Category: LENT

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

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers

Holy Week – Monday 10 April 2017

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Let me receive Your forgiveness and mercy.
The second Servant song shapes our reflection today
as we watch that amazing dinner scene on Tuesday of this passion week.

We experience the pain of His knowing
that He will be betrayed and denied.
Yet, the hour He is about to face is the hour of His Glory.
And He promises that where He is going, we will surely follow.

Our desire is to celebrate the gift being offered us.

It is too little, he says,
  for you to be my servant,
  to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
  and restore the survivors of Israel.
I will make you a light to the nations,
  that my salvation may reach
  to the ends of the earth.
Isaiah 49

APRIL 10 STATIONS 7&8

The Seventh Station:
Jesus Falls A Second Time

st7

My Jesus, one of the beautiful qualities the people admired in You was Your strength in time of ridicule – Your ability to rise above the occasion.    But now, You fall a second time – apparently conquered by the pain of the Cross.    People who judged You by appearances made a terrible mistake.    What looked like weakness was unparalleled strength!

I often judge by appearances and how wrong I am most of the time.    The world judges entirely by this fraudulent method of discerning.    It looks down upon those who apparently have given their best and are now in need.    It judges the poor as failures, the sick as useless and the aged as a burden.    How wrong that kind of judgment is in the light of your second fall!    Your greatest moment was Your weakest one.    Your greatest triumph was in failure.    Your greatest act of love was in desolation.    Your greatest show of power was in that utter lack of strength that threw You to the ground.

Weak and powerful Jesus, give me the grace to see beyond what is visible and be more aware of Your Wisdom in the midst of weakness.    Give the aged, sick, handicapped, retarded, deaf and blind the fruit of joy so they may ever be aware of the Father’s gift and the vast difference between what the world sees and what the Father sees that they may glory in their weakness so the power of God may be manifest.
Amen

The Eighth Station:
Jesus Speaks to the Holy Women

st 8

My Jesus, I am amazed at Your compassion for others in Your time of need.    When I suffer, I have a tendency to think only of myself but You forgot Yourself completely. When You saw the holy women weeping over Your torments, You consoled them and taught them to look deeper into Your Passion.    You wanted them to understand that the real evil to cry over was the rejection You suffered from the Chosen people – a people set apart from every other nation, who refused to accept God’s Son.
The Act of Redemption would go on and no one would ever be able to take away Your dignity as Son of God but the evil, greed, jealousy and ambition in the hearts of those who should have recognised You was the issue to grieve over.    To be so close to God made man and miss Him completely was the real crime.

My Jesus, I fear I do the same when I strain gnats and then swallow camels – when I take out the splinter in my brother’s eye and forget the beam in my own.    It is such a gift – this gift of faith.    It is such a sublime grace to possess Your own Spirit.    Why haven’t I advanced in holiness of life?    I miss the many disguises you take upon Yourself and see only people, circumstances and human events, not the loving hand of the Father guiding all things.    Help all those who are discouraged, sick, lonely and old to recognise Your Presence in their midst.
Amen

Stations by Mother Angelica

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, EASTER, FATHERS of the Church, LENT, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS

Quote of the Day – 10 April

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 10 April

“As they were looking on, so we too,
gaze on His wounds as He hangs.
We see His blood as He dies.
We see the price offered by the redeemer,
touch the scars of His resurrection.
He bows His head, as if to kiss you.
His heart is made bare open, as it were, in love to you.
His arms are extended that He may embrace you.
His whole body is displayed for Your redemption.
Ponder how great these things are.
Let all this be rightly weighed in your mind:
as He was once fixed to the Cross
in every part of His body for you,
so He may now be fixed in every part of your soul!”

St. Augustine

AS THEY WERE LOOKING ON SO WE TOO GAZE ON HIS WOUNDS-ST AUGUSTINE

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 10 April

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 10 April

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit……Luke 23:45-46

REFLECTION – “He died, but He vanquished death; in Himself He put an end to what we feared;  He took it upon Himself and He vanquished it, as a mighty hunter He captured and slew the lion.
Where is death? Seek it in Christ, for it exists no longer; but it did exist and now it is dead.
O life, O death of death!  Be of good heart; it will die in us, also.   What has taken place in our head will take place in His members; death will die in us also.   But when?   At the end of the world, at the resurrection of the dead in which we believe and concerning which we do not doubt.”…………….St Augustine (Sermon 233:3-4)

PRAYER – God of love, my prayer is simple:  Your son, Jesus, suffered and died for me.
I know only that I cannot have real strength unless I rely on You.   I cannot feel protected from my many weaknesses until I turn to You for forgiveness and your unalterable love. Help me to share this strength, protection and love with others.   St Fulbert of Chartres you worked your whole life to bring the truth and love of God to all, please pray for us, amen.

LUKE 23-45-46he died but he vanquished death-st augustineST FULBERTPRAY FOR US

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers

Thought for the Day – Passion or Palm Sunday – 9 April 2017

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Thought for the Day – Passion or Palm Sunday – 9 April 2017 – The Legend of the Vatican Palms

The obelisk in St. Peter’s Square was originally erected in Heliopolis, Egypt sometime between 2494 and 2345 BC. After 63 BC it was moved to Alexandria, then Caligula moved it to Rome in 37 AD.    It moved to its current location in 1586.    It’s the only obelisk in Rome that hasn’t fallen since antiquity.    It used to be topped with a globe that was rumoured to contain Caesar’s ashes.    That turned out to be wrong and today it’s topped with a reliquary that contains a piece of the True Cross.

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That much is true… this a legend I heard in Rome about what allegedly happened when the architect/engineer Domenico Fontana was re-erecting the obelisk for the last time in 1586.    Fontana gathered 900 men and 140 horses (as shown in the engraving above). Pope Sixtus V forbid anyone to speak while the obelisk was raised, so no one would break their concentration.    In silence, the massive team began to lift it.    But one sailor noticed that the ropes were smoking from the friction.    Against the pope’s orders he yelled, “Water on the ropes!”

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Fortunately, they heeded his advice.    The water cooled down the ropes and the obelisk went up successfully.    However the sailor was still hauled in front of the pope for breaking his decree.    But instead of punishing him, the pope thanked him and offered him a reward.    The sailor asked that his family’s farm in Bordighera supply the palms for Palm Sunday every year, as long as they owned the land.

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To this day, the Vatican sources their Palm Sunday fronds from Bordighera.    That much is true too.

The thought is this – “speak out when you know the truth be not afraid!”

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord – 9 April 2017

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Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord – 9 April 2017

This Sunday we hold palm branches in our hands,
and wave them to greet our Lord’s entry into the city of our salvation.
Last year’s palms were burned to form the ashes
that marked our foreheads to begin this Lenten journey.
We can place these palm branches – perhaps from each member of the family –
in a special place in our home (maybe cutting a small piece and putting it some place where I work).

Each day this week they can represent our celebration of His love for me.
That symbol can say so many words –
all that I am about to celebrate and accept as love for me,
and all the entry into Jerusalem experiences in my life.

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Hosts,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory!
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!

STATIONS-PALM SUNDAY

The Fifth Station:
Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross

st5

My Jesus, Your tormentors enlisted a Simon of Cyrene to help You carry Your cross.   Your humility is beyond my comprehension.   Your power upheld the whole universe and yet You permit one of Your creatures to help You carry a cross.   I imagine Simon was reluctant to take part in Your shame.   He had no idea that all who watched and jeered at him would pass into oblivion while his name would go down in history and eternity as the one who helped his God in need.   Is it not so with me, dear Jesus?   Even when I reluctantly carry my cross as Simon did, it benefits my soul.

If I keep my eyes on You and watch how You suffered, I will be able to bear my cross with greater fortitude.   Were you trying to tell all those who suffer from prejudice to have courage?   Was Simon a symbol of all those who are hated because of race, coloUr and creed?

Simon wondered as he took those beams upon his shoulders, why he was chosen for such a heavy burden and now he knows.   Help me Jesus, to trust your loving Providence as you permit suffering to weave itself in and out of my life.   Make me understand that You looked at it and held it fondly before You passed it on to me.   You watch me and give me strength just as You did Simon.   When I enter Your Kingdom, I shall know as he knows, what marvels Your Cross has wrought in my soul.
Amen

The Sixth Station:
Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

st6

My Jesus, where were all the hundreds of peoples whose bodies and souls were healed by you?   Where were they when You needed someone to give You the least sign of comfort?   Ingratitude must have borne down upon Your heart and made the cross nearly impossible to carry.   There are times I too feel all my efforts for Your Kingdom are futile and end in nothingness.   Did your eyes roam through the crowd for the comfort of just one individual – one sign of pity – one sign of grief?

My heart thrills with a sad joy when I think of one woman, breaking away from fear and human respect and offering.   You her thin veil to wipe Your bleeding Face.   Your loving heart, ever watching for the least sign of love, imprinted the Image of your torn Face upon it! How can You forget Yourself so completely and reward such a small act of kindness?

I must admit, I have been among those who were afraid to know You rather than like Veronica.   She did not care if the whole world knew she loved You.   Heartbroken Jesus, give me that quality of the soul so necessary to witness to spread Your Word – to tell all people of Your love for them.   Send many into Your Vineyard so the people of all nations may receive the Good News.   Imprint Your Divine Image upon my soul and let the thin veil of my human nature bear a perfect resemblance to your loving Spirit.
Amen

Stations of the Cross by Mother Angelica

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers

Quote of the Day – 9 April – Palm Sunday 2017

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Quote of the Day – 9 April – Palm Sunday 2017

“Crowd, celebration, praise, blessing, peace –
it is a climate of joy that is being experienced.
Jesus has reawakened many hopes of the heart,
above all in the humble people, the simple, poor,
forgotten, those who do not count in the eyes of the world.
He understood human misery,
He manifested the face of God’s mercy
and deigned to heal the body and soul. This is Jesus.
This is His heart that looks upon all of us,
that looks upon all of our afflictions, our sins.
Jesus’ love is great.
And so he enters into Jerusalem with this love
and looks upon all of us. It is a beautiful scene,-
full of light—the light of Jesus’ love,
the light of His heart—of joy, of celebrating.”

(Pope Francis, Palm Sunday Homily, 2013)

POPE FRANCIS PALM SUNDAY QUOTE 2013

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers

LENTEN REFLECTION – The Fifth Week – Saturday 8 April 2017

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LENTEN REFLECTION – The Fifth Week – Saturday 8 April 2017

Now we rejoice in Your great love.
Our journey has brought us here.
It is as though we too, are gathering in Jerusalem
to celebrate our Passover week.
We are ready to enter into the Passion drama
and to celebrate the Paschal Mystery,
with mind and heart renewed.

We are ready to rejoice that the death of Jesus is “for me”
and that it is the ultimate victory over sin and death –
my sin and my death.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS SAT 8 APRIL

Christ was sacrificed so that he could gather together
the scattered children of God.
John 11:52

Collect:
O God, who have made all those reborn in Christ
a chosen race and a royal priesthood,
grant us, we pray, the grace to will and to do what you command,
that the people called to eternal life
may be one in the faith of their hearts
and the homage of their deeds.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with yYu in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever

st3


The Third Station:
Jesus Falls the First Time

My Jesus, it seems to me, that as God, You would have carried Your cross without faltering but You did not.    You fell beneath it’s weight to show me You understand when I fall.    Is it pride that makes me want to shine even in pain?    You were not ashamed to fall- to admit the cross was heavy.    There are those in world whom my pride will not tolerate as I expect everyone to be strong, yet I am weak.    I am ashamed to admit failure in anything.

If the Father permits failure in my life just as He permitted You to fall, then I must know there is good in that failure which my mind will never comprehend.    I must not concentrate on the eyes of others as they rest upon me in my falls.    Rather, I must reach up to touch that invisible hand and drink in that invisible strength ever at my side.

Weak Jesus, help all men who try so hard to be good but whose nature is constantly opposed to them walking straight and tall down the narrow road of life.    Raise their heads to see the glory that is to come rather than the misery of the present moment.

Your love for me gave You strength to rise from Your fall.    Look upon all those whom the world considers unprofitable servants and give them the courage to be more concerned as to how they stand before You, rather than their fellowmen.
Amen

st4


The Fourth Station:
Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother

My Jesus, it was a great sorrow to realize Your pain caused Mary so much grief. As Redeemer, You wanted her to share in Your pain for mankind.    When You glanced at each other in unutterable suffering, what gave you both the courage to carry on without the least alleviation – without anger at such injustice?

It seems as if You desired to suffer every possible pain to give me an example of how to suffer when my time comes.    What a humiliation for You when Your mother saw you in such a pitiable state – weak – helpless – at the mercy of sinful men – holiness exposed to evil in all hideousness.

Did every moment of that short encounter seem like an eternity?    As I see so much suffering in the world, there are times I think it is all hopeless.    There is an element of lethargy in my prayers for mankind that says “I’ll pray, but what good will it do?    The sick grow sicker and the hungry starve. ” I think of that glance between You and Mary – the glance that said, “Let us give this misery to the Father for the salvation of souls. The Father’s power takes our pain and frustration and renews souls, saves them for a new life – a life of eternal joy, eternal happiness.    It is worth it all.”    Give perseverance to the sick so they can carry the cross of frustration and agony with love and resignation for the salvation of others.
Amen

Stations of the Cross by Mother Angelica

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH

LENTEN REFLECTION – The Fifth Week – Friday 7 April 2017

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Set us free.
On this Friday before Good Friday,
it might be most appropriate to make the Stations.
Our desire is becoming more focused and more intense.
After our weeks of reflection, we know that our selfishness has placed us in ruts,
has made us slaves to some very unhappy and sometimes death-dealing patterns.
The celebration of our freedom and healing is close at hand.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS TEMPLATE

Jesus carried our sins in his own body on the cross
so that we could die to sin and live in holiness;
by his wounds we have been healed.
The Communion Antiphon – 1 Peter 2:24

st1

1st Station
The First Station:
Jesus Is Condemned To Death

My Jesus, the world still has You on trial.   It keeps asking who You are and why You make the demands You make.   It asks over and over the question, If You are God’s Son, why do You permit the world to be in the state it is in?   Why are You so silent?

Though the arrogance of the world angers me, I must admit that silently, in the depths of my soul, I too have these questions. Your humility frustrates me and makes me uncomfortable.   Your strength before Pilate as You drank deeply from the power of the Father, gives me the answer to my question – The Father’s Will.   The Father permits many sufferings in my life but it is all for my good.   If only I too could be silent in the face of worldly prudence – steadfast in the faith when all seems lost – calm when accused unjustly – free from tyranny of human respect – ready to do the Father’s Will no matter how difficult.

Silent Jesus, give us all the graces we need to stand tall in the face of the ridicule of the world.   Give the poor the strength not to succumb to their privation but to be ever aware of their dignity as sons of God.  Grant that we might not bend to the crippling disease of worldly glory but be willing to be deprived of all things rather than lose Your friendship.   My Jesus, though we are accused daily of being fools, let the vision of Quiet Dignity standing before Monstrous Injustice, give us all the courage to be Your followers.
Amen

st2


The Second Station:
Jesus Carries His Cross

How could any human impose such a burden upon Your torn and bleeding body, Lord Jesus?   Each movement of the cross drove the thorns deeper into Your Head.   How did You keep the hatred from welling up in Your Heart?   How did the injustice of it all not ruffle your peace?  The Father’s Will was hard on You – Why do I complain when it is hard on me?

I see injustice and am frustrated and when my plans to alleviate it seems futile, I despair.   When I see those burdened with poverty suffer ever more and cross is added to cross my heart is far from serene. I utterly fail to see the dignity of the cross as it is carried with love. I would so much rather be without it.

My worldly concept is that suffering, like food, should be shared equally.  How ridiculous I am, dear Lord.   Just as we do not all need the same amount of material food, neither do we need the same amount of spiritual food and that is what the cross is in my life, isn’t it – spiritual food proportional to my needs.
Amen

Stations of the Cross by Mother Angelica

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, Uncategorized

LENTEN REFLECTION – The Fifth Week – 6 April 2017

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LENTEN REFLECTION – The Fifth Week – 6 April 2017

Come to us, free us, help us and guide us.
We pray more intensely now, just a week before Holy Thursday.
We desire more and more that we might be free.
Sorrow leads to profound gratitude,
when we experience the depth of unconditional love offered us.
The gratitude of a loved sinner leads to great generosity.

Christ is the mediator of a new covenant so that since he has died,
those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance promised to them.
The Entrance Antiphon – Hebrews 9:15

What an exquisitely beautiful things is this loving, painstaking Providence of God!
A fatherly care that can turn even our sins to good use!
I think what hurts us most in our sins and our mistakes is the awful feelings of guilt they bring – and the terrible sense of waste.
“If only I could do it all over again!” we say with remorse. “If only I could undo the harm I’ve done, soothe the feelings I’ve hurt, straighten out the mess I’ve made!”Lord, what a joy to know that through Your Death and Resurrection, through Your Father’s loving care, the harm is already undone!
That once we are sorry for our sins, there is never any waste.
All, all is turned to good.
Your wisdom can straighten what my sins have entangled, through the love You gave us in sending Your only Son to die.
Your Providence can take the broken pieces of my life and mend them – and make me into a saint!
I look forward now, my Lord, not back.
Take me – I abandon myself to a new life in Him who will die for my sins but will rise again!

From Meditations on St Paul by Fr James E Sullivan M.S.

LENT-6 APRIL

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers

LENTEN REFLECTION – Wednesday of the Fifth Week – 5 April 2017

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LENTEN REFLECTION – Wednesday of the Fifth Week – 5 April 2017

The Cross of Christ and Simon of Cyrene

And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. – Mark 15:21

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

Simon at first bore the cross surlily and reluctantly, chafing under the hardship inflicted on him.    But as he carries it, somehow an unaccountable change comes over him.    It has the virtue to change his heart and to make of him a devoted follower of the Crucified, one of the pillars of the Apostolic Church.    Thus many a cross that we carry reluctantly turns out to be really the means of our sanctification and salvation.

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

– from The Sacred Passion of Jesus Christ: Short Meditations for Lent, by Father Richard Frederick Clark, S.J.

THE CROSS OF CHRIST AND SIMON OF CYRENE

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS

LENTEN REFLECTION – Tuesday of the Fifth Week – 4 April 2017

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LENTEN REFLECTION – Tuesday of the Fifth Week – 4 April 2017

Look at the cross of Christ – Blessed John Henry Newman

“Look around, and see what the world presents of high and low.    Go to the court of princes.    See the treasure and skill of all nations brought together to honour a child of man.    Observe the prostration of the many before the few.    Consider the form and ceremonial, the pomp, the state, the circumstance and the vainglory.    Do you wish to know the worth of it all? Look at the cross of Christ.

Go to the political world.    See nation jealous of nation, trade rivalling trade, armies and fleets matched against each other.    Survey the various ranks of the community, its parties and their contests, the strivings of the ambitious, the intrigues of the crafty.    What is the end of all this turmoil – the grave!    What is the measure – the cross.

Go, again, to the world of intellect and science.    Consider the wonderful discoveries which the human mind is making, the variety of arts to which its discoveries give rise, the all but miracles by which it shows its power.    And next, the pride and confidence of reason and the absorbing devotion of thought to transitory objects, which is the consequence.    Would you form a right judgment of all this?    Look at the cross.

Again, look at misery, look at poverty and destitution, look at oppression and captivity. Go where food is scanty, and lodging unhealthy.    Consider pain and suffering, diseases long or violent, all that is frightful and revolting.   Would you know how to rate all these? Gaze upon the cross.

Thus in the cross, and Him who hung upon it, all things meet.    All things subserve it, all things need it.    It is their centre and their interpretation.    For He was lifted up upon it, that He might draw all peoples and all things to himself.

………………..And so, too, as regards this world, with all its enjoyments, yet disappointments, let us not trust it.    Let us not give our hearts to it.    Let us not begin with it.    Let us begin with faith.    Let us begin with Christ.    Let us begin with His cross and the humiliation to which it leads.    Let us first be drawn to Him who is lifted up, that so He may, with Himself, freely give us all things.    Let us “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” and then all those things of this world “will be added to us.”

They alone are able truly to enjoy this world, who begin with the world unseen.    They alone enjoy it, who have first abstained from it.    They alone can truly feast, who have first fasted.    They alone are able to use the world, who have learned not to abuse it. They alone inherit it, who take it as a shadow of the world to come and who for that world to come relinquish it.”

LOOK AT THE CROSS OF CHRIST - NEWMAN

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

LENTEN REFLECTION – The Fifth Week – Monday 3 April 2017

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LENTEN REFLECTION – The Fifth Week – Monday 3 April 2017

ALMSGIVING

Excerpt from a Homily of St John Chrysostum Doctor and Father of the Church (347-407

Nay, if you desire to honour the sacrifice, offer your soul, for which also it was slain; cause that to become golden;  but if that remain worse than lead or potter’s clay, while the vessel is of gold, what is the profit?

Let not this therefore be our aim, to offer golden vessels only but to do so from honest earnings likewise.   For these are of the sort that is more precious even than gold, these that are without injuriousness.   For the church is not a gold foundry nor a workshop for silver but an assembly of angels.   Wherefore it is souls which we require, since in fact God accepts these for the souls’ sake.

That table at that time was not of silver nor that cup of gold, out of which Christ gave His disciples His own blood; but precious was everything there….

Would you do honour to Christ’s body? Neglect Him not when naked; do not while here you honour Him with silken garments, neglect Him perishing without of cold and nakedness.   For He that said, This is my body, and by His word confirmed the fact, This same said, You saw me an hungered, and fed me not; and, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. Matthew 25:42, 45   For this indeed needs not coverings, but a pure soul; but that requires much attention.

Let us learn therefore to be strict in life and to honour Christ as He Himself desires.   For to Him who is honoured that honour is most pleasing, which it is His own will to have, not that which we account best.   Since Peter too thought to honour Him by forbidding Him to wash his feet but his doing so was not an honour, but the contrary.

Even so do thou honour Him with this honour, which He ordained, spending your wealth on poor people.   Since God has no need at all of golden vessels but of golden souls.

And these things I say, not forbidding such offerings to be provided;  but requiring you, together with them and before them, to give alms………..

For what is the profit, when His table indeed is full of golden cups but He perishes with hunger?   First fill Him, being an hungered and then abundantly deck out His table also. Do you make Him a cup of gold, while you give Him not a cup of cold water?   And what is the profit?   Do you furnish His table with cloths bespangled with gold, while to Himself you afford not even the necessary covering?   And what good comes of it?   For tell me, should you see one at a loss for necessary food and omit appeasing his hunger, while you first overlaid his table with silver;  would He indeed thank you and not rather be indignant?   What, again, if seeing one wrapped in rags and stiff with cold, you should neglect giving him a garment and build golden columns, saying, thou were doing it to His honour, would He not say that thou were mocking and account it an insult and that the most extreme?

Let this then be your thought with regard to Christ also, when He is going about a wanderer and a stranger, needing a roof to cover Him;   and thou, neglecting to receive Him, deckest out a pavement, and walls, and capitals of columns and hangest up silver chains by means of lamps but Himself bound in prison you will not even look upon.

ALMSGIVING-STJOHNCHRYSOSTUM LENT MON 3 APRIL

Posted in BREVIARY Prayers, LENT, MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 3 April

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Our Morning Offering – 3 April

Lord Jesus, think on me,
and purge away my sin.
From earth-born passions set me free,
and make me pure within.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
amid the battle’s strife.
In all my pain and misery
be Thou my health and life.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
nor let me go astray.
Through darkness and perplexity
point Thou the heavenly way.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
that, when this life is past,
I may the eternal brightness see,
and share Thy joy at last.

By Bishop Synesius of Cyrene (370-430)

From the Breviary – Lent

LORD JESUS THINK ON ME

 

Posted in LENT

Lenten Reflection – 2 April 2017 – The Eucharist, Our Sanctification Fr Raniero Cantalamessa

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Lenten Reflection – 2 April 2017

The Eucharist, Our Sanctification
Fr Raniero Cantalamessa

“We must start practising what we have said as soon as we come out from Mass.   We must really make the effort, each one within his or her own limits, to offer our “bodies” to our brethren and that is to say, our time, energy and attention–in a word, our lives. When Jesus had pronounced the words:  “Take… this is my body; take… this is my blood,”    He didn’t allow much time to pass before doing what He had promised: a few hours later He gave His life and blood on the Cross.    Otherwise, it’s all just empty words, lies.    Therefore, after saying to our brothers and sisters: “Take, eat,” we must really allow ourselves to be “eaten” and especially by those who do not act with the gentleness and kindness we expect.    Jesus said: “What merit have you got if you love only those that love you, greet only those that greet you, invite only those that invite you? Everyone does this” (cf. Matt 5:46-47).    On his way to Rome where he was to die a martyr, St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote: “I am the grain of Christ; that I may be ground by the teeth of wild beasts to become pure bread for the Lord.”   If we think about it, each one of us will realise that there are sharp teeth grinding us: criticisms, contrasts, hidden or open oppositions, different ideas in those surrounding us, differences in character.   We should even be grateful to those who help us like this.   They are of infinitely more benefit to us than those who approve or flatter us.   In another letter, the same holy martyr wrote: “Those that praise me, scourge me.”

(2 images to choose from)

THE EUCHARIST OUR SANCTIFICATION - FR RANEIRO CANTALAMESSA LENT 2017THE EUCHARIST OUR SANCTIFICATION - FR RANEIRO CANTALAMESSA LENT 2017.jpg PURPLE

Posted in LENT

3rd Sunday of Lent (A): JESUS AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. Summary vid + full text.

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Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

LENTEN REFLECTION – The Second Week- Saturday 18 March

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LENTEN REFLECTION – The Second Week- Saturday 18 March
St Cyril of Jerusalem,  (315-386)
Father and Doctor of the Church

The symbolic meaning of the sacrament of baptism as sharing in Christ’s passion according to Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop of Jerusalem in the middle of the fourth century and one of the most important sources we have for how the church celebrated the sacraments during that era.  In his Jerusalem Catechesis from which this excerpt comes, St. Cyril instructs new Christians in the days immediately before and after their initiation into the life of the Church at the Easter Vigil.

You were led down to the font of holy baptism just as Christ was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb which is before your eyes.   Each of you was asked, “Do you believe in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?”   You made the profession of faith that brings salvation, you were plunged into the water and three times you rose again.   This symbolized the three days Christ spent in the tomb.

As our Saviour spent three days and three nights in the depths of the earth, so your first rising from the water represented the first day and your first immersion represented the first night.   At night a man cannot see but in the day he walks in the light.   So when you were immersed in the water it was like night for you and you could not see but when you rose again it was like coming into broad daylight.   In the same instant you died and were born again; the saving water was both your tomb and your mother.

SAT 18 MARCH LENTEN REFLECTION-ST CYRIL ON BAPTISM

 

Solomon’s phrase in another context is very apposite here.   He spoke of a time to give birth and a time to die.   For you, however, it was the reverse: a time to die and a time to be born, although in fact both events took place at the same time and your birth was simultaneous with your death.

This is something amazing and unheard of!    It was not we who actually died, were buried and rose again.   We only did these things symbolically but we have been saved in actual fact.   It is Christ who was crucified, who was buried and who rose again and all this has been attributed to us.   We share in His sufferings symbolically and gain salvation in reality.   What boundless love for men!   Christ’s undefiled hands were pierced by the nails; he suffered the pain.   I experience no pain, no anguish, yet by the share that I have in his sufferings he freely grants me salvation.

Let no one imagine that baptism consists only in the forgiveness of sins and in the grace of adoption.   Our baptism is not like the baptism of John, which conferred only the forgiveness of sins.   We know perfectly well that baptism, besides washing away our sins and bringing us the gift of the Holy Spirit, is a symbol of the sufferings of Christ.   This is why Paul exclaims: Do you not know that when we were baptised into Christ Jesus we were, by that very action, sharing in his death?    By baptism we went with him into the tomb.

These words of St. Cyril of Jerusalem on the symbolic meaning of the sacrament of baptism, a symbol of Christ’s passion, are read in the Roman Catholic liturgy’s Office of Readings on the Thursday in the Octave of Easter (Cat. 21 Mystagogica 3, 1-3 PG 33. 1087-1091) with the accompanying biblical reading of I Peter 3:1-17.

 

 

 

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH

Our Morning Offering – 18 March

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Our Morning Offering – 18 March

The Elder Brother’s Prayer

Teach me, my Lord,
to be sweet and gentle in all the events of life,
in disappointments,
in the thoughtlessness of those I trusted,
in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied.
Let me put myself aside,
to think of the happiness of others,
to hide my little pains and heartaches,
so that I may be the only one to suffer from them.
Teach me to profit by the suffering
that comes across my path.
Let me so use it that it may make me
patient, not irritable.
That it may make me broad in my forgiveness,
not narrow, haughty and overbearing.
May no one be less good
for having come within my influence.
No one less pure, less true, less kind,
less noble for having been a fellow traveler
in our journey toward Eternal Life.
As I go my rounds from one distraction to another,
let me whisper from time to time,
a word of love to Thee.
May my life be lived in the supernatural,
full of power for good,
and strong in its purpose of sanctity.
Amen

PRODIGAL ELDER BROTHER'S PRAYER

 

Posted in LENT, SAINT of the DAY

LENTEN REFLECTION – The Second Week- Friday 17 March

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LENTEN REFLECTION – The Second Week- Friday 17 March

LENTEN REFLECTION FRIDAY 17 MARCH

On the Memorial of St Patrick, there can be few better reflections than the complete Prayer/Hymn of the Breastplate.   St. Patrick came to Ireland and showed all of them the way to the truth of God.   He preached the Good News of God to them and called them to repent their past sins and wickedness.   St. Patrick taught them the truth about God, including what is now famous as his symbol of the Holy Trinity, the three-leaf clover.   He taught them how God is a perfect and loving union of three Divine Persons, of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as inseparable as the three-leaf clover’s parts from each other.

And God Who is perfect in Love, and Who is indeed Love, wants to share that love with all of us His people.  That is exactly why He has given us His commandments, His laws and ways and Jesus His Son to be our salvation from the darkness, by bringing us into the light of His new world and life filled with love and grace, no longer with greed, evil, wickedness, ego and all other human ambitions and vileness.

St. Patrick’s Breastplate (also known as The Deer Cry-see the reason below)

St. Patrick of Ireland, 387-460 AD

(translation by Cecil Frances Alexander)

This Celtic hymn, which dates from the late seventh or early eighth century, is ascribed to St. Patrick. It reflects many of the themes found in Patrick’s thought. It is believed that Patrick wrote this hymn as a breastplate of faith for the protection of body and soul against all forms of evil – devils, vice and the evil which humans perpetrate against one another. Legend has it that the High King of Tara, Loeguire, on Holy Saturday 433 AD, resolved to ambush and kill Patrick and his monks to prevent them from spreading the Christian faith in his kingdom. As Patrick and his followers approached singing this hymn, the king and his men saw only a herd of wild deer and let them pass by. This hymn is both a prayer and statement of faith to be recited for protection, arming oneself for spiritual battle, leading us all to reflect upon the power of God in our lives, the strength of His protection and the way we are go on towards our heavenly home.

I bind unto myself today
the strong name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One and One in Three.
I bind this day to me forever,
by power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
his baptism in the Jordan River;
his death on cross for my salvation;
his bursting from the spiced tomb;
his riding up the heavenly way;
his coming at the day of doom:
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
of the great love of cherubim;
the sweet “Well done” in judgment hour;
the service of the seraphim;
confessors’ faith, apostles’ word,
the patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls;
all good deeds done unto the Lord,
and purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
the virtues of the starlit heaven,
the glorious sun’s life-giving ray,
the whiteness of the moon at even,
the flashing of the lightning free,
the whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
the stable earth, the deep salt sea,
around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
the power of God to hold and lead,
his eye to watch, his might to stay,
his ear to hearken to my need;
the wisdom of my God to teach,
his hand to guide, his shield to ward;
the word of God to give me speech,
his heavenly host to be my guard.
[Against the demon snares of sin,
the vice that gives temptation force,
the natural lusts that war within,
the hostile men that mar my course;
of few or many, far or nigh,
in every place, and in all hours
against their fierce hostility,

I bind to me these holy powers.
Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
against false words of heresy,
against the knowledge that defiles
against the heart’s idolatry,
against the wizard’s evil craft,
against the death-wound and the burning
the choking wave and poisoned shaft,
protect me, Christ, till thy returning.]

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name,
the strong name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One, and One in Three,
of whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word.
Praise to the Lord of my salvation:
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

st-patricks-day-prayer

ST PATRICK PRAY FOR US 2

 

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

Our Morning Offering – 16 March

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Our Morning Offering – 16 March

PRAYER of St JEAN de BREBEUF SJ (1593-149)

“Jesus, my Lord and Saviour,
what can I give You in return
for all the favours you have first conferred on me?
I will take from Your hand the cup of Your sufferings
and call on Your name.
I vow before Your eternal Father and the Holy Spirit,
before Your most holy Mother
and her most chaste spouse,
before the angels, apostles and martyrs,
before my blessed fathers –
Saint Ignatius and Saint Francis Xavier–
in truth, I vow to You, Jesus my Saviour,
that as far as I have the strength,
I will never fail to accept the grace of martyrdom,
if someday You in Your infinite mercy should offer it to me,
Your most unworthy servant…
My beloved Jesus,
here and now I offer my body and blood and life.
May I die only for You, if You will grant me this grace,
since You willingly died for me.
Let me so live that You may grant me
the gift of such a happy death.
In this way, my God and Saviour,
I will take from Your hand the cup of Your sufferings
and call on Your name: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!”

PRAYER OF ST JEAN DE BREBEUF

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers

LENTEN REFLECTION – The Second Week of Lent – Wednesday 15 MARCH

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LENTEN REFLECTION – The Second Week of Lent – Wednesday 15 MARCH

LENTEN REFLECTION WED 2ND WEEK - 15 MARCH

Christ Calls Us Deeper Still.
Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman

Called on from grace to grace
All through our life Christ is calling us.  He called us first in Baptism; but afterwards also; whether we obey His voice or not, He graciously calls us still.   If we fall from our Baptism, He calls us to repent;  if we are striving to fulfil our calling, He calls us on from grace to grace and from holiness to holiness, while life is given us.
Abraham was called from his home, Peter from his nets, Matthew from his office, Elisha from his farm, Nathanael from his retreat;  we are all in course of calling, on and on, from one thing to another, having no resting-place but mounting towards our eternal rest and obeying one command only to have another put upon us.   He calls us again and again, in order to justify us again and again—and again and again and more and more, to sanctify and glorify us.

Christ calls us right now
It were well if we understood this; but we are slow to master the great truth, that Christ is, as it were, walking among us and by His hand, or eye, or voice, bidding us follow Him.   We do not understand that His call is a thing which takes place now.   We think it took place in the Apostles’ days;  but we do not believe in it, we do not look out for it in our own case. We have not eyes to see the Lord; far different from the beloved Apostle, who knew Christ even when the rest of the disciples knew Him not.   When He stood on the shore after His resurrection and bade them cast the net into the sea, “that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord” (John 21:7).

Do you accept Christ’s’ call?
There is nothing miraculous or extraordinary in His dealings with us.  He works through our natural faculties and circumstances of life.   Still what happens to us in providence is in all essential respects what His voice was to those whom He addressed when on earth: whether He commands by a visible presence, or by a voice, or by our consciences, it matters not, so that we feel it to be a command.   If it is a command, it may be obeyed or disobeyed; it may be accepted as Samuel or St. Paul accepted it, or put aside after the manner of the young man who had great possessions.

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

Quote/s of the Day – 15 March

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Quote/s of the Day – 15 March

“I gave myself to God to accept the designs of His Providence, if He willed me to continue, for the remainder of Lent, in a state of interior abandonment and even affliction so as to honour the sufferings of Jesus Christ which the Church places before our eyes.”

“Let us love suffering then
and let us make strong resolutions
to desire as much of it as the will of God
wants us to experience.
Rest assured that it is a sign
of God’s love for you since it is through this
that He makes you somewhat like his Son.
Suffer then, in His same spirit, through
submission to all that God wills of you.”

“The person who does not love does not know God, for God is Charity.”

“Love the poor and honour them as you would honour Christ Himself,”

~~~ St Louise de Marillac

let us love suffering then-st louise de marillacTHE PERSON WHO DOES NOT LOVE-STLDEMARILLACLOVETHEPOOR-STLDEMST LOUISE DE MARILLAC - PRAY FOR US.jpg NO 2

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 15 March

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Our Morning Offering – 15 March

The Second Week of Lent
Wednesday

God of Love,
through this Lenten journey,
purify my desire to serve You.
Free me from any temptations to judge others,
to place myself above others.
Please let me surrender even my impatience
with others,
that with Your love and Your grace,
I might be less and less absorbed with myself,
and more and more full of the desire
to follow Your Son, in laying down my life
according to His example.
Amen

MORNING PRAYER -WED 15 MARCH

Posted in LENT

LENTEN REFLECTION – The Second Week of Lent – Tuesday 14 MARCH

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LENTEN REFLECTION – The Second Week of Lent – Tuesday 14 MARCH

Why Forty Days – St Pope Gregory the Great – Doctor of the Church  (540-604)

He, the Author of all things, for forty days tasted no food.   Let us likewise, as far as we are able, afflict our flesh by abstinence during the season of Lent.   A fast of forty days is observed, since the perfection of the Decalogue is completed by the four books of the Holy Gospel;  ten multiplied by four being forty.

Or, again, because this mortal body is made up from four elements and because of its pleasures we are bound by the commandments of the Lord, made known in the Decalogue, it is therefore, fitting, that we who through the desires of the flesh despise the commands of God should chastise this same flesh four times ten times.

Or, as by the Law men had to offer up tithes of their possessions, so ought we strive to offer tithes of our days.   For from the first Sunday of Lent, until the joys of the Paschal feast, there are six weeks – which are two and forty days, from which, since the six days of Sunday are subtracted from the fast, there remains but thirty six days.   Since the year continues for three hundred and sixty five days, we do penance for thirty six days, as though offering to God a tenth of our year.

TUESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK 14 MARCH

 

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 14 March

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Our Morning Offering – 14 March

The Second Week of Lent
Tuesday

God in heaven and in my life,
guide me and protect me.
I so often believe I can save myself
and I always end in failure.
Lead me with Your love away from harm
and guide me on the right path.
May Your Holy Spirit inspire the Church
and make us an instrument of Your love,
your peace, your mercy.
Help us to imitate the humility
of Your Son and approach all
with humble care.
Thank You for Your Hand on me,
on the whole Church and
on Your beautiful creation, amen.

MORNING PRAYER - TUESDAY 2ND WEEK OF LENT

Posted in LENT

LENTEN REFLECTION – The Second Week – Monday 13 March

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LENTEN REFLECTION – The Second Week – Monday 13 March

LENTEN REFLECTION MON 13 MARCH

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.” —Luke 6:37–38

Our life is a constant exercise in judgment: in distinguishing what is good from what is bad, in deciding which course of action we would like to take, in discerning which kind of life we wish to create for ourselves.  From the day we are born to our last breath, we judge. It’s the way of life and survival.   Hence, Jesus’ exhortation in today’s gospel reading, that we should not judge, must not be understood to mean that every process of discernment should be abandoned.  If it did, our lives would fall into chaos.

Rather, He should be understood to mean that if we do judge, especially our brothers or sisters, we should see to it that the measure by which we gauge their acceptability is the same measure we would use on ourselves.

There are occasions when we do tend to be too demanding of others while too lax and undemanding of ourselves.  That would not only be unfair in Jesus’ mind, it would also be hypocritical.   For a hypocrite is one who judges himself with a standard far lower than what he would use in judging others.   And this is a very grave danger, not only to one’s faith but to the very integrity of one’s character. Justice and fairness after all, are the measure by which we shall all be judged in the end.

Blessed John Henry Newman says:
“Saint John the Baptist had a most difficult office to fulfill; that of rebuking a king…It is difficult to rebuke well, that is, at the right time, in a right spirit and a right manner. T  he holy Baptist rebuked Herod without making him angry;   therefore he must have rebuked him with gravity, temper, sincerity and an evident good-will towards him.   On the other hand, he spoke so firmly, sharply and faithfully, that his rebuke cost him his life.

We who now live have not that extreme duty put upon us with which Saint John was laden (namely, rebuking a king);   yet every one of us has a share in his office (of admonishing), inasmuch as we are all bound “to rebuke vice boldly,” when we have fit opportunities for so doing…

Aim at viewing all things in a plain and candid light and at calling them by their right names.   Be frank, do not keep your notions of right and wrong to yourselves, nor, conceit that the world is too bad to be taught the Truth, suffer it to sin in word or deed without rebuke.   Do not allow friend or stranger in the familiar intercourse of society to advance false opinions, nor shrink from stating your own and do this in singleness of mind and love…

…The single-hearted Christian will find fault, not austerely or gloomily but in love;   not stiffly, but naturally, gently, and as a matter of course, just as he would tell his friend of some obstacle in his path which was likely to throw him down but without any feeling of superiority over him…”

Great reflection – reread it a couple more times! It gives great advice on how we as Christians are obligated to charitably and meekly correct the sins of others and he also advises us on the way to go about it.   Always ask for the help of the Holy Spirit when you feel called to speak up, so that in careful prudence, you may discern what is the best manner to go about it.

JUDGING OTHERS JHNEWMAN

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 13 March

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Our Morning Offering – 13 March

The Second Week of Lent
Monday

Lord,
Your commandment of love is so simple
and so challenging.
Help me to let go of my pride,
to be humble in my penance.
I want only to live the way You ask me to love,
to love the way You ask me to live.
To learn not to judge others
but in total humility to love all.
I ask this through Your Son, Jesus Christ,
our Lord, in unity with the Holy Spirit
who lives in me and stands at my side
today and always.
Amen

MONDAY OF 2ND WEEK 13 MARCH

Posted in LENT

POPE FRANCIS: THE CROSS, THE DOOR OF THE RESURRECTION.

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Posted in ART DEI, LENT, MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 12 March

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Our Morning Offering – 12 March

The Second Week of Lent – Sunday

Loving God,
there is so much darkness in my life
and I often try to hide from You.
Take my hand Divine Son and Saviour
and lead me out of the shadows of my fear.
Help me to change my heart
and be transfigured by Your Holy Spirit.
Bring me to Your truth
and help me to respond to Your generous love.
Let me recognise the fullness of Your love
which will fill my life.
Free me from the darkness in my heart. Amen

2nd week of lent - sunday 12 march

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, SAINT of the DAY

Saturday 11 March

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Dear Friends

No posts today.   I should be back tomorrow.

God bless your weekend!

Ana