Category: HOLY WEEK

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

Thought for the Day – 26 March – What is Holy Week? – St Josemaria Escrivá (1902-1975)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 26 March

What is Holy Week?

St Josemaria Escrivá (1902-1975)

Holy Week (Latin: Hebdomas Sancta or Hebdomas Maior, “Greater Week”; Greek: Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, Megale Hebdomas) in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter.   It includes the religious holidays of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday) and Good Friday and lasts from Palm Sunday until but not including, Easter Sunday, as Easter Sunday is the first day of the new season of The Great Fifty Days. It commemorates the last week of the earthly life of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels.holy week info

holy week with border

The tragedy of the passion brings to fulfilment our own life and the whole of human history.   We can’t let Holy Week be just a kind of commemoration.   It means contemplating the mystery of Jesus Christ as something which continues to work in our souls.   The Christian is obliged to be altered –  Christus, ipse Christus:  another Christ, Christ Himself.

Everything we do
Through baptism all of us have been made priests of our lives, “to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”   Everything we do can be an expression of our obedience to God’s will and so perpetuate the mission of the Godman.

Once we realise this, we are immediately reminded of our wretchedness and our personal failings.   But they should not dishearten us; we should not become pessimistic and put our ideals aside.   Our Lord is calling us, in our present state, to share his life and make an effort to be holy.   I know holiness can sound like an empty word.   Too many people think it is unattainable, something to do with ascetical theology — but not a real goal for them, a living reality.   The first Christians didn’t think that way.  They often used the word “saints” to describe each other in a very natural manner:  “greetings to all the saints”;  “my greetings to every one of the saints in Jesus Christ.”

A chance
Take a look now at Calvary.   Jesus has died and there is as yet no sign of His glorious triumph.   It is a good time to examine how much we really want to live as Christians, to be holy.   Here is our chance to react against our weaknesses with an act of faith.   We can trust in God and resolve to put love into the things we do each day.   The experience of sin should lead us to sorrow.   We should make a more mature and deeper decision to be faithful and truly identify ourselves with Christ, persevering, no matter what it costs, in the priestly mission that He has given every single one of His disciples.   That mission should spur us on to be the salt and light of the world….Christ is Passing By, 96

Symbol of the Redemption
Let us not forget that in all human activities there must be men and women who, in their lives and work, raise Christ’s Cross aloft for all to see, as an act of reparation.   It is a symbol of peace and of joy, a symbol of the Redemption and of the unity of the human race.   It is a symbol of the love that the Most Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit had, and continues to have, for mankind….Furrow, 985

Thinking about Christ’s death
So, in thinking about Christ’s death, we find ourselves invited to take a good hard look at our everyday activities and to be serious about the faith we profess.   Holy Week cannot be a kind of “religious interlude”;  time taken out from a life which is completely caught up in human affairs.   It must be an opportunity to understand more profoundly the love of God, so that we’ll be able to show that love to other people through what we do and say. …
That’s the key.   Jesus says we must also hate our life, our very soul — that is what our Lord is asking of us.   If we are superficial, if the only thing we care about is our own personal well-being, if we try to make other people and even the world, revolve around our own little self, we have no right to call ourselves Christians or think we are disciples of Christ.   We have to give ourselves really, not just in word but in deed and truth.   Love for God invites us to take up the cross and feel on our own shoulders the weight of humanity.   It leads us to fulfil the clear and loving plans of the Father’s will in all the circumstances of our work and life.   In the passage we’ve just read Jesus goes on to say: “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27)

if we are superficial - st josemaria escriva - 26 march 2018- no 2
Let us accept God’s will and be firmly resolved to build all our life in accordance with what our faith teaches and demands.   We can be sure this involves struggle and suffering and pain but if we really keep faith we will never feel we have lost God’s favour.   In the midst of sorrow and even calumny, we will experience a happiness which moves us to love others, to help them share in our supernatural joy….Christ is Passing By, 97

“Conversion is the task of a moment;
sanctification is the work of a lifetime.
To begin is for everyone,
to persevere is for saints!”conversion is the task of a moment - st josemaria

Posted in franciscan OFM, HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

Quote of the Day – 26 March 2018 – Monday of Holy week

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Quote of the Day – 26 March 2018 – Monday of Holy week

“In the passion of our blessed Saviour,
six things chiefly are to be meditated upon.

First, the bitterness of His sorrow,
that we may compassionate with Him.

Secondly, the greatness of our sins,
which were the cause of His torments,
that we may abhor them.

Thirdly, the greatness of the benefit,
that we may be grateful for it.

Fourthly, the excellency of the divine charity
and bounty therein manifested,
that we may love Him more fervently.

Fifthly, the convenience of the mystery,
that we may be drawn to admiration of it.

Lastly, the multiplicity of virtues
of our blessed Saviour which did shine
in this stupendous mystery, that we may
partly imitate and partly admire them.”

St Peter of Alcantara (1499-1562)in the passion of our blessed saviour, six things - st peter of alcantara - 26 march 2018

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

One Minute Reflection – 26 March 2018 – Monday of Holy week and the Memorial of St Braulio (590-651)

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One Minute Reflection – 26 March 2018 – Monday of Holy week and the Memorial of St Braulio (590-651)

Mary brought in a pound of very costly ointment, pure nard, and with it anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair; the house was filled with the scent of the ointment…John 12:3

john 12 3

REFLECTION – “O souls! Seek a refuge, like pure doves, in the shadow of the crucifix. There, mourn the Passion of your divine Spouse and drawing from your hearts flames of love and rivers of tears, make of them a precious balm with which to anoint the wounds of your Saviour.”…St Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)o souls, seek a refuge - st paul of the cross - 26 march 2018

PRAYER – Almighty God, grant that we who are constantly betrayed by our own weakness, may draw the breath of new life from the passion and death of Your only-begotten Son.   St Braulio, you who worked so zealously to assist those in weakness, both in body and soul, please pray for us too.   Through our Lord and Saviour, who suffered and died for us, in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.st braulio - pray for us - 26 march 2018

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 26 March 2018 – Monday of Holy week

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Our Morning Offering – 26 March 2018 – Monday of Holy week

Raise My Heart
Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

O my God,
whatever is nearer to me than You,
things of this earth
and things more naturally pleasing to me,
will be sure to interrupt the sight of You,
unless Your grace interfere.
Keep You my eyes,
my ears,
my heart,
from any such miserable tyranny.
Keep my whole being fixed on You.
Let me never lose sight of You
and while I gaze on You,
let my love of You
grow more and more every day.
Amenraise my heart - bl john henry newman - 26 march - mon of holy week - o my god whatever is nearer

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, HOLY WEEK, LENT, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on SANCTITY, SUNDAY REFLECTIONS

Sunday Reflection – 25 March 2018 – Palm Sunday

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Sunday Reflection – 25 March 2018 – Palm Sunday

LET US SING TO THE LORD A SONG OF LOVE
St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church

Sing to the Lord a new song;  His praise is in the assembly of the saints.   We are urged to sing a new song to the Lord, as new men who have learned a new song.   A song is a thing of joy, more profoundly, it is a thing of love.   Anyone, therefore, who has learned to love the new life has learned to sing a new song and the new song reminds us of our new life.   The new man, the new song, the new covenant, all belong to the one kingdom of God and so the new man will sing a new song and will belong to the new covenant.

There is not one who does not love something but the question is, what to love.   The psalms do not tell us not to love but to choose the object of our love.   But how can we choose unless we are first chosen?   We cannot love unless someone has loved us first. Listen to the apostle John:  We love him, because he first loved us.   The source of man’s love for God can only be found in the fact that God loved him first.   He has given us Himself as the object of our love and He has also given us its source.   What this source is you may learn more clearly from the apostle Paul who tells us:  The love of God has been poured into our hearts.   This love is not something we generate ourselves;  it comes to us through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Since we have such an assurance, then, let us love God with the love He has given us.   As John tells us more fully:  God is love and whoever dwells in love dwells in God and God in him.   It is not enough to say:  Love is from God.   Which of us would dare to pronounce the words of Scripture:  God is love?   He alone could say it who knew what it was to have God dwelling within him.   God offers us a short route to the possession of Himself.   He cries out:  Love me and you will have me for you would be unable to love me if you did not possess me already.

My dear brothers and sons, fruit of the true faith and holy seed of heaven, all you who have been born again in Christ and whose life is from above, listen to me, or rather, listen to the Holy Spirit saying through me:   Sing to the Lord a new song.   Look, you tell me, I am singing.   Yes indeed, you are singing, you are singing clearly, I can hear you. But make sure that your life does not contradict your words.   Sing with your voices, your hearts, your lips and your lives:   Sing to the Lord a new song’.

Now it is your unquestioned desire to sing of Him whom you love but you ask me how to sing His praises.   You have heard the words:  Sing to the Lord a new song and you wish to know what praises to sing.   The answer is:   His praise is in the assembly of the saints – it is in the singers themselves.   If you desire to praise Him, then live what you express.   Live good lives and you yourselves will be His praise.his praise is in the assembly of saints - st augustine - 25 march 2018 palm sunday

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, HOLY WEEK, LENT, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH

Our Morning Offering – 25 March 2018 – Palm Sunday

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 25 March 2018 – Palm Sunday

To You, O Jesus
By St Bonaventure (1217-1274) Doctor of the Church

To You, O Jesus,
do I turn as my true and last end.
You are the river of life
which alone can satisfy my thirst.
Without You all else is barren and void.
Without all else, You alone are enough for me.
You are the Redeemer of those that are lost;
the sweet consoler of the sorrowful;
the Crown of Glory for the victors;
the recompense of the Blessed.
One day I hope to receive of Your fullness
and to sing the song of praise in my true home.
Give me only on earth some few drops of consolation
and I will patiently wait Your coming,
that I may enter into the Joy of my Lord.
Hosanna!
Amen.to you, o Jesus - by st bonaventure - palm sunday - 25 march 2018

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, HOLY WEEK, LENT, MORNING Prayers

Palm or Passion Sunday – 25 March 2018

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Palm or Passion Sunday – 25 March 2018

Today we commemorate Christ’s entry into Jerusalem for the completion of the Paschal Mystery.   In the old calendar before Vatican II, the Church celebrated Passion Sunday two Sundays before Easter and then Palm Sunday was the beginning of Holy Week.   The Church has combined the two to reinforce the solemnity of Holy Week.Entry into Jerusalem Van Dyck

palm sunday

The Palm Sunday procession is formed of Christians who, in the “fullness of faith,” make their own the gesture of the Jews and endow it with its full significance.   Following the Jews’ example we proclaim Christ as a Victor… Hosanna to the Son of David!   Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.   But by our faith we know, as they did not, all that His triumph stands for.   He is the Messiah, the Son of David and the Son of God.   He is the sign of contradiction, acclaimed by some and reviled by others.   Sent into this world to wrest us from sin and the power of Satan, He underwent His Passion, the punishment for our sins but issues forth triumphant from the tomb, the victor over death, making our peace with God and taking us with Him into the kingdom of His Father in heaven.palm sunday.info

Homily of St Andrew of Crete (650-740)

Palm Sunday marks the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.   But he entered in humility, not in pomp and power.   To humble ourselves and make our souls the garments that we spread before him, this is the greeting he desires says St Andrew of Crete (650-740), one of the Early Church Fathers – his Memorial is 4 July.

Let us go together to meet Christ on the Mount of Olives.   Today he returns from Bethany and proceeds of his own free will toward his holy and blessed passion, to consummate the mystery of our salvation.   He who came down from heaven to raise us from the depths of sin, to raise us with himself, we are told in Scripture, above every sovereignty, authority and power and every other name that can be named, now comes of his own free will to make his journey to Jerusalem.   He comes without pomp or ostentation.   As the psalmist says:   He will not dispute or raise his voice to make it heard in the streets. He will be meek and humble, and he will make his entry in simplicity.

Let us run to accompany him as he hastens toward his passion and imitate those who met him then, not by covering his path with garments, olive branches or palms, but by doing all we can to prostrate ourselves before him by being humble and by trying to live as he would wish.   Then we shall be able to receive the Word at His coming and God, whom no limits can contain, will be within us.

In His humility Christ entered the dark regions of our fallen world and He is glad that He became so humble for our sake, glad that He came and lived among us and shared in our nature in order to raise us up again to Himself.   And even though we are told that He has now ascended above the highest heavens – the proof, surely, of His power and godhead – His love for man will never rest until He has raised our earthbound nature from glory to glory and made it one with his own in heaven.

So let us spread before His feet, not garments or soulless olive branches, which delight the eye for a few hours and then wither but ourselves, clothed in His grace, or rather, clothed completely in Him.   We who have been baptised into Christ must ourselves be the garments that we spread before Him.   Now that the crimson stains of our sins have been washed away in the saving waters of baptism and we have become white as pure wool, let us present the conqueror of death, not with mere branches of palms but with the real rewards of His victory.   Let our souls take the place of the welcoming branches as we join today in the children’s holy song: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel.

This Lenten or Holy Week reading on the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in humility is an excerpt from a Palm Sunday sermon (Oratio 9 in ramos palmarum: PG 97, 990-994) by Andrew of Crete, a bishop and Early Church Father who died in 740 AD.   It is used in the Roman Catholic Office of Readings for Palm Sunday with the accompanying biblical reading of Hebrews 10:1-18.

Christ's Entry into Jerusalem by Hippolyte Flandrin c. 1842
PALM title image final g
palm sunday by james tissot no 1
james tissot - palm sunday

St Andrew of Crete
St Andrew of Crete (c. 660-740) was born around 660 AD in Damascus and eventually entered monastic life at Mar Saba.   He later served at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and was ordained a deacon at the great cathedral of Constantinople and mother Church of Eastern Christendom, Hagia Sophia, around 685.   Always exhibiting great pastoral solicitude for orphans, widows, and the aged, Saint Andrew spent his last days as Archbishop of Gortyna on Crete, a position to which he was elevated in 692. Attributed by many with the invention of the canon as a style of religious writing, his works display not only great rhetorical skill but an incomparable depth of theological understanding.   He is considered one of the great spiritual writers on the theme of repentance and his Great Canon, prayed during Lent in the Eastern Churches of Byzantine tradition, stands as a great testimony to man’s repentant cry to God, our merciful Father.  Saint Andrew of Crete is numbered among those great Christian writers known as the Early Church Fathers or “Fathers of the Church.”st andrew of crete

Posted in DOGMA, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, HOLY WEEK, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

25 March 2018, Palm Sunday, the Solemnity of the Annunciation and Memorials of the Saints

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Palm Sunday (2018)

Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Solemnity): The Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary by Gabriel the Archangel that she was to be the Mother of God (Luke 1), the Word being made flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit.   The feast probably originated about the time of the Council of Ephesus, c 431 and is first mentioned in the Sacramentary of Pope Gelasius (died 496).   The Annunciation is represented in art by many masters, among them Fra Angelico, Hubert Van Eyck, Jan Van Eyck, Philippe de Champaigne (1 and 2 below), Ghirlandajo, Holbein the Elder, Lippi, Pinturicchio, Titian (2nd last below), Tintoretto (last below) and Del Sarto.Annunciation_Philippe de Champaigneannunciation-philippe-de-champaignethe annunciation - paolo de matteis 1712the-annunciation1200px-Zwiastowanie_Tintoretta

Our Lady of Betania:   Actually the name Betania means Bethany in Spanish. It was originally given this name by Maria Esperanza and was the site of their farm, in Venezuela.   Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary were reported and eventually a small chapel was built here and the faithful began to gather, especially on Feast Days but throughout the year.

St Alfwold of Sherborne
St Barontius of Pistoia
St Desiderius of Pistoia
St Dismas
St Dula the Slave
Bl Emilian Kovch
Bl Everard of Nellenburg
Bl Herman of Zahringen
St Hermenland
St Humbert of Pelagius
Bl James Bird
Bl Josaphata Mykhailyna Hordashevska
St Kennocha of Fife
St Lucia Filippini
St Margaret Clitherow
Bl Margaretha Flesch
St Mariam Sultaneh Danil Ghattas
St Matrona of Barcelona
St Matrona of Thessaloniki
St Mona of Milan
St Ndre Zadeja
Bl Pawel Januszewski
St Pelagius of Laodicea
Bl Placido Riccardi
St Procopius
St Quirinus of Rome
Bl Tommaso of Costacciaro
—
262 Martyrs of Rome: A group 262 Christians martyred together in Rome. We know nothing else about them, not even their names.

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, Uncategorized

Quote of the Day – 15 April – Holy Saturday

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Quote of the Day – 15 April – Holy Saturday

“By nothing else except the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ has death been brought low: The sin of our first parent destroyed, hell plundered, resurrection bestowed, the power given us to despise the things of this world, even death itself, the road back to the former blessedness made smooth, the gates of paradise opened, our nature seated at the right hand of God and we made children and heirs of God. 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!”

St. John Damascene

THE CROSS OF CHRIST-ST JOHN DAMASCENE

Posted in CATECHESIS, HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, PURGATORY

Holy Saturday – 15 April – The Lord’s descent into hell

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Holy Saturday – 15 April – The Lord’s descent into hell

The Creed proclaims “He descended into Hell.”    This homily for Holy Saturday from the 4th Century treats of the “harrowing of hell” and the rescue of Adam and Eve.  Note the parallels between Adam and Eve’s sin, which lost paradise for us and the passion of Christ, which won for us not simply an earthly paradise, but eternal life.   It was to the Limbo of the Fathers that Christ descended, a place of the dead that was emptied through His Passion, Resurrection and Ascension and no longer exists.   By this “Harrowing of Hell,” as His Descent is sometimes called, the doors to Heaven were swung open so that those who die in a state of grace may enter in, alleluia!   Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, the good thief on the cross — all the righteous were illuminated by the Presence of Christ in the place of death, making Sheol itself a paradise.   They remained there with Him until His Bodily Resurrection when the the “bars of Hell” were broken down and they were later able to enter into Heaven itself with His glorious Ascension.
“What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.
entombment

Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam’s son.

Christ-in-Limbo-e1397866687717

The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: ‘My Lord be with you all.’ And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’ And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.

‘I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise.

‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person.

‘For you, I your God became your son; for you, I the Master took on your form; that of slave; for you, I who am above the heavens came on earth and under the earth; for you, man, I became as a man without help, free among the dead; for you, who left a garden, I was handed over to Jews from a garden and crucified in a garden.

‘Look at the spittle on my face, which I received because of you, in order to restore you to that first divine inbreathing at creation. See the blows on my cheeks, which I accepted in order to refashion your distorted form to my own image.

‘See the scourging of my back, which I accepted in order to disperse the load of your sins which was laid upon your back. See my hands nailed to the tree for a good purpose, for you, who stretched out your hand to the tree for an evil one.

`I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you.

Jesus-DESCENDS-to-hades-1024x915

‘But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but on the throne of heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I make the cherubim worship you as they would God.

“The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting, the bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages.”

A reading from an ancient homily for Holy Saturday – prepared by Pontifical University Saint Thomas Aquinas, Rome.   While it appears that this comes from a Holy Saturday homily written in Greek dating back to the fourth century liturgy (PG 43, 439, 462f), the author of this text is unknown.

Note:
For our Edification – what does Hell mean?
Christ is in His tomb. Rather, His Body is in the tomb but when His Soul left His Body, He descended into Hell to “free the captives.”    “Hell” here refers to the place of the dead in general (“Sheol” in the Hebrew, or “Hades” in the Greek), not to the place of torment with which the word “Hell” is most usually associated with today.    The world “Hell” in the loosest, earliest sense includes:
1.     the Limbo of the Fathers, the place for those who were righteous by charity and faith in the coming Messiah and who died before His Coming

2.     the Limbo of Infants, where, possibly, those who are sent who die without personal guilt but without Baptism after the time of Christ, or who died without charity and faith in the coming Messiah before the time of Christ.    This would be a place of beautiful, natural happiness, no punishment and no sensible suffering.

3.     Purgatory, where righteous people go to be cleansed of the temporal effects of their sins

4.     Gehenna, the “Hell of the Lost,” the eternal place of punishment for the damned, the place we usually refer to as simply “Hell” today

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 15 April

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 15 April

Holy Saturday Prayer
to Be Joined with Christ in Death

O Lord, Your sorrowing Mother stood by Your Cross;
help us in our sorrows to share Your sufferings.
Like the seed buried in the ground,
You have produced the harvest of eternal life for us;
make us always dead to sin and alive to God.
Shepherd of all, in death You remained hidden from the world;
teach us to love our hidden spiritual life with You and the Father.
In Your role as the new Adam,
You went down among the dead
to release all the just there since the beginning;
grant that all who are dead in sin may hear Your voice
and rise to new life.
Son of the living God,
You have allowed us through baptism to be buried with You;
grant that we may also rise with You in baptism
and walk in newness of life. Amen

HOLY SAT PRAYER

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, Uncategorized

Good Friday – 14 April 2017 – A Day of Deep Mourning and Fasting and Abstinence

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Good Friday – 14 April 2017 – A Day of Deep Mourning and Fasting and Abstinence

Today the whole Church deeply mourns the death of our Saviour.   This is traditionally a day of sadness, spent in fasting and prayer.   The title for this day varies in different parts of the world: “Holy Friday” for Latin nations, Slavs and Hungarians call it “Great Friday,” in Germany it is “Friday of Mourning” and in Norway, it is “Long Friday.”   Some view the term “Good Friday” (used in English and Dutch) as a corruption of the term “God’s Friday.” This is another obligatory day of fasting and abstinence.   In Ireland, they practice the “black fast,” which is to consume nothing but black tea and water.

GOOD FRIDAY

Liturgy
According to the Church’s ancient tradition, the sacraments are not celebrated on Good Friday nor Holy Saturday. “Celebration of the Lord’s Passion,” traditionally known as the “Mass of the Presanctified,” (although it is not a mass) is usually celebrated around three o’clock in the afternoon, or later, depending on the needs of the parish.

The altar is completely bare, with no cloths, candles nor cross.   The service is divided into three parts: Liturgy of the Word, Veneration of the Cross and Holy Communion. The priest and deacons wear red or black vestments.   The liturgy starts with the priests and deacons going to the altar in silence and prostrating themselves for a few moments in silent prayer, then an introductory prayer is prayed.

In part one, the Liturgy of the Word, we hear the most famous of the Suffering Servant passages from Isaiah (52:13-53:12), a pre-figurement of Christ on Good Friday. Psalm 30 is the Responsorial Psalm “Father, I put my life in your hands.” The Second Reading, or Epistle, is from the letter to the Hebrews, 4:14-16; 5:7-9. The Gospel Reading is the Passion of St. John.

The General Intercessions conclude the Liturgy of the Word.   The ten intercessions cover these areas:

For the Church
For the Pope
For the clergy and laity of the Church
For those preparing for baptism
For the unity of Christians
For the Jewish people
For those who do not believe in Christ
For those who do not believe in God
For all in public office
For those in special need

Part two is the Veneration of the Cross.   A cross, either veiled or unveiled, is processed through the Church and then venerated by the congregation.   We joyfully venerate and kiss the wooden cross “on which hung the Saviour of the world.”   During this time the “Reproaches” are usually sung or recited.

Part three, Holy Communion, concludes the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion.   The altar is covered with a cloth and the ciboriums containing the Blessed Sacrament are brought to the altar from the place of reposition.    The Our Father and the Ecce Agnus Dei (“This is the Lamb of God”) are recited.    The congregation receives Holy Communion, there is a “Prayer After Communion,” and then a “Prayer Over the People,” and everyone departs in silence.

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, Uncategorized

Good Friday – April 14 2017 – Pope Francis’ Via Crucis Prayer: ‘O Cross of Christ’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Good Friday – April 14 2017 – Pope Francis’ Via Crucis Prayer: ‘O Cross of Christ’ – Vatican translation of the prayer composed and recited by Pope Francis at the Via Crucis at the Colosseum, 2014

O CROSS OF CHRIST

O Cross of Christ!

O Cross of Christ, symbol of divine love and of human injustice, icon of the supreme sacrifice for love and of boundless selfishness even unto madness, instrument of death and the way of resurrection, sign of obedience and emblem of betrayal, the gallows of persecution and the banner of victory.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you raised up in our sisters and brothers killed, burned alive, throats slit and decapitated by barbarous blades amid cowardly silence.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the faces of children, of women and people, worn out and fearful, who flee from war and violence and who often only find death and many Pilates who wash their hands.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in those filled with knowledge and not with the spirit, scholars of death and not of life, who instead of teaching mercy and life, threaten with punishment and death, and who condemn the just.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in unfaithful ministers who, instead of stripping themselves of their own vain ambitions, divest even the innocent of their dignity.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the hardened hearts of those who easily judge others, with hearts ready to condemn even to the point of stoning, without ever recognizing their own sins and faults.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in expressions of fundamentalism and in terrorist acts committed by followers of some religions which profane the name of God and which use the holy name to justify their unprecedented violence.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in those who wish to remove you from public places and exclude you from public life, in the name of a pagan laicism or that equality you yourself taught us.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the powerful and in arms dealers who feed the cauldron of war with the innocent blood of our brothers and sisters.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in traitors who, for thirty pieces of silver, would consign anyone to death.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in thieves and corrupt officials who, instead of safeguarding the common good and morals, sell themselves in the despicable market-place of immorality.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the foolish who build warehouses to store up treasures that perish, leaving Lazarus to die of hunger at their doorsteps.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the destroyers of our “common home”, who by their selfishness ruin the future of coming generations.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the elderly who have been abandoned by their families, in the disabled and in children starving and cast-off by our egotistical and hypocritical society.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas which have become insatiable cemeteries, reflections of our indifferent and anesthetized conscience.

O Cross of Christ, image of love without end and way of the Resurrection, today too we see you in noble and upright persons who do good without seeking praise or admiration from others.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in ministers who are faithful and humble, who illuminate the darkness of our lives like candles that burn freely in order to brighten the lives of the least among us.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the faces of consecrated women and men – good Samaritans – who have left everything to bind up, in evangelical silence, the wounds of poverty and injustice.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the merciful who have found in mercy the greatest expression of justice and faith.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in simple men and women who live their faith joyfully day in and day out, in filial observance of your commandments.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the contrite, who in the depths of the misery of their sins, are able to cry out: Lord, remember me in your kingdom!

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in the blessed and the saints who know how to cross the dark night of faith without ever losing trust in you and without claiming to understand your mysterious silence.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in families that live their vocation of married life in fidelity and fruitfulness.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in volunteers who generously assist those in need and the downtrodden.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in those persecuted for their faith who, amid their suffering, continue to offer an authentic witness to Jesus and the Gospel.

O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in those who dream, those with the heart of a child, who work to make the world a better place, ever more human and just.

In you, Holy Cross, we see God who loves even to the end, and we see the hatred of those who want to dominate, that hatred which blinds the minds and hearts of those who prefer darkness to light.

O Cross of Christ, Arc of Noah that saved humanity from the flood of sin, save us from evil and from the Evil One. O Throne of David and seal of the divine and eternal Covenant, awaken us from the seduction of vanity! O cry of love, inspire in us a desire for God, for goodness and for light.

O Cross of Christ, teach us that the rising of the sun is more powerful than the darkness of night. O Cross of Christ, teach us that the apparent victory of evil vanishes before the empty tomb and before the certainty of the Resurrection and the love of God which nothing can defeat, obscure or weaken. Amen!

 

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS

Quote/s of the Day – 14 April – Good Friday

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 14 April – Good Friday

“The passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the hope of glory and a lesson in patience.    What may not the hearts of believers promise themselves as the gift of God’s grace, when for their sake God’s only Son, co-eternal with the Father, was not content only to be born as man from human stock but even died at the hands of the men he had created?”

– St. Augustine

THE PASSION-ST AUGUSTINE

“No one, however weak, is denied a share in the victory of the cross.    No one is beyond the help of the prayer of Christ.    His prayer brought benefit to the multitude that raged against him.   How much more does it bring to those who turn to him in repentance.”

St. Leo the Great

ST LEO THE GREA

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers

One Minute Reflection – 14 April – Good Friday

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 14 April – Good Friday

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit…………….Luke 23:46

REFLECTION – A Few Drops of Blood Renew the Whole World!
Many indeed are the wondrous happenings of that time: God hanging from a cross, the sun made dark and again flaming out;  for it was fitting that creation should mourn with its creator.   The temple veil rent, blood and water flowing from His side:  the one as from a man, the other as from what was above man;  the earth shaken, the rocks shattered because of the rock;  the dead risen to bear witness to the final and universal resurrection of the dead.
The happenings at the sepulchre and after the sepulchre, who can fittingly recount them?   Yet no one of them can be compared to the miracle of my salvation.   A few drops of blood renew the whole world and do for all men what the rennet does for the milk: joining us and binding us together………..St Gregory Nazianzen – Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – O God, who by the Passion of Christ your Son, our Lord, abolished the death inherited from ancient sin by every succeeding generation, grant that just as, being conformed to him, we have borne by the law of nature the image of the man on earth, so by the sanctification of grace we may bear the image of the Man of heaven. Through Christ our Lord. Amen

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THE MIRACLE OF MY SALVAION-ST GREGORY NAZIANZEN

PIETA

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 14 April – Good Friday

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Our Morning Offering – 14 April – Good Friday

THE PRAYER
“O SACRED HEAD”
By St. Bernard Of Clairvaux

O Sacred Head surrounded
By crown of piercing thorn!
O bleeding Head, so wounded,
Reviled and put to scorn!
Death’s pallid hue comes o’er You,
The glow of life decays,
Yet angel hosts adore You
And tremble as they gaze.

I see Your strength and vigour
All fading in the strife,
And death, with cruel vigour,
Bereaving You of life;
O agony and dying!
O love to sinners free!
Jesus, all grace supplying,
O turn Your face on me!

In this Your bitter Passion,
Good Shepherd, think. of me,
With Your most sweet compassion,
Unworthy though I be;
Beneath Your Cross abiding,
‘Forever would I rest,
In Your dear love confiding,
And will Your presence blest.

O SACRED HEAD-BY ST BERNARD

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS for PRIESTS

HOLY THURSDAY: PRAYER FOR PRIESTS

Posted on by AnaStpaul
Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers

Holy Thursday/Maundy Thursday/The Last Supper of the Lord – 13 April 2017

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Holy Thursday/Maundy Thursday/The Last Supper of the Lord – 13 April 2017

Today is Holy Thursday, also known as Maundy Thursday or the Last Supper. It’s here, at the Last Supper, that we see: (1) the institution of the Eucharist (2) the institution of the sacramental priesthood and (3) references to Baptism and Confession. Sacramentally, then, it’s important and very beautiful.

I. The Eucharist

The Eucharist is straight-forward (Mt. 26:26-29; Mk. 14:22-25; Lk. 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-25).  It’s also of obvious importance to the early Church: it’s one of relatively few events recorded (nearly verbatim) by St. Paul and the Synoptic Gospels.  As Catholics, we believe that when Jesus said, “This is My Body,” and “This is My Blood of the Covenant,” that He meant “This is My Body,” and “This is My Blood of the Covenant,” and not some other thing, like “this is a symbol.”  Suffice it to say that this language is prefigured in the Old Covenant (Exodus 24:8), and wasn’t symbolic then (as Hebrews 9:18-20 notes).

II. Holy Orders
But let’s talk a bit about Holy Orders.   It’s not coincidental that the priesthood and Eucharist are established simultaneously.    The Eucharistic Sacrifice, after all, requires priests:  a priest, is one who offers sacrifice.    But Christ does something interesting with this notion of priesthood in the washing of the feet (John 13:3-17).   This appears to be a deliberate echo of the washing of the hands and feet done by the sacrificial priests of the Old Covenant (Exodus 30:19-21).    This washing was to symbolise the priest’s unworthiness to approach the Lord, so it’s fitting that the washing of feet occurs at the same time that the Apostles are entrusted with the Eucharist (which they’re not worthy to approach).    But notice what’s different: the Old Covenant focused on self-purification.  The New Covenant is focused on sanctifying others.    This is in keeping with the model of clerical governance that Christ imparts to St. Peter and the Apostles at this Last Supper (Luke 22:24-34).
III. Baptism and Confession
Christ Washing the Feet of Peter (11th c.)

And the washing of the feet doesn’t just represent the priesthood.  It also represents Sacramental Confession.  In John 13:6-10, Jesus and Peter have this dialogue:

He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part in me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but he is clean all over; and you are clean, but not every one of you.”
Obviously, this isn’t about “the removal of dirt from the body” (1 Peter 3:21), but the forgiveness of sins. That’s why Jesus says that Judas isn’t clean, at the end (Jn. 13:10-11).  Well, given that, what’s the bath that Jesus is talking about? It’s Baptism, “the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).
If that’s right, what is Jesus saying that the washing of feet represents?  Sacramental confession (CCC 1484, 1486).  It is in this way that we are restored to our Baptismal purity.  And here’s something fascinating: just as Christ doesn’t permit the Disciples to purify themselves, but instructs them to purify one another, the same is true for the priesthood He established, and sacramental confession.
IV. The Priestly Commission
Rogier van der Weyden, Seven Sacraments Altarpiece(detail, right wing) (1450)

Having established all of this, consider Christ’s dual commission.  Immediately after instituting the Eucharist, He orders the Apostles: “do this in remembrance of me” (Lk. 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24).    That doesn’t mean “treat this as a symbol,” by the way.    Once again, the Old Testament provides important context.    The Old Covenant contained what’s called the memorial sacrifice or memorial offering (see, e.g., Leviticus 2:9).  The sacrifice wasn’t a mere symbol: the memorial offering of grain actually was grain. And the memorial offering of our prayers (Acts 10:4) aren’t symbols of prayers, but actual prayers.    Likewise, the memorial offering of Christ’s Body and Blood actually is Christ’s Body and Blood.   But each of these memorial offerings also recalls something: in this case, we’re offering up Christ’s Body and Blood, while recalling His Death on Calvary.

So “do this in remembrance of me,” properly understood, is sacrificial language.   The first Eucharist is offered by Christ, who is both the High Priest (Hebrews 9:11), and the willing Sacrificial Victim (1 Corinthians 5:7).   Jesus makes this clear Himself in John 10:17-18: He is in control over everything, including Calvary. But what’s shocking is that He tells the Apostles to carry on His priestly role. To continue to offer the memorial offering of His Body and Blood.

Only slightly less shocking is the second commission, which comes at the end of the washing of the feet (John 13:12-17),

When he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.  If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”

Rogier van der Weyden, Seven Sacraments Altarpiece(detail, left wing) (1450)

That’s the mandate (mandatum) that gives Maundy Thursday its name.    Now, this doesn’t sound shocking at first, because it sounds like Jesus is just saying, “be humble.”  And surely, that’s part of it.  But remember what we established earlier:  that the washing of feet is about the sacrificial priesthood and about the forgiveness of sins.  Jesus makes that last part really clear in John 13:6-11.    He’s not calling Judas smelly.   He’s saying Judas is still trapped in sin.  So in that context, Jesus Christ is calling the Apostles not only to be humble, but to (a) forgive sins, and (b) pass on the gift of the priesthood.    He’ll later empower the Apostles to carry out this command to forgive sins by imparting the Holy Spirit upon them (John 20:21-23).    But too often, Christians read the washing of feet as simply a nice gesture, when Christ makes it clear that it’s so much more.

So tonight should be a true celebration of the Sacraments that Christ left us and the beautiful manner in which they are, in God’s Providence, intertwined.   Baptism, to wash us free from our sins.  The Eucharist, the food of life, partaking in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.  Confession, to restore us to our Baptismal purity and prepare us for the Eucharist.  And Holy Orders, to carry on His priestly ministry, and to ensure that we should always have the Eucharist and Confession.  by

 

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers

Maundy Thursday of Holy Week – 13 April 2017

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Maundy Thursday of Holy Week – 13 April 2017

O God, who have called us to participate
in this most sacred Supper,
in which Your Only Begotten Son,
when about to hand Himself over to death,
entrusted to the Church a sacrifice new for all eternity,
the banquet of His love,
grant, we pray,
that we may draw from so great a mystery,
the fullness of charity and of life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

MAUNDY THURSDAY 13 APRIL

The Thirteenth Station:
Jesus is Taken Down From the Cross

st 13

My Jesus, it was with deep grief that Mary finally took You into her arms and saw all the wounds sin had inflicted upon You.    Mary Magdalene looked upon Your dead Body with horror.    Nicodemus, the man so full of human respect, who came to You by night, suddenly received the courage to help Joseph take you down from the Cross.    You are once more surrounded by only a few followers.    When loneliness and failure cross my path, let me think of this lonely moment and this total failure – failure in the eyes of men. How wrong they were – how mistaken their concept of success!    The greatest act of love was given in desolation and the most successful mission accomplished and finished when all seemed lost.    Is this not true in my life, dear Jesus?    I judge my failures harshly.    I demand perfection instead of holiness.    My idea of success is for all to end well – according to my liking.
Give to all men the grace to see that doing Your Will is more important than success.    If failure is permitted for my greater good then teach me how to use it to my advantage.    Let me say as You once said, that to do the Will of the Father is my food.    Let not the standards of this world take possession of me or destroy the good You have set for me – to be Holy and to accomplish the Father’s Will with great love.    Let me accept praise or blame, success or failure with equal serenity.
Amen

The Fourteenth Station:
Jesus is Laid in the Sepulcher

ST14

My Jesus, You were laid to rest in a stranger’s tomb.    You were born with nothing of this world’s goods and You died detached from everything.    When You came into the world, men slept and angels sang and now as You leave it, Creation is silent and only a few weep.    Both events were clothed in obscurity.    The majority of men live in such a way. Most of us live and die knowing and known by only a few.    Were You trying to tell us, dear Jesus, how very important our lives are just because we are accomplishing the Father’s Will?    Will we ever learn the lesson of humility that makes us content with who we are, where we are and what we are?
Will our Faith ever be strong enough to see power in weakness and good in the sufferings of our lives?    Will our Hope be trusting enough to rely on Your Providence even when we have nowhere to lay our head?    Will our Love ever be strong enough not to take scandal in the cross?

My Jesus, hide my soul in Your heart as You lie in the Sepulcher alone.    Let my heart be as a fire to keep you warm.    Let my desire to know and love You be like a torch to light up the darkness.    Let my soul sing softly a hymn of repentant love as the hours pass and Your Resurrection is at hand.    Let me rejoice, dear Jesus, with all the Angels in a hymn of praise and thanksgiving for so great a love- so great a God- so great a day!
Amen

Stations of the Cross by Mother Angelica

Posted in HOLY WEEK

Holy Thursday – 13 April 2017

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Holy Thursday – 13 April 2017

The washing of the feet: ultimate act of love and service

The washing of the feet is a very particular moment in the ceremony.   It happens after the readings, after a homily and before the celebration of the Eucharist.   It is a moment when 12 people gathered in the Church come together near the altar and the chief celebrant washes each foot: “water is poured over, the foot is dried and sometimes the foot is kissed” he says.

It is done in silence, the congregation is singing but no prayers are said:  it is the gesture that counts.   My feet are my way to God, I walk the path to God, my feet are that part of my anatomy which enables me to move… they are the way to love.   We are all pilgrims on the way…

Stift_Heiligenkreuz_-_Kreuzgang_Fu-C3-9Fwaschung

Twelve very different pairs of feet that sat around the table on that eventful evening of Jesus’ last Supper:

–    The feet that never walked – the feet of people who have never had the opportunity of experiencing the walk in any other way than “being walked by someone else”…

–    The feet that never wore shoes; that are so poor that they haven’t got shoes…

–    The feet that are always shackled; the feet that have been put in prison…

–    The feet of those who are so talented; who use those feet in a magical way…

–    The feet that give pain as we get older…

–    The feet crushed in accidents; feet that are lost through no fault of our own…

–    The feet that spend hours training to run a marathon for charity…

–    The feet that are blown off by landmines…

–    The feet of those who have walked and have never found; the ones who doubt…

–    The feet that have always taken the wrong turnings…

–    The feet of strangers who have come to this Church…

–    The feet that long to walk to Heaven…

Benedictine Abbot Timothy Wright

 

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 13 April

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 13 April

Come, Jesus, for my feet are soiled.
Become once more a servant for my sake.
Pour water into Your basin
and come and wash my feet.
I know these words of mine presume too much
and yet I dread those frightening words of Yours,
“If I do not wash your feet, you can have no part in me.”
Then wash my feet, so that I belong to You.
Yet how can I dare to say, “wash my feet?”
Let Peter say so: he needed only to have his feet washed.
For he was clean through and through.
I too have been washed once in baptism
and yet I need that other cleansing that You spoke of
when You said, “I have anothe baptism to under”;
Cleanse me Lord thoroughly,
by Your saving death. Amen

By Origen of Alexandria

Come Jesus for my feet are soiled by ORIGEN

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH

Holy Week – Wednesday 12 April – The Last Day of Lent

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Holy Week – Wednesday 12 April  – The Last Day of Lent

He freed us from the power of the enemy.
This is the last day of Lent.
It is “Spy Wednesday,” remembering the day Judas asked,
“What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?”

We read the third song of the Servant who suffers.
And we sense the acceptance, the surrender and the peace of Jesus.
I can imagine the treachery and tranquility of this day,
as I go through the real life drama of my day.
I can begin to feel the joy of the liberation being offered me.

If I haven’t done so already,
this can be a wonderful day to pray through the Stations of the Cross.

The Son of Man came not to be served,
but to serve
and to give his life
as a ransom for many.
Communion Antiphon  Matthew 20:28

12 APRIL STATIONS 11 & 12

The Eleventh Station:
Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

ST 11

It is hard to imagine a God being nailed to a cross by His own creatures.   It is even more difficult for my mind to understand a love that permitted such a thing to happen!   As those men drove heavy nails into Your hands and feet, dear Jesus, did You offer the pain as reparation for some particular human weakness and sin?   Was the nail in Your right hand for those who spend their lives in dissipation and boredom?

Was the nail in Your left hand in reparation for all consecrated souls who live lukewarm lives?   Were You stretching out Your arms to show us how much You love us?   As the feet that walked the hot, dusty roads were nailed fast, did they cramp up in a deadly grip of pain to make reparation for all those who so nimbly run the broad road of sin and self-indulgence?

It seems, dear Jesus, Your love has held You bound hand and foot as Your heart pleads for a return of love.   You seem to shout from the top of the hill “I love you – come to me – see, I am held fast – I cannot hurt you – only you can hurt Me.”   How very hard is the heart that can see such love and turn away.   Is it not true I too have turned away when I did not accept the Father’s Will with love?   Teach me to keep my arms ever open to love, to forgive and to render service – willing to be hurt rather than hurt, satisfied to love and not be loved in return.
Amen

The Twelfth Station:
Jesus Dies on the Cross

st 12

God is dead!   No wonder the earth quaked, the sun hid itself, the dead rose and Mary stood by in horror.   Your human body gave up it’s soul in death but Your Divinity, dear Jesus, continued to manifest its power.   All creation rebelled as the Word made Flesh departed from this world.   Man alone was too proud to see and too stubborn to acknowledge truth.

Redemption was accomplished!   Man would never have an excuse to forget how much You loved him.   The thief on Your right saw something he could not explain – he saw a man on a tree and knew He was God.  His need made him see his own guilt and Your innocence.   The Promise of eternal life made the remaining hours of his torture. endurable.

A common thief responded to Your love with deep Faith, Hope, and Love.   He saw more than his eyes envisioned – he felt a Presence he could not explain and would not argue with.   He was in need and accepted the way God designed to help him.

Forgive our pride, dear Jesus as we spend hours speculating, days arguing and often a lifetime in rejecting Your death, which is a sublime mystery.   Have pity on those whose intelligence leads them to pride because they never feel the need to reach out to the Man of Sorrows for consolation.
Amen

Stations of the Cross by Mother Angelica

Posted in HOLY WEEK, LENT, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS

Quote of the Day – 12 April

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 12 April

“The road is narrow. He who wishes to travel it more easily must cast off all things and use the cross as his cane. In other words, he must be truly resolved to suffer willingly for the love of God in all things.”

St. John of the Cross

THE RD IS NARROW-ST JOHN OF THE CROSS

Posted in HOLY WEEK, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 12 April

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 12 April

PRAYER OF ST EPHREM OF SYRIA
(In Honour Of Christ’s Passion)

I give You glory, O Christ,
because You, the Only-begotten,
the Lord of all,
underwent the death of the Cross
to free my sinful soul from the bonds of sin.
What shall I give to You, O Lord,
in return for all this kindness?
Glory to You, O Lord, for Your love,
for Your mercy, for Your patience.
Glory to You,
for forgiving us all our sins,
for coming to save our souls,
for Your incarnation in the Virgin’s womb.
Glory to You, for Your bonds,
for receiving the cut of the lash,
for accepting mockery.
Glory to You, for Your crucifixion,
for Your burial, for Your resurrection.
Glory to You, for being taken up heaven.
Glory to You who sit
at the Father’s right hand and will return in glory.
Glory to You for willing that the sinner
be saved through Your great mercy and compassion.

PRAYER OF ST EPHREM OF SYRIA

Posted in HOLY WEEK, LENT, MORNING Prayers

Holy Week – Tuesday 11 April 2017

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Holy Week – Tuesday 11 April 2017

God of such unwavering love,
how do I “celebrate”
the passion and death of Jesus?
I often want to look the other way
and not watch,
not stay with Jesus in His suffering.
Give me the strength
to see His love with honesty and compassion
and to feel deeply
your own forgiveness and mercy for me.
Help me to understand
how to “celebrate” this week.
I want be able to bring
my weaknesses and imperfections with me
as I journey with Jesus this week,
totally aware of His love, His suffering for my sins.

APRIL 11

The Ninth Station:
Jesus Falls the Third Time

STATION 9

My Jesus, even with the help of Simon You fell a third time.    Were You telling me that there may be times in my life that I will fall again and again despite the help of friends and loved ones?   There are times when the crosses You permit in my life are more than I can bear.   It is as if all the sufferings of a life time are suddenly compressed into the present moment and it is more than I can stand.
Though it grieves my heart to see You so weak and helpless, it is a comfort to my soul to know that you understand my sufferings from Your own experience.    Your love for me made You want to experience every kind of pain just so I could have someone to look to for example and courage.

When I cry out from the depths of my soul, “This suffering is more than I can bear,” do You whisper, “Yes, I understand”?    When I am discouraged after many falls, do you say in my innermost being, “Keep going, I know how hard it is to rise”?

There are many people who are sorely tried in body and soul with alcohol and drug weaknesses who try and try and fall again and again.    Through the humiliation of this third fall, give them the courage and perseverance to take up their cross and follow You.
Amen

The Tenth Station:
Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

ST 10

It seems that every step to Calvary brought You fresh humiliation, my Jesus.    How Your sensitive nature recoiled at being stripped before a crowd of people.    You desired to leave this life as You entered it – completely detached from all the comforts of this world. You want me to know without a doubt that You loved me with an unselfish love.    Your love for me caused You nothing but pain and sorrow.    You gave everything and received nothing in return.    Why do I find it so hard to be detached?

In Your loving mind, dear Jesus, did You look up to the Father as You stood there on that windy hill, shivering from cold and shame and trembling from fear and ask Him to have mercy on those who would violate their purity and make love a mockery?    Did you ask forgiveness for those whose greed would make them lie, cheat and steal for a few pieces of cold silver?

Forgive us all, dear Jesus. Look upon the world with pity, for mankind has lost its way and the principles of this world make lust a fun game and luxury a necessity. Detachment has become merely another hardship of the poor and obedience the fault of the weak.    Have mercy on us and grant the people of this day the courage to see and know themselves and the light to change.
Amen

Stations by Mother Angelica

Posted in HOLY WEEK, LENT, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

Quote of the Day – 11 April

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 11 April

“If you really want to love Jesus,
first learn to suffer
because suffering teaches you to love.”

St. Gemma Galgani

if you really want to love Jesus - st gemma galgani

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes, HOLY WEEK, LENT, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

One Minute Reflection – 11 April

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 11 April

I know my sheep and my sheep know me…..
for these sheep I will give my life……John 10:14-15

REFLECTION – “Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is at the same time light and love.
That is to say, He is the truth in charity.”…………..Servant of God Pope Pius XII
“If I saw the gates of Hell open and I stood on the brink of the abyss,
I should not despair, I should not lose hope of mercy because I should trust in You, my God.”………………..St Gemma Galgani (Memorial today 11 April)

PRAYER – Lord Jesus, let me be attached to You in truth, love and trust. Grant that I may always follow You as my Shepherd amid the perils and trails of this life. St Gemma Galgani pray for us, amen.

JOHN 10-14-15THE GOOD SHEPHERD-PIUS III should trust in you my God-St Gemma GalganiST GEMMA -PRAY FOR US

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, EASTER, GOOD FRIDAY, Holy Name PRAYERS, HOLY WEEK, LENT, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRECIOUS BLOOD PRAYERS, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 11 April – Hail, Sweet Jesus! Prayer to Christ in His Passion and Death

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 11 April

 

Hail, Sweet Jesus!
Prayer to Christ
in His Passion and Death
By St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of the Church

Hail, sweet Jesus!
Praise, honour and glory be to Thee, O Christ,
Who, of Thou own accord, embraced death,
and recommending Thyself to Thy heavenly Father,
bowing down Thy venerable Head,
did yield up Thy Spirit.
Truly thus giving up Thy life for Thy sheep,
Thou hast shown Thyself, to be the Good Shepherd.
Thou died, O Only-begotten Son of God.
Thou died, O my beloved Saviour,
that I might live forever.
O how great hope,
how great confidence have
I reposed in Thy Death and Thy Blood!
I glorify and praise Thy Holy Name,
acknowledging my infinite obligations to Thee.
O good Jesus,
by Thy bitter Death and Passion,
give me grace and pardon.
Give unto the faithful departed,
rest and life everlasting.
Amen