Quote/s of the Day – 14 April – St Justin Martyr (c100-165)
“The world suffers nothing from Christians
but hates them, because they reject its pleasures.”
“We have strayed from the Immortal’s ways
and worship IDOLS,
with a dull and senseless mind,
the workmanship of our own hands!”
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One Minute Reflection – 14 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – St Justin Martyr (c100-165) – 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; 1:30; – Luke 12:2-8 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Yea, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.” – Luke12:7
REFLECTION – “Our beloved Saviour assures us in many places of His Holy Scriptures that He is constantly caring for and keeping watch over us, that He carries and will Himself, always carry us in His breast, His heart, His bowels. Nor is He content to say, just once or twice, that He will carry us in this way but He asserts and reasserts it, as many as five times in the same place.
Furthermore, He assures us that even if a mother were to be found who would go so far as to forget the child she had borne in her womb, yet He will never forget us; He has written us on His Hands so as to have us always under His Eyes; that whoever touches us, touches the Apple of His eye; that we should never be anxious about what we need to live and to clothe ourselves, that He knows well we need these things and takes care of them for us; that He has numbered the hairs on our head and not one of them will perish; that His Father Loves us as He Loves Him and that He Loves us as His Father Loves Him; that He Wills we should be where He is, that is to say that we should be at rest with Him in the breast and heart of His Father.” – St John Eudes (1601-1680) Apostle of the Two Holy Hearts Priest, Preacher, Founder (The Kingdom of Jesus, II, 30).
PRAYER – O God, Who through the preaching of the Cross,which is to them who perish, foolishness, didst wonderfully teach, unto thy blessed Martyr Justin, the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus Our Lord, grant unto us we beseech Thee, at his prayer,s the grace to cast off all false teaching and ever to hold fast to the Faith. Through the same 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).
Our Morning Offering – 14 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament”
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
Thought for the Day – 13 April – During this Season of Alleluias and Joy, we will consider Fr von Cochem’s Reflections upon our Heavenly Homeland.
Nihil Obstat: Thomas L Kinkead, Censor Liborium
Imprimatur: Michael Augustine — Archbishop of New York (New York 5 Oct 1899)
1.2 Concerning the Size of Heaven:
(a) All we know is that it is immeasurable, inconceivable, incomprehensible!
A learned man, speaking on this subject, says : “If God were to make every grain of sand into a new world, all these innumerable spheres would not fill the immensity of Heaven.”
St Bernard too says, we are warranted in the belief that everyone of the saved will have a place and an inheritance of no narrow limits assigned him in the Celestial Country.
How immeasurably vast in extent must Heaven then be! Well may the Prophet Baruch exclaim: “O Israel, how great is the House of God and how vast is the place of His possession. It is great and hath no end; it is high and immense” (Baruch iii. 24, 25).
We can readily believe this, for we have before our eyes the boundless realms of space. But of the nature of the Infinite realms of Heaven, we know nothing and yet, we can to some extent, picture them in our imagination. It would be against common sense to think that these vast celestial domains are empty and bare, that the great Artificer, to whom the creation of worlds is a very little thing, would leave them unbeautified and unadorned.
If Princes and Lords fill every space and leave no corner in their palaces or their grounds unembellished and unadorned, shall we suppose that the great King of Heaven would permit His Regal Palace, His Celestial Paradise, to be lacking in magnificence and in beauty? What would there be to delight the senses of the Saints, if Heaven were a large empty space? What enjoyment, except the Beatific Vision of God, would there be for them, if they stood all together in a barren plain, like sheep in a penfold? Are we not justified in believing that there are splendid and spacious mansions in Heaven constructed of incorruptible materials?
Nay more, a learned expositor of Holy Scripture considers it probable that by the wondrous skill and wisdom of the great Creator, these fair palaces and dwellings are of varied form and size, some being lower, others higher, some more richly adorned than others. Towering above all and surpassing all in grandeur and magnificence, the Palace of the great King, Jesus Christ stands pre-eminent and next in splendour and dignity ranks the abode of our Sovereign Lady, the Queen of Heaven. Then come the twelve palaces of the Twelve Apostles which are so rich and beautiful that Heaven itself marvels at their magnificence.
Besides these are mansions and dwellings innumerable which render the heavenly Jerusalem indescribably imposing and attractive. These splendid abodes were created when Heaven itself was made and destined to be the dwellings of the redeemed.
The Church teaches us, in the Office for Martyrs that each one of the Elect will have his own place in the Kingdom of Heaven. … “I will give to My Saints an appointed place in the Kingdom of My Father.”
And the Royal Psalmist says: “The Saints shall rejoice in glory; they shall be joyful in their beds” (Ps cxlix. 5).
We have also Christ’s Own Words: “Make unto you friends of the mammon, of iniquity that when you shall fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings” that is to say, spend what you have over and above on works of charity and benevolence that these may prove as friends to you, who will obtain for you admittance into the eternal and Celestial dwellings (Luke xvi. 9).
Again : “In My Father’s House there are many mansions.”
Hence it may be inferred that each one of the redeemed has his separate abode in Heaven. For as a just and prudent father divides his real and personal property amongst his children, assigning to each one his particular share, so our Heavenly Father apportions to each of His Elect a part of His Celestial Treasures, both visible and invisible, giving to each one more or less, according to the amount he deserves to receive.
Quote/s of the Day – 13 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Wisdom 5:1-5; Luke 14:26-33 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“If anyone comes to Me
without hating his father
and mother, wife and children,
brothers and sisters
and even his own life,
he cannot be My disciple.”
“So likewise, everyone of you,
who does not renounce all
that he possesses,
cannot be My disciple.”
“Take nothing for your journey,
neither staff, nor bag,
nor bread, nor money;
neither have two tunics.”
“That is why all the faithful who love God
and their neighbour, truly drink the Cup
of the Lord’s Love, even though,
they may not drink the cup of His Bodily Suffering.
And becoming inebriated from it,
they put to death, whatever in their nature
is rooted in earth.
They clothe themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ
and do not indulge fleshly desires.
They do not fix their gaze on visible things
but contemplate things, which the eye cannot see.
Thus they drink the Lord’s Cup
by preserving the holy bond of love –
without it, even if a man should deliver his body
to be burned, he gains nothing.
But the gift of love enables us to become,
in reality, what we celebrate
as Mystery in the Sacrifice.”
“What is not pleasing to God,
is anxiety and disquiet of mind.
The Lord wants our limitations
and weaknesses, to find their support
in His Strength; He wants us
to hope that His Goodness will complete
and perfect the imperfectness of our means.”
(Letter of 17 November 1555)
One Minute Reflection – 13 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – St Hermenegild (Died 585) Martyr, Confessor – Wisdom 5:1-5; Luke 14:26-33 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“If anyone comes to Me, without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” – Luke 14:26
REFLECTION – “On another occasion, the Lord says, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife and children and brothers and sisters and even his own soul, cannot be my disciple.” As a rule, this is more upsetting to the mind of new Christians, who are eager to begin at once, to live in accordance with the precepts of Christ. To those who do not fully grasp its meaning, it would seem contradictory …. He has condescended to call His disciples to the eternal Kingdom. He also called them brothers. In the Kingdom these relationships are transcended because, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, neither slave nor freeman but Christ, is all things and in all.” The Lord says, “For in the resurrection, they will neither be married nor marry but will be as the Angels of God in Heaven.”
Whoever wishes to prepare himself now, for the life of that Kingdom, must not hate people but those earthly relationships, through which the present life is sustained, the temporary life that begins at birth and ends with death. Whoever does not hate this necessity, does not yet love that other life, in which there will be no condition of birth and death, the condition which makes marriages natural on earth.” – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop, Father, Doctor of Grace (Sermon on the Mount,15).
PRAYER – O God, Who didst teach Thy blessed Martyr Hermenegild to choose a heavenly, rather than an earthly crown, grant, we beseech Thee, that we, like him, may so pass through temporal things that we finally miss not those which are eternal. Through esus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
Our Morning Offering – 13 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Wisdom 5:1-5; Luke 14:26-33 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
Suscipe
“Receive”
By St Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556)
Receive, O Lord,
all my liberty.
Take my memory, understanding
and entire will.
Whatsoever I have or hold,
Thou hast given it – I give all back to Thee
and commit it wholly to be governed by Thy Will.
Thy Love and Thy Grace give unto me
and I am rich enough
and ask for nothing more!
Amen
Thought for the Day – 12 April – During this Season of Alleluias and Joy, we will consider Fr von Cochem’s Reflections upon our Heavenly Homeland.
Nihil Obstat: Thomas L Kinkead, Censor Liborium
Imprimatur: Michael Augustine — Archbishop of New York (5 Oct 1899)
I.1 On the Nature of Heaven:
WE must not, as some do, picture Heaven to ourselves as a purely spiritual realm. For Heaven is a definite place, where not only God and the Angels are but where Christ is also in His Sacred Humanity and Our Lady with her human body. There too, all the blessed will dwell with their glorified bodies after the Last Judgement.
If Heaven is a definite locality, it must accordingly be a visible, not a spiritual Kingdom; for a place must, in its nature be to some extent conformable to those who abide in it.
Besides, we know that after the Last Judgement the Saints will behold Heaven with their bodily eyes and consequently it must be a visible Kingdom. We are ignorant of what the material structure of Heaven will be composed, we know only that it will be something infinitely superior to and more costly than, the matter of which the other spheres, the sun, the moon and other heavenly bodies, are formed.
For since God has created Heaven for Himself and for His Elect, He has made it so beautiful and so glorious that the blessed will never tire of the contemplation of its splendours for all eternity!
Yet, I repeat, it is not within the power of the writer to describe, nor within that of the reader, to comprehend, of what Heaven is actually composed of. Something may perhaps be learned concerning this from what St Teresa writes. Speaking of herself, she says :
“The Blessed Mother of God gave me a jewel and hung around my neck, a superb golden chain, to which a Cross of priceless value was attached. Both the gold and the precious stones thus given to me, are so unlike those which we have here in this world that no comparison can be instituted between them. They are beautiful beyond anything which can be conceived and the matter whereof they are composed, is beyond our knowledge. For what we call gold and precious stones, beside them appear dark and lustreless as charcoal! ”
From these words we may form some idea of the beauty, the rarity, the costly nature of the stones wherewith the walls of Heaven are built. We gather from them that the Light of Heaven is so dazzling as not only to eclipse the sun and stars but to cause all earthly brightness to appear as darkness. We have besides every reason to believe that in the Light of Heaven, all the colours of the rainbow are seen to flash, giving an indescribable charm to the eyes of the blessed. Moreover, the bodies of the redeemed are resplendent with light and the more Saintly their life on earth has been, the more brilliantly do they shine in Heaven.
What must be the glory of that celestial firmament, glittering with the radiance of many thousand stars! Nothing is more pleasing to the eye than light ; how brilliant, how beautiful must the light of Heaven be since, compared with it, the sun s bright rays are but darkness.
How the redeemed must delight in the contemplation of this clear and dazzling brightness!
O my God, grant me grace that on earth I may love the Light and eschew the works of darkness, in order that I may attain to the contemplation of the Eternal and Perpetual Light! Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 12 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Low Sunday, The Octave Day of Easter – 1 John 5:4-10, John 20. 19-31 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“ Blessed are they who have not seen
and have believed.”
“He asks for our faith and offers us salvation.
What He offers us, is so precious
that what He asks of us, is as nothing!”
“I shall reflect the image of God
in that I feed on love;
grow certain on faith and hope;
strengthen myself, on the virtue of patience;
grow tranquil by humility;
grow beautiful by chastity;
am sober by abstention;
am made happy by tranquillity
and am ready for death,
by practising hospitality.”
“True piety admits no other rule than that,
whatsoever things have been faithfully received
from our fathers, the same are to be
faithfully consigned to our children
and that, it is our duty,
not to lead religion whither we would
but rather, to follow religion whither it leads
and that, it is the part of Christian modesty
and gravity, not to hand down our own beliefs
or observances to those who come after us
but, to preserve and keep what we have received,
from those who went before us.”
“We should also have great confidence
in the continual assistance which God offers us
in the temptations, troubles and trials of life.
When pain torments us,
when humiliations are difficult to bear,
when all is dark. we fear each moment
and we feel abandoned, let us trust in Him,
Who is the Way, the Truth and Life.
He says to us, as He said to Peter floundering in the waves:
“O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?” (Mt 14:31).
He is always ready to console and comfort.
He is always there waiting for our call.
We are not alone!”
One Minute Reflection – 12 April – “The Month of the Resurrection” – Low Sunday, The Octave Day of Easter – 1 John 5:4-10, John 20. 19-31 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“We have seen the Lord.” – John 20:25
REFLECTION – “While hiding in a house, the Apostles see Christ; He entered, all the doors being shut. But Thomas, who was absent at that time… shuts his ears and wants to open his eyes … He bursts out with his incredulity, hoping, in this way, his desire will be answered. “My doubts are not going to disappear until I see Him,” he says. “I shall put my finger in the marks of the nails and embrace this Lord of mine Whom I long for so much. Let Him reproach my lack of faith but let Him satisfy me with sight of Him. For now, I am unbelieving but, when I see Him, I shall believe. I shall believe when I clasp Him in my arms and gaze on Him. I wish to see the holes in those Hands which have healed the hands of Adam’s wrongdoing. I wish to see the Side which cast out death from mankind’s side. I wish, be my own witness, to see the Lord and another’s testimony is not enough for me. Your tales aggravate my impatience. The joyful news you bring does nothing but stir up my turmoil. I shall not be cured of this sickness, unless I touch its medicine with my own hands.”
The Lord appeared again and dispelled both the sadness and the doubt of His disciple. What am I saying? He did not dispel his doubts, He fulfilled his expectation! He entered, all the doors being shut!” – Basil of Seleucia (Died c468) Archbishop (Sermon for the Resurrection).
PRAYER – Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, who have celebrated the Paschal Feast, may, by Thy bounty, retain its fruits in our daily habits and behaviour. 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).
Our Morning Offering – 12 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – The Octave Day of Easter or Low Sunday
“Victimae Paschali Laudes”
The Easter Sequence
By Father Wipo of Burgundy (c995– c1050) (Attrib)
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems,
Christ, Who only is sinless,
Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended
in that combat stupendous.
The Prince of Life, Who died,
reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring
What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, Who is living,
the glory of Jesus’ Resurrection”
“Bright Angels attesting,
The shroud and napkin resting. ”
“Yes, Christ my Hope is arisen;
To Galilee He goes before you. ”
Christ indeed
from death is risen,
our new life obtaining.
Have mercy, Victor King,
ever reigning!
Amen. Alleluia!
Before the Gospel is proclaimed, the ancient Sequence “Victimae Paschali Laudes” of Easter Sunday is read or sung.
The Sequence (Sequentia) is the Liturgical Hymn of the Mass which occurs on four Feasts:– Easter, Pentecost, Corpus Christi and Our Lady of Sorrows.
This sequence, “Victimae Paschali Laudes” is attributed to Wipo of Burgundy (c995– c1050) who was a Priest, Poet and Historian, the Chaplain of the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II during the 11th Century and possibly the Tutor of his son Emperor Henry III.
Holy Saturday – 4 April – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church
From the descent of Christ to hell, we may learn, 4 lessons for our instruction:
Those, who in their meditations, often descend to hell during life, will not easily succomb at death.
Such meditations are a powerful arm against sin and a useful aid to protect a man and convert him from sin.
Daily we see men kept from evildoing by the fear of the law’s punishments.
How much greater care should they not take, on account of the punishment of hell, greater in its duration, in its bitterness and in its variety.
“Remember thy last end and thou shalt never sin” (Ecclus vii. 40).
We assist the souls in Purgatory, chiefly by these three means, by Holy Masses, by prayers and by almsgiving.
Is it not wonderful that we can do so, in this world – a friend can make satisfaction for a friend.
ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568
Quote/s of the Day – 4 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament – Holy Saturday – The Lord’s Vigil Mass of Easter – Matthew 28:1-7 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Today a great silence reigns on earth,
a great silence and a great stillness.
A great stillness because the King is asleep.
The earth trembled and is still
because God has fallen asleep in the flesh
and has raised up all who have slept,
since the world began…
I order you, O sleeper, to awake.
I did not create you to be a prisoner in hell.
Rise from the dead, for I am the Life of the dead.”
“It was very necessary that Christ
should rise during the night because,
His Resurrection has enlightened our darkness! …
Just as our faith,
strengthened by Christ’s Resurrection,
dispels all sleep, so this night,
lightened by our vigils, is filled with brightness.
He, Who has given us the glory of His Name (Ps 28:2)
has also illumined this night.
He to Whom we say “Thou lighten my darkness”
(Ps 18:28) sheds His brightness in our hearts.
Just as our dazzled eyes behold
these shining torches, so our enlightened spirits
enable us to see how luminous is this night,
this holy night in which our Lord
initiated, in His own flesh,
the Life which knows neither sleep nor death!”
“…He Slept,
so that We might be
Awakened,
He Died,
so that We might Live.”
One Minute Reflection – 4 April – Holy Saturday – The Lord’s Vigil Mass of Easter, Blessing of the Fire, Prophecies, Blessing of the Font, First Mass of Easter – Matthew 28:1-7 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“And the Angel answering, said to the women: Fear not you, for I know that you seek Jesus Who was Crucified, He is not here, for He is risen, as He said.” – Matthew 28:5-6
REFLECTION – “When the third day dawned of the Lord’s Sacred repose in the tomb … Christ, the “power and Wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:24), with the author of death lying prostrate, conquered even death itself and opened to us access to eternity, when He raised Himself from the dead by His Divine Power in order to make known to us the paths of Life.
Then there was a great earthquake, for an Angel of the Lord came down from Heaven, with raiment like snow and his countenance like lightening. He appeared attractive to the devout and severe to the wicked – for he terrified the soldiers and comforted the timid women, to whom the Lord Himself first appeared after rising because, their intense devotion, so merited. Then He was seen by Peter, then by the disciples going to Emmaus, then by all the Apostles except Thomas. Later He presented Himself to be touched by Thomas, who proclaimed his faith: “My Lord and my God.” And thus, during forty days, He appeared in many ways to His disciples, both eating and drinking with them.
He enlightened our faith with proofs and lifted up our hope with promises, so as finally, to enkindle our love with gifts from Heaven!” … St Bonaventure (1217-1274) Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – O God, Who dost illuminate this most holy night by the glory of the Lord’s Resurrection, preserve in the new children of Thy family, the spirit of adoption which Thou hast given, that renewed in body and mind, they may render to Thee a pure service. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
Good Friday – 3 April – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church The Death of Christ
The Expediency of the Death of Christ:
As to the increase of hope, St Paul writes, “He Who spared not even His Own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how hath He not also, with Him, given us all things?“ (Rom viii. 32).
God cannot deny us this, for to give us all things is less than to give His Own Son to Death for us.
St Bernard says, “Who is not carried away to hope and confidence in prayer, when he looks upon the Crucifix and sees how Our Lord hangs there, His Head bent as though to kiss, His Arms outstretched in an embrace, His Hands pierced to give, His Side opened to love, His Feet nailed to remain with us.”
“Come, my dove, in the clefts of the rock” (Cant ii. 14). It is in the Wounds of Christ where the Church builds its nest and waits, for it is in the Passion of Our Lord she places her hope of Salvation and thereby trusts to be protected from the craft of the falcon, that is, of the devil.
With regard to the increase of charity, Holy Scripture says, “At noon he burneth the earth” (Ecclus xliii. 3), that is to say, in the fervour of His Passion, He burns up all mankind with His Love.
So St Bernard says, “The chalice Thou didst drink, O good Jesus, maketh Thee lovable above all things.”
The Work of our Redemption easily, brushing aside all hindrances, calls out in return the whole of our love. This it is which more gently draws our devotion, builds it more straightly, guards it more closely and fires it with greater ardour.
ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568
Quote of the Day – 3 April – Good Friday – The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
“Look on thy God, Christ hidden in our flesh.
A bitter word, the Cross and bitter sight –
Hard rind without, to hold the Heart of Heaven.
Yet, sweet it is, for God upon that tree
Did offer up His Life upon that rood –
My Life hung, that my Life might stand in God.
Christ, what am I to give Thee for my life?
Unless, take from Thy Hands, the cup they hold,
To cleanse me with the precious draught of death.
What shall I do? My body to be burned?
Make myself vile? The debt is not paid out yet.
Whate’er I do, it is but I and Thou,
And still do I come short, still must Thou pay
My debts, O Christ, for debts Thyself had’st none.
What love may balance Thine? My Lord was found
In fashion like a slave that so His slave
Might find himself in fashion like his Lord.
Think you the bargain’s hard, to have exchanged
The transient for the eternal, to have sold,
Earth to buy Heaven? More dearly God bought me!”
One Minute Reflection – 3 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).
Maundy Thursday – 2 April – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church
It was most fitting that the Sacrament of the Body of the Lord should have been instituted at the Last Supper.
And, therefore, was it most fitting that, on the very eve of the Passion, the old sacrament of the Paschal Lamb having been celebrated, Our Lord should institute the new Sacrament.
Hence, St Augustine says, “Our Saviour, to bring before our minds with all His Power, the heights and the depths of this Sacrament willed, ere He left the disciples to go forth to His Passion, to fix it in their hearts and their memories as His last Act.”
Let us note that this Sacrament has a threefold meaning:
(i) In regard to the past, it is commemorative of the Lord’s Passion which was a true Sacrifice and because of this, the Sacrament is called a Sacrifice.
(ii) In regard to a fact of our own time, i.e. to the unity of the Church and that through this Sacrament, mankind should be gathered together.
Because of this, the Sacrament is called Communion.
St John Damascene says, the sacrament is called Communion because, by means of it, we communicate with Christ and this because we hereby share in His Body and in His Divinity and because by it, we are communicated to and united with one another.
(iii) In regard to the future, the Sacrament foreshadows that enjoyment of God which shall be ours in our Fatherland.
On this account, the Sacrament is called “Viaticum” since it provides us with the means of journeying to that Fatherland.
ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568
Quote/s of the Day – 2 April – Maundy Thursday
“Be imitators of God, as very dear children
and walk in love, as Christ also Loved us
and delivered Himself up for us …”
“But I say to you,
Love your enemies …”
“But the wise took oil
in their vessels”
“The wise ones’ lamps were burning,
from the oil inside them,
from the assurance of their consciences,
from their inner boast,
from their deepest charity.”
“Father, forgive them.”
With this prayer, He wanted to make us understand
the Love He bore us, undiminished
by any suffering and to teach us how
our heart should be toward our neighbour.”
“He Loves you as though He had
no-one else to love but you alone.
You, too, should love Him alone
and all others for His Sake.
Of Him you may say and, indeed, you should say:
My Beloved to me and I to Him (Cant, 2:16).
My God has given Himself all to me
and I give myself all to Him;
He has chosen me for His beloved
and I choose Him, above all others,
for my only Love.”
One Minute Reflection – 2 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Maundy Thursday – 1 Corinthians 11:20-32 – John 13:1-15 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“He Loved them unto the end.” – John 13:1
REFLECTION – “Before the feast of the Pasch, Jesus, knowing His hour had come to leave this world and go unto His Father, “having loved those who were His Own, unto the end, He Loved them”… In the Gospel John was epecially called “the disciple whom Jesus Loved.” This disciple declares here what manner of faithful Lover our holy Saviour was, of Whom he, himself, was so Beloved.
For unto these words, he straightaway joins, the rehearsing of Christ’s bitter Passion, beginning with the Last Supper and therein, His humble washing of His disciples’ feet, the sending forth of the traitor and after that, His teaching, His prayer, His capture, His judging, His scourging, His crucifying andH all the whole piteous tragedy of His most bitter Passion.
Before which things, St John sets the aforesaid words to declare all these things which Christ did, in all this, He did it for very Love. Which Love He declared well unto his disciples in many ways, at the time of His Last Supper, giving them charge that, in loving each other they should follow His example (Jn 13:34). For those whom He Loved, He Loved unto the end and this He wished, they too should do. He was not an inconstant Lover Who does as many do, Love for a while and then, upon some light occasion, leave His Love and turn from being a friend to an enemy, as the false traitor, Judas did. But He, still so persevered in Love unto the very end, so that, for very Love, He came to that painful end and that, not only for His friends who were already His but too, for His enemies, to make them His friends and not for His benefit but only for their own!” – St Thomas More (1478-1535) Martyr, Lord Chancellor of England (Treatise on the Passion, 1).
PRAYER – O God, from Whom Judas received the punishment of his guilt and the thief the reward of his confession: grant unto us the full fruit of Thy clemency, that even as in His Passion, our Lord Jesus Christ gave to each a retribution according to his merits, so having taken away our old sins, He may bestow upon us the grace of His Resurrection. Who with Thee lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
Our Morning Offering – 2 April – Maundy Thursday in Holy Week
Man of Sorrows—Wrapt in Grief
From an old French Hymn
Author Unknown
Man of Sorrows—wrapt in grief,
Bow Thine ear to our relief;
Thou for us the path hast trod
Of the dreadful wrath of God.
Thou the cup of fire hast drain’d
Till its light alone remain’d:
Lamb of Love!—we look to Thee,
Hear our mournful litany!
By the garden—fraught with woe,
Whither Thou full oft wouldst go:
By Thine Agony of prayer
In the desolation there!
By the chains of sleep, which bound
Watchers in their trance profound;
Lord!—behold our bended knee,—
Listen to our litany!
By the conflict foul and fell
With the loosen’d fiends of hell,
By the darkness of the hour
Shadow’d with the tempter’s power,
By the dire and deep distress
Of that mystery fathomless;—
Lord! our tears in mercy see
Mingling with our litany!
By the vision then, which stole
Looming o’er Thy spotless soul,
Of the pride and guilt of man,
Since his fall from grace began,—
Seas of sin, with billowy waves,
Yawning into countless graves;—
Lord! ourselves from shipwreck free,
Hear our solemn litany!
By the Chalice, when it came
Pregnant with a hell of flame:
By those Lips—which fain would pray
That it might but pass away:
By the Heart, which drank it dry,
Lest a rebel race should die;—
Let Thy Pity be our plea,
Hear our solemn litany!
Man of Sorrows! —let Thy grief
Purchase for us our relief—
Lord of Mercy—bow Thine ear,
Slow to anger—swift to hear:
Let the garden Thou hast trod
Draw us to the throne of God;
So Gethsemane shall be
Sweet in every litany!
This translation by Matthew Bridges (1800-1894)
(The Passion of Jesus 1852) Hymnist, Poet, Writer
Converted to Catholicism in 1848, by the influence of
John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Saint of the Day – 2 April – Blessed John Payne (c1550-1582) Priest Martyr, Born in c1532 in Peterborough, Huntingdonshire, Cambridge, England and died on 2 April 1582 in Chelmsford, Essex by being hung, drawn and quartered, Also known as – Pain, Paine. Blessed John was Beatified on 29 December 1885 by Pope Leo XIII.
John Payne was born around 1550 near Peterborough in Huntingdonshire. Nothing is known of his youth, except that he was raised a Protestant. Only later did he convert to Catholicism and in 1574, he entered the new college in Douai to prepare for the Priesthood. There he was entrusted with the task of Bursar and in 1576 he was Ordained a Priest, although this suggests Blessed John had already undertaken Theological studies elsewhere.
He then returned home with Blessed Cuthbert Mayne, to exercise his ministry, settling in Essex at Ingatestone Hall, a guest of the Petres family, who were strongly opposed to the religious policies of the English Government. This facilitated his pastoral activity among the local Catholics, even though these were still difficult times for Catholics in communion with the Holy See.
In 1577 he was arrested and briefly imprisoned. Once released, he returned to Douai but by mid-1578 he was back at Ingatestone Hall.
In 1581, while working in Warwickshire, John Payne was betrayed, arrested and taken to the Tower of London. Accused of treason against the Queen, he was tortured on the wheel and sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered.
He refused the assistance offered him by a certain George Elliott, reiterating instead “he had always, in mind or word, honoured her Majesty the Queen more than any other woman in the world; that he would always happily obey every civil duty; that he prayed for her as for his own soul; that he had never thought or plotted any treason against her Majesty or any nobleman of England.”
On 2 April 1582, the sad event occurred near Chelmsford in Essex which earned John Payne the Martyr’s Ccrown. Those who witnessed his execution, struck by the Priest’s upright conduct, asked that his body be left hanging until death, thus waiting to perform the gruesome procedures prescribed.
The Saint died uttering the words “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”
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
“For His Body, has been given to you
under the appearance of bread
and His Blood, under the appearance of wine,
so that, when you have partaken
of the Body and Blood of Christ,
you might be One Body and One Blood with Him.
So shall we become Christ-bearers [“Christophers”].
His Body and Blood are diffused through all our members – see, then,
how we become participants
in the Divine Nature!”
Quote/s of the Day – 1 April – Spy Wednesday in Holy Week – Isaias 53:1-12, Luke 22:39-71; 23:1-53
“Jesus remember me”
“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).”
“… 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!”
“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…”
Our Morning Offering – 1 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Spy Wednesday in Holy Week – Isaias 53:1-12 – Luke 22:39-71; 23:1-53 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“But Jesus he delivered up to their will.” – Luke 23:25
REFLECTION – “Come, come, let us go up together to the Mount of Olives. Together let us meet Christ, Who is returning today from Bethany and going, of His own accord, to that Holy and Blessed Passion, to complete the Mystery of our Salvation. And so He comes, willingly taking the road to Jerusalem, He Who came down from the heights for us, to raise us who lie in the depths, to exaltation with Him, as the revealing Word says: “above all authority and rule and power and above every Name that is named” (Eph 1:21). He comes without display, without boast. For, as the Prophet says, “He will not contend or shout out and no-one will hear His Voice” (Is 42:2). He is gentle and lowly and His entrance is humble…
Then, let us run with Him as He presses on, to His Passion. Let us imitate those who have gone out to meet Him, not scattering olive branches or garments or palms in His path but spreading ourselves before Him as best we can, with humility of soul and upright purpose. So may we welcome the Word as He comes (Jn 1:9); so may God, Who cannot be contained within any bounds, be contained within us.
For He is pleased to have shown us this gentleness, He Who is gentle and Who “rides upon the setting sun” (Ps 56:12) which refers to our extreme lowliness. He is pleased to come and live with us and to raise us up, or bring us back to Himself through the Word which unites to God.” – St Andrew of Crete (660-740) Bishop and Father (Homily for Palm Sunday).
PRAYER – O God, Who to drive far from us, the power of the enemy, didst will that Thy Son should suffer for us on the gibbet of the Cross, grant us Thy servants, that we may obtain the grace of the resurrection. Through the same 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).
Our Morning Offering – 1 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.
Tuesday in Holy Week – 31 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church
Three things are looked for in a good servant or minister:
(i) He should be careful to keep before himself, the numerous details in which his serving may so easily fall short.
Now, for a servant to sit or to lie down during his service is to make this necessary supervision impossible.
Hence it is that servants stand.
And, therefore, the Gospel says of Our Lord, He riseth from supper. Our Lord himself also asks us, “For which is greater, he who sitteth at table or he who serveth?” (Luke xxii. 27).
(ii) He should show dexterity in performing, at the correct moment, all which his particular office calls for. Now, elaborate dress is a hindrance to this. Therefore, Our Lord layeth aside his garments. And this was foreshadowed in the Old Testament when Abraham chose servants who were well appointed (Gen xiv. 14).
(iii) He should be prompt, having ready to hand, all he needs.
St Luke (x. 40) says of Martha that she was busy about much serving. This is why Our Lord, having taken a towel, girded Himself with it. Thus, He was ready, not only to wash their feet but also to dry them.
So He (who came from God and goeth to God–John xiii. 3) as He washes their feet, crushes forever our swollen, human self-importance.
We are given for our consideration this Service of Christ and in three ways His Humility is set for our example.
(i) The kind of service this was, for it was the lowest type f all!
The Lord of All Majesty bending to wash the feet of his slaves!
(ii) The number of services it contained, for, we are told, He put water into a basin, He washed their feet, He dried them and so forth.
(iii) The method of performing the Service, for He did not do it through others, nor even with others assisting Him.
He accomplished the Service Himself.
“The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things” (Ecclus iii. 20).
ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568
Quote/s of the Day – 30 March – Tuesday of Holy Week – Jeremias 11:18-20 – Mark 14:32-72; 15, 1-46– – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Before the cock crows twice,
thou shalt thrice deny Me.
And he began to weep …”
“The first time Peter denied,
he did not weep because the Lord
had not looked at him.
He denied a second time and did not weep
because the Lord still did not look at him.
He denied a third time;
Jesus looked at him
and he wept very bitterly (Lk 22:62).
… Teach us what use your tears were to you.
But you taught it without delay for,
having fallen before you wept,
your tears caused you to be chosen to guide others,
you who, to begin with, did not know
how to guide yourself!”
“ I am very certain,
it was our Lord’s Holy Look
which pierced his heart
and opened his eyes, to make him
recognise his sin (Lk 22:61)…
From that time on, he never stopped weeping,
above all when he heard the cock crow at night
and in the morning…
In this way, from being a great sinner,
he became a great Saint!”
“A person who is conscious of his misery,
can certainly have great confidence in God.
In fact, he cannot have true confidence in Him,
without this consciousness of his misery.
This knowledge and acknowledgement
of our misery, leads us to the Presence of God.”
Our Morning Offering – 31 March – Tuesday in Holy Week
My God, I Love Thee
By St Francis Xavier (1506-1552) (Attri)
Transr: Fr Edward Caswall CO (1814-1878)
My God, I love Thee, not because
I hope for heav’n thereby,
nor yet for fear, that loving not,
I might forever die
but for that Thou didst all mankind
upon the Cross embrace;
for us didst bear the nails and spear
and manifold disgrace.
And griefs and torments numberless
and sweat of agony;
e’en death itself and all for man,
who was Thine enemy.
Then why, most loving Jesus Christ,
should I not love Thee well?
Not for the sake of winning heav’n,
nor any fear of hell.
Not with the hope of gaining aught,
nor seeking a reward
but as Thyself hast loved me,
O ever loving Lord!
E’en so I love Thee and will love
and in Thy praise will sing,
solely because Thou art my God
and my eternal King!
Amen
Monday in Holy Week – 30 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church
It is, therefore, as though Our Lord said, If I wash thee not, thou shalt not be cleansed and if thou art not cleansed, thou shalt have no part with me.
We can consider three parts in man’s body, the head, which is the highest, the feet, which are the lowest part, and the hands which lie in-between.
In the interior man, i.e. in the soul, there are likewise three parts.
Corresponding to the head – there is the higher reason, the power by means of which the soul clings to God.
For the hands – there is the lower reason, by which the soul operates in good works.
For the feet –there are the senses and the feelings and desires arising from them.
Now Our Lord knew the disciples to be clean, as far as the head was concerned, for He knew they were joined to God by faith and by charity.
He knew their hands also were clean, for He knew their good works.
But as to their feet, He knew that the disciples were still somewhat entangled in those inclinations of earthly things which are derived from the life of the senses.
Peter, alarmed by Our Lord s warning (v. 8), not only consented that his feet should be washed but begged that his hands and his head should be washed too.
Lord, he said, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.
As though to say, “I know not whether hands and head need to be washed. For I am not conscious myself of anything, yet am I not hereby justified (i Cor iv. 4). Therefore, I am ready not only for my feet to be washed that is, those inclinations which arise out of the life of my senses but also my hands, that is, my works and my head too, that is, my higher reason.”
ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568
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