant of resurrection
and a tree of eternal life.”

“This woman will be the Mother of God,
the door to light, source of life.
She will reduce to oblivion the judgement
that weighed on Eve.
Daughter of David the king and Mother of God,
King of the universe, masterpiece
in whom the Creator rejoices…
thou art to be nature’s full achievement.
For thou life is not thine,
thou were not born for thyself alone
but thou life is to be God’s.
thou came into the world for Him,
thou will serve for the salvation of all people,
fulfilling God’s design, established
from the beginning …”

“You are more to be valued than the entire creation,
for from you alone the Creator received
a share in the first-fruits of our humanity.
His Flesh was made of your flesh,
His Blood of your blood;
God was nourished by your milk
and your lips kissed the lips of God. …
In His foreknowledge of your dignity,
the God of all the world, has loved you
and, in accordance with His love for you,
He predestined you and called you into being ”

MORE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/27/quote-s-of-the-day-27-march-st-john-damascene-2/

St John Damascene (675-749)
Father and Doctor of the Church

Posted in MARCH the month of ST JOSEPH, Meditations on ST JOSEPH, St JOSEPH

Thought for the Day – 26 March – St Joseph’s Prudence

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Thought for the Day – 26 March – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

“Short Meditations for March, St Joseph”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

26th Day – St Joseph’s Prudence

Prudence is a virtue we all value and desire. Let us look at this virtue in St Joseph.

+1. St Joseph never acted on impulse. He always prayed and reflected before acting. What husband would not have put away his wife without any delay, when he discovered that she was about to give birth to a child who was not his. Not so St Joseph! He prayed and pondered and waited and gradually formed the prudent resolve of sending her back to her friends in secret. Even after deciding on this plan, as the best course of action, he again waited and commended it to God, turned it over and over in his own mind, prayed still more before
proceeding to act.
It was this prudence, this charitable delay which earned him the solution of his dilemma and doubts, by an Angel’s voice.

+2. St Joseph had been entrusted with Jesus’ training. The formation of the character of the Divine Child was committed to him. What prudence, what perfect prudence must he have possessed whom God considered as the fit Guardian of the Eternal Word!
If I were more prudent, God would entrust me with greater works in His service.

+3. Our Lady must have had wonderful confidence in the prudence of her spouse when she arose, without hesitation at dead of night, to fly with him to Egypt, just because he told her he had had a dream warning him to do so. But she knew, not only how naturally careful and wise he was but too, that he had an infused and supernatural prudence which could not be deceived.
If I were more prudent, others would trust me more and listen, with greater confidence, to my advice or commands

Posted in HYMNS, POETRY, PRAYERS & NOVENA to St Joseph, PRAYERS TO St Joseph, PRAYERS to the SAINTS, St JOSEPH

Our Morning Offering – 26 March – Hail, Holy Joseph, Hail!

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Our Morning Offering – 26 March – “The Month of Saint Joseph” and Wednesday being St Joseph’s day

Hail, Holy Joseph, Hail!
By Father Frederick W Faber CO (1814-1863)

Hail, holy Joseph, hail!
Chaste spouse of Mary hail!
Pure as the lily flow’r
In Eden’s peaceful vale.
Hail, holy Joseph, hail!
Prince of the house of God!
May His best graces be
By thy sweet hands bestowed.

Hail, holy Joseph, hail!
Comrade of Angels, hail!
Cheer thou the hearts that faint,
And guide the steps that fail.
Hail, holy Joseph, hail!
God’s choice wert thou alone!
To thee the Word made flesh,
Was subject as a Son.
Hail, holy Joseph, hail!
Teach us our flesh to tame
And, Mary, keep the hearts
That love thy husband’s name.
Mother of Jesus! bless,
And bless, ye Saints on high,
All meek and simple souls
That to Saint Joseph cry.
Amen’

Posted in EUCHARISTIC Adoration, I BELIEVE!, MARCH the month of ST JOSEPH, Meditations on ST JOSEPH, QUOTES on FAITH, St JOSEPH, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Thought for the Day – 25 March – St Joseph’s Strong Faith

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Thought for the Day – 25 March – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

“Short Meditations for March, St Joseph”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

25th Day – St Joseph’s Strong Faith

Faith consists in the ready acceptance of God’s messages to us on His Authority. It is tested by the difficulty of believing and by the painful consequences to ourselves. We will try St Joseph’s faith by these methods.

+1. The first message which is recorded as having been given to St Joseph, was that Mary was about to become a mother through the operation of the Holy Ghost. The news announced, was a miracle of stupendous magnitude, a Mystery inscrutable. Yet, St Joseph never doubted, never hesitated. He accepted it on God’s Authority, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

+2. The second message enjoined him to take the Divine Child and His Mother and fly in the darkness of the night, to Egypt. There was no apparent reason, no danger known to St Joseph.
The journey was a perilous, painful and most inconvenient one and seemingly unnecessary .
Yet, not for an instant, did St Joseph hesitate, doubt, nor delay but started before day had dawned.
What living , practical faith, so different from my doubting slowness!

+3. It was this habit of faith which earned, for him, the continual society of Jesus Christ.
St Joseph never ceased to have present to himself, the Godhead of his Son but at times, he would forget the outward form before him and would adore his God.
So we should seek to realise that the Sacred Host, does but veil the same God Incarnate and should make many acts of faith before the Blessed Sacrament and say:
“My Lord and my God!”

Posted in MARCH the month of ST JOSEPH, Meditations on ST JOSEPH, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, St JOSEPH, The WILL of GOD

Thought for the Day – 24 March – St Joseph’s Inner Life

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Thought for the Day – 24 March – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

“Short Meditations for March, St Joseph”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

24th Day – St Joseph’s Inner Life

+1. The inner life of the soul depends on the closeness of the union with God. None of the Saints, save only the holy Mother of God, was ever so closely united to the Will of God as St Joseph. None so prompt in obedience. None so perfect in patient resignation.
From him I will try and learn these means of drawing nearer to God. I must be more pliable to the Will of God, more punctual and exact in obeying; more ready to submit to all which God ordains. Thus only can I hope for greater holiness and a life more closely united to Him.

+2. St Joseph had a privilege on earth which, for all other Saints, is reserved for the Eternal Paradise – of being in the continual company of his God, of gazing on the Sacred Humanity of the Incarnate Word, of hearing Words of love and gratitude from Him, of drinking in delicious
draughts of heavenly delight, from the Words, Touches and Looks of the Incarnate God. His life must have been one long ecstasy.
If those who touched the Hem of Jesus’ Garment received an inflow of heavenly virtue, what must he have received, who nursed Him in infancy and bore Him the closest company, in youth and manhood!

+3. How often St Joseph called Jesus his dear Son and Jesus, in return, called him His dear father! What happiness to him to have a right thus to address the Second Person of the Divine Trinity! What grace must have flowed into his heart when Jesus called him father!
Pray that you may deserve to have Jesus smile sweetly upon you, as He so often did upon His great foster-father.

Posted in JANUARY month of THE MOST HOLY NAME of JESUS, MARCH the month of ST JOSEPH, Meditations on ST JOSEPH, QUOTES on the FAMILY, St JOSEPH, The HOLY FAMILY, THE HOLY FAMILY - FAMILIAE SANCTAE

Thought for the Day – 23 March – St Joseph, Father of Jesus

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Thought for the Day – 23 March – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

“Short Meditations for March, St Joseph”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

23rd Day – St Joseph, Father of Jesus

We need not fear to apply this name to the holy foster-father of the Son of God, since it was given to him by Our Lady herself, when she said to Him in the Temple, “Thy father and I have sought Thee, sorrowing.”

+1. He had the position of father of Jesus and was recognised as such, by the common consent. He had all the rights and the authority of a father, as far as any could have, over the Son of God. His Divine Foster-Son from His birth, depended on him, as the child naturally depends upon his father. He fulfilled the office of father. God delegated to him, the duties, the rights, the privileges, of a father and, therefore, he is truly called, the father of Jesus.

+2. We may also piously believe, his Divine Son was made like to him in outward form. In the natural order, Jesus would not be made after the likeness of His holy Mother alone. The Holy Ghost, in fashioning the features of the Son of God, would have taken St Joseph as in some sort, the model to be followed in form and face. What must have been St Joseph’s beauty, sweetness of expression, symmetry of form, perfect purity of body and soul!
What a contrast to my unsightliness and impurity!

+3. When God calls a man by any name, He, thereby, ascribes to him whatever that name implies. How often Jesus called St Joseph by the endearing name of father! By so doing, He showed that He was truly His father. His Words were no mere fiction. O happy St Joseph! it is no wonder thou hast such power in Heaven!

Posted in MARCH the month of ST JOSEPH, Meditations on ST JOSEPH, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, St JOSEPH, The HOLY FAMILY, THE HOLY FAMILY - FAMILIAE SANCTAE

Thought for the Day – 22 March – St Joseph as Head of the Holy Family

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 22 March – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

“Short Meditations for March, St Joseph”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

22nd Day – St Joseph as Head of the Holy Family

+1. The dignity of any Office of Authority, is in proportion to the excellence of those over whom such authority is exercised.
What then must have been the dignity and perfection of St Joseph? To rule over the Angels would be a small privilege compared with the privilege of ruling God Himself and His holy Mother!
What prudence, what discretion, what purity of intention, what perfect unselfishness, what intense love of God and of men, must have been found in St Joseph! How humble he must have been, how thoughtful, how kind, how considerate, how wise, how faithful to God’s holy inspirations! Next to Our Lady, it is impossible to suppose that any Saint could approach the dignity of St Joseph!

+2. Watch St Joseph as a superior.
Notice how he gives his orders, firmly and decidedly, without hesitation but yet, kindly and gently and considerately. St Joseph had to command others besides Jesus and Mary. To all he showed the same thoughtful, tender, watchful affection and respect.
Am I like St Joseph in dealing with those over whom I am placed?

+3. Our Lord obeyed St Joseph with the most perfect , unquestioning obedience. He, as Man, was St Joseph’s natural superior; He , in His Sacred Humanity, had Authority over all creation. He, therefore, the Lord of all, raised St Joseph to be lord over Himself. This, exalts still
more, the position of St Joseph, who derived his authority over Jesus by Our Lord’s own choice of him.
Thus Jesus teaches us the happiness of obedience. To be subject is no degradation but rather, a privilege, since Jesus Himself chose it!