Category: MORNING Prayers

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, EASTER, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, The HOLY MASS, The LAMB of GOD

Our Morning Offering – 7 April – “Victimae Paschali Laudes” The Easter Sequence

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 7 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – The Octave Day of Easter or Low Sunday

“Victimae Paschali Laudes”
The Easter Sequence
By Father Wipo of Burgundy (c995– c1050) (Attrib)

Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Offer your thankful praises!

A Lamb the sheep redeems,
Christ, Who only is sinless,
Reconciles sinners to the Father.

Death and life have contended
in that combat stupendous.
The Prince of Life, Who died,
reigns immortal.

Speak, Mary, declaring
What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, Who is living,
the glory of Jesus’ Resurrection”

“Bright Angels attesting,
The shroud and napkin resting. ”
“Yes, Christ my Hope is arisen;
To Galilee He goes before you. ”

Christ indeed
from death is risen,
our new life obtaining.
Have mercy, Victor King,
ever reigning!
Amen. Alleluia!

Before the Gospel is proclaimed, the ancient Sequence “Victimae Paschali Laudes” of Easter Sunday is read or sung.
The Sequence (Sequentia) is the Liturgical Hymn of the Mass which occurs on four Feasts:– Easter, Pentecost, Corpus Christi and Our Lady of Sorrows.
This sequence, “Victimae Paschali Laudes” is attributed to Wipo of Burgundy (c995– c1050) who was a Priest, Poet and Historian, the Chaplain of the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II during the 11th Century and possibly the Tutor of his son Emperor Henry III.

Posted in APRIL -MONTH of the RESURRECTION and the BLESSED SACAMENT, CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the SUN of JUSTICE, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on the CHURCH, The RESURRECTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 6 April – The Sun of Justice … today rises and shines on the whole creation. …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 6 April – “The Month of the Resurrection” – Easter Saturday – 1 Peter 2:1-10, John 20:1-9 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“This is the day which the Lord has made: let us be glad and rejoice therein.” – Psalm 117:24.

REFLECTION – “The Sun of Justice (Mal 3:20) which had disappeared for three days, today rises and shines on the whole creation. Christ was in the tomb for three days but He existed before the ages! He comes up like a vine and fills the earth with joy. Let us behold the Rising Sun which will never set, let us anticipate the day and be filled with the joy of this Light!

The gates of Hell have been broken by Christ, the dead awake from sleep. Christ rises, He, the Resurrection of the dead and comes to awaken Adam. Christ, the Resurrection of all who have died, rises and comes to free Eve from malediction. Christ rises, He Who is the Resurrection and He transforms, in all its beauty, what had “no stately bearing to make us look at Him” (Is 53:2). As a sleeper, the Lord awoke and confounded all the deceitfulness of the enemy. He was raised and gave joy to the whole creation; He was raised and the prison-house of Hell was emptied; He was raised and transformed, what is corruptible into incorruptibility (1 Cor 15:53). The Risen Christ clothed Adam with incorruptibility, his original dignity.

Today, through Christ, the Church becomes a new heaven (Apoc 21:1), a more beautiful vault to contemplate, than the visible sun. The sun which we see everyday, cannot compare with this Sun – as a servant filled with respect, it eclipsed before Him, when it saw Him hanging on the Cross (Mt 27:45). It is of this Sun that the Prophet said: “For you, who fear My Name, there will arise the Sun of Justice with its healing rays” (Mal 3:20)… Through Him, Christ, the Sun of Justice, the Church becomes a beautiful heaven filled with a multitude of stars which emerge from the Baptismal waters in their new Light. “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad” (Ps 117:24), filled with the joy that comes from God.” – St Epiphanius of Salamis (Died 403) Bishop

PRAYER – Grant, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God that we, who have devoutly kept the Easter solemnities, may at last worthily pass from keeping Feasts, unto Thee here below, to the everlasting jubilation above. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in CHRIST the KING, CHRIST the LIGHT, GOD ALONE!, MARIAN POETRY, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN Saturdays, Our MORNING Offering, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on THE VOICE OF GOD

 Our Morning Offering – 6 April – The Mater Christi

Posted on by AnaStpaul

 Our Morning Offering – 6 April – Easter Saturday

The Mater Christi
Unknown Author

Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
What shall I ask of thee?
I do not sigh for the wealth of earth
For the joys that fade and flee,
But, Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
This do I long to see —
The bliss untold which thy arms enfold,
The Treasure upon thy knee.

Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
He was All-in-All to thee,
In the winter’s cave, in Nazareth’s home,
In the hamlets of Galilee,
So, Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
He will not say nay to thee,
When He lifts His Face to thy sweet embrace,
Speak to Him, Mother, of me.

Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
The world will bid Him flee,
Too busy to heed His gentle Voice,
Too blind His charms to see,
Then, Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
Come with thy Babe to me,
Tho’ the world be cold, my heart shall hold
A shelter for Him and thee.

Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
What shall I do for thee?
I will love thy Son with the whole of my strength,
My only King shall He be.
Yes! Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
This will I do for thee,
Of all that are dear or cherished here,
None shall be dear as He.

Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
I toss on a stormy sea,
O lift thy Child as a Beacon Light,
To the Port where I fain would be!
And, Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,
This do I ask of thee —
When the voyage is o’er, oh! stand on the shore
And show Him at last to me.

The Author is unclear – The 1920 St Gregory Hymn book (editor Nicola A. Montani) credits it to Nicola A Montani.
The 1914 American Catholic Hymn book credits it to “S. N. D. ” – most likely meaning a Sister of Notre Dame

Posted in "Follow Me", BAPTISM, CATECHESIS, DOCTORS of the Church, FEBRUARY - THE BLESSED TRINITY (Traditional), FRANCISCAN OFM, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on CREATION, The MOST HOLY & BLESSED TRINITY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 5 April – Three Names, One Essence

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 5 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Easter Friday – St Vincent Ferrer OP (1350-1419) Confessor, called the “Angel of the Apocalypse/The Last Judgement” and the “Mouthpiece of God” – 1 Peter 3:18-22, Matthew 28:16-20 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Go, therefore, teach all nations, baptising them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” – Matthew 28:19

REFLECTION – “The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, are of One substance and inseparably equal. Their Unity is in their Essence, their plurality in the Persons. The Lord openly showed the Unity of the Divine Essence and the Trinity of Persons, when He said: “Baptise them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” He did not say “in the NAMES” but “in the Name” by which He showed the Unity of Essence. But, He then used Three Names in order to show that there are Three Persons.

In this Trinity can be found, the supreme origin of all things, perfect beauty, very blessed joy. As Saint Augustine said in his book on true religion, the supreme origin is God the Father, from Whom all things come, from Whom proceed the Son and the HolyGhost. The very perfect Beauty is the Son, the Truth of the Father, Who is not dissimilar to Him in anything, Whom we venerate with the Father and in the Father, Who is the model for all things because, everything was made through Him and everything relates to Him. The very blessed Joy, the sovereign goodness is the Holy Ghost Who is the Gift of the Father and of the Son and we must believe and hold that this Gift is exactly like the Father and the Son.

When we look at creation, we finish with the Trinity which is of One single substance. We understand One single God – the Father from Whom we are, the Son by Whom we are, the Holy Ghost in Whom we are – the Origin to Whom we run; the Model Whom we follow; the Grace which reconciles us!” – St Anthony of Padua OFM (c1195-1231) Franciscan, Evangelical Doctor of the Church (Sermons for Sundays and the Feasts of the Saints).

PRAYER – O God, Who graciously enlightened Thy Church by the virtues and preaching of blessed Vincent, Thy Confessor, grant that we, Thy servants, may, be taught by his example and delivered from all harm by his intercession.Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in APRIL -MONTH of the RESURRECTION and the BLESSED SACAMENT, BLESSED TRINITY PRAYERS, EASTER, FEBRUARY - THE BLESSED TRINITY (Traditional), Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The MOST HOLY & BLESSED TRINITY, The RESURRECTION

Our Morning Offering – 5 April – A Song of Praise

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 5 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Easter Friday

A Song of Praise
St John Baptiste de la Salle (1651-1719)
(Instructions and Prayers Ch 17. 81-82)

My tongue is untied
in praise of my God.
because His mercy
for mankind has no limits
and He is loving
with all His creatures across the Centuries.
I unite my voice with that of the Angels and Saints
to sing the glory of God in Heaven
and His peace on earth.
Through Christ in Whom Thou, Father, are pleased,
with Christ and in Christ
may every praise, power,
honour and glory be given to Thee
throughout the ages.
Alleluia!
SO BE IT!

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 4 April – ‘ … Mary! …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 4 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Easter Thursday – The Memorial of St Isidore of Seville (c560-636) Bishop, Confessor, Father & Doctor of the Church – Acts 8:26-40, John 20: 11-18 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Jesus said to her: ‘Mary!” – John 20:16

REFLECTION – “Sir, if you have taken Him away…” Mary had not yet said Who it was Who made her weep from desire, nor mentioned by Name, Him of Whom she spoke. But the force of love customarily brings it about that a heart believes, everyone else is aware of the One of Whom it is always thinking! … Mary, did not believe that the One for Whom she herself so constantly wept in her desire, was unknown to the other.

Jesus said to her: “Mary!” After he had called her by the common name of “woman” he called her by her own name, as if to say: “Recognise Him Who recognises you.” To Moses too, God said: “I know you by name” (Ex 33:12) because “man” is the common appellation of us all,but “Moses” was his own name. He was rightly told that he was known by name, as if the Lord was saying to him openly: “I do not know you in a general way as I know others but, particularly.”

And so because Mary was called by name, she acknowledged her Creator and called Him at once “Rabboni” that is, “teacher.” He was both the One she was outwardly seeking and, the One Who was teaching her, iTwardly, to seek Him … “Mary Magdalene came and made known to the disciples: ‘I have seen the Lord and He said these things to me.’” See, how the sin of the human race was removed, where it began!? In Paradise a woman was the cause of death for a man; coming from the sepulchre, a woman proclaimed Life to men!” – St Gregory the Great (540-640) Pope, Father and Doctor of the Church (Homily 25 on the Gospel).

PRAYER – O God, Who granted to Thy people blessed Isidore as ashepherd of salvation, grant, we beseech Thee that we who cherished him on earth as a teacher of life may be found worthy to have him as an intercessor in Heaven.
T hrough Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in BREVIARY Prayers, CHRIST the HIGH PRIEST, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, Our MORNING Offering, The LAMB of GOD

Our Morning Offering – 4 April – O Lamb of God By St Irenaeus

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 4 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Easter Thursday

O Lamb of God
By St Irenaeus (c130 – c202)
Bishop & Martyr,
Father of the Church

O Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world,
look upon us
and have mercy upon us,
Thou who art Thyself,
both Victim and Priest,
Thyself, both Reward and Redeemer,
keep safe from all evil
those whom Thou hast redeemed,
O Saviour of the world!
Amen

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, I BELIEVE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on THE WORLD, St PETER!, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 3 April – ‘… We are caught like fish in the net of the faith and brought to shore.’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 3 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Easter Wednesday – Acts 3:13-15; 3:17-19, John 21:1-14 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Simon Peter … drew the net to land …” – John 21:11

REFLECTION – “After catching such a large catch of fish, “Simon Peter went overboard and dragged the net ashore.” I believe that you, dear listeners, now perceive why it was Peter who brought the net to land. Our holy Church had been entrusted to him; it was to him individually that it was said: “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Feed my sheep.” What was afterwards disclosed to him in words, was now indicated to him by an action.

Because the Church’s preacher was to part us from the waves of this world, it was surely necessary that Peter bring the net full of fish to land. He dragged the fish to the firm ground of the shore because, by his preaching, he revealed to the faithful the stability of our eternal home. He accomplished this by his words and by his letters and, he accomplishes it daily, by his miraculous signs. As often as he serves us from the uproar of earthly affairs, what occurs, is that we are caught like fish in the net of the faith and brought to shore.” – St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) Father and Doctor of the Church (Homilies on the Gospel No 24).

PRAYER – O God, Who dost every year fill us with holy gladness through the rising of the Lord, mercifully grant that these Feast-days which we are now keeping here in time, may be to us, a means whereby, in the end, we may worthily attain unto those pleasures which are at Thy Right Hand, for evermore.Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, EASTER, FATHERS of the Church, HYMNS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 3 April – “Alleluia!” Now We Cry!

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 3 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Easter Wednesday

“Alleluia!” Now We Cry!
(Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain)
By St John Damascene (675-749)
Father & Doctor of the Church
Trans. John Mason Neale

Come, you faithful, raise the strain
of triumphant gladness!
God has brought His Israel
into joy from sadness,
loosed from Pharaoh’s bitter yoke
Jacob’s sons and daughters,
led them with unmoistened foot
through the Red Sea waters.

See the spring of souls today;
Christ has burst His prison,
and from three days’ sleep in death
as a Sun hath risen;
all the winter of our sins,
long and dark, is flying
from His Light, to Whom we give
laud and praise undying.

Now the queen of seasons, bright
with the day of splendour,
with the Royal Feast of Feasts,
comes its joy to render;
comes to gladden faithful hearts
which with true affection
welcome in unwearied strains
Jesus’ Resurrection!

For today among His own
Christ appeared, bestowing
blessed peace which evermore
passes human knowing.
Neither could the gates of death,
nor the tomb’s dark portal,
nor the watchers, nor the seal,
hold Him as a mortal.

“Alleluia!” Now we cry
to our King immortal,
Who, triumphant, burst the bars
of the tomb’s dark portal.
Come, you faithful, raise the strain
of triumphant gladness!
God has brought His Israel
into joy from sadness!

Posted in APRIL -MONTH of the RESURRECTION and the BLESSED SACAMENT, AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CATECHESIS, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the BRIDEGROOM, DOCTORS of the Church, EASTER, FATHERS of the Church, I BELIEVE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on the CHURCH, The RESURRECTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 2 April – ‘ …You too, then, have faith – it is He, the Bridegroom!’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 2 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Easter Tuesday – Acts 13:16; 13:26-33; Luke 24:36-47 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“And He said to them: Why are you troubled and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?” – Luke 24:38

REFLECTION – “This Gospel passage… shows us in truth, Who the Messiah is and who the Church … that we might understand well which Bride it is that this Divine Bridegroom has chosen and Who the Bridegroom of this holy Bride is … On this page we can read their deed of espousal …

You have learned that Christ is the Word, God’s Utterance, united to a human soul and human body … Here, the disciples thought they were seeing a ghost; they did not believe that the Lord had a real body. But since the Lord understood the danger of such thoughts, He made haste to snatch them out of their hearts … “Why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at My Hands and My Feet; touch Me and see because, a ghost does not have flesh and bone, as you can see I have.” Yet you, with these same questioning thoughts, strongly oppose the rule of faith you have received …

Christ is truly the Word, the Only-begotten Son equal to the Father, united to a truly human soul and a real body, clean of all sin. This is the Body which died, the Body which rose again, this Body was fastened to the Cross, this Body laid in the tomb, this Body is seated in the Heavens. Our Lord wished to persuade His disciples that what they were seeing was truly bone and flesh… Why did He want to convince me of this truth? Because He knew, just how much it was to my own good, to have faith in it and how much I had to lose, if I did not. You too, then, have faith – it is He, the Bridegroom!

Now listen to what was said about the Bride… “The Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, is to be preached in His Name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” This is the Bride… the Church is spread all over the earth and has taken all peoples to her heart … The Apostles saw Christ and believed in what they did not see, the Church. We, on our part, see the Church; so let us believe in Jesus Christ, Whom we do not see and so, by holding onto what we see, we shall come to Him Whom, as yet, we do not see.” – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop, Father and Doctor of Grace (Sermon 238).

PRAYER – O God, Who art ever multiplying the children of Thy Church, grant unto the same, Thy servants that they may lead the rest of their lives, according to this beginning, wherein Thou hast given them faith to receive the Sacrament of the New Birth. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in APRIL -MONTH of the RESURRECTION and the BLESSED SACAMENT, CHRIST the LIGHT, EASTER, HYMNS, Our MORNING Offering, POETRY, PRAYERS, PRAYERS for SEASONS, PRAYERS on FAITH, QUOTES for CHRIST, Quotes on SALVATION, The RESURRECTION

Our Morning Offering – 2 April – He is Risen, Tell the Story

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 2 April – Easter Tuesday

He is Risen, Tell the Story
By Father Willard F Janusch (1930-2018)

He is risen, tell the story
to the nations of the night;
from their sin and from their blindness,
let them walk in Easter light.
Now begins a new creation,
now has come our true salvation.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

Mary goes to tell the others
of the wonders she has seen;
John and Peter come a’running
what can all this truly mean?
O Rabboni, Master holy,
to appear to one so lowly!
Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

He has cut down death and evil,
He has conquered all despair;
He has lifted from our shoulders,
all the weight of anxious care.
Risen Brother, now before you,
we will worship and adore You.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

Now get busy, bring the message,
so that all may come to know
there is hope for saint and sinner,
for our God has loved us so.
Ev’ry Church bell is a’ringing,
ev’ry Christian now is singing.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

A Parish Priest, Seminary Professor and prolific Musician and Hymnist, Fr Willard wa Ordained in 1956 and died at the age of 88 in 2018.

Posted in BREVIARY Prayers, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, Our MORNING Offering, PAPAL PRAYERS, PRAYERS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 1 April – Easter Prayer of Praise

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 1 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Easter Monday

Easter Prayer of Praise
By St Gregory the Great (540-604)
Pope, Father and Doctor of the Church

It is only right, with all the powers
of our heart and mind,
to praise Thee Father
and Thine Only-Begotten Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Dear Father, by Thy wondrous condescension
of Loving-Kindness toward us, Thy servants,
Thou gave us Thy Son.
Dear Jesus Thou paid the debt of Adam for us,
to the Eternal Father by Thy Blood
poured forth in Loving-Kindness.
Thou cleared away the darkness of sin
by Thy magnificent and radiant Resurrection.
Thou broke the bonds of death
and rose from the grave as a Conqueror.
Thou reconciled Heaven and earth.
Our life had no hope of Eternal Happiness
before Thou Redeemed us.
Thy Resurrection has washed away our sins,
restored our innocence
and brought us joy.
How inestimable is the tenderness of Thy Love!
Amen

Posted in BAPTISM, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, EASTER, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The LAMB of GOD, The RESURRECTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 31 March – This is the day!

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 31 March – Easter Sunday, Alleluia, He is Truly Risen, Alleluia! – 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, Mark 16:1-7 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“This is the day the Lord hath made, let us be glad and rejoice therein.” – Psalm 117:24

REFLECTION – “This is the day the Lord hath made; let us be glad and rejoice therein.” (Ps 117:24) Why? Because the sun is no longer darkened and everything is illuminated; the curtain in the Temple is no longer torn, the Church is revealed; we are no longer holding palm branches, we are surrounding the newly baptised.

“This is the day the Lord hath made”… This now is the day in the real sense of the word, the triumphant day, the day consecrated to celebrating the Resurrection, the day when we adorn ourselves with grace, the day when we share the spiritual Lamb, the day when we give milk to those who have just been born, the day when the plan of Providence for the poor is realised. “Let us rejoice and be glad therein.”

This is the day when Adam was freed, when Eve was delivered from her pain, when savage death shuddered, when the power of rocks was broken, when the bars of the tomb were torn away…, when the unchangeable laws of the powers of hell were abrogated, when the heavens were opened because Christ, our Master, rose. This is the day when, for the good of humankind, the green and fertile plant of the Resurrection multiplied its offshoots, all over the world, as in a garden, when the lilies of the newly enlightened opened … when, the crowd of believers rejoices, when the Martyrs’ crowns again grow green. “This is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad therein!” – (Attri) St John Chrysostom (347-407) Father and Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – O God, Who, on this day, through Thine Only-begotten Son, hast conquered death and thrown open to us, the Gate of everlasting life, give effect by thine aid to our desires, which Thou dost anticipate and inspire. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in EASTER, FRANCISCAN OFM, HYMNS, I BELIEVE!, Our MORNING Offering, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE

Our Morning Offering – 31 March– Easter Sunday, O Filii et Filiae – Ye Sons and Daughters of the Lord

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 31 March – Easter Sunday, Alleluia, He is Truly Risen, Alleluia!

O Filii et Filiae
Ye Sons and Daughters of the Lord
By Jean Tisserand OFM (Died 1497)
(The original Hymn comprises the nine stanzas below).
Trans. Fr Edward Caswell C.Orat. (1814-1878)

Ye sons and daughters of the Lord,
The King of Heaven, the King adored,
From death this day Himself restored.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

On Sunday morn at break of day
The holy women went their way,
To see the tomb where Jesus lay.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

An Angel clad in white they see,
Who sat,and spake unto the three:
“Your Lord hath gone to Galilee.”
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

That night the’ Apostle met in fear,
But Christ didst in the midst appear:
“My peace,” He saith, “be on thee!”
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

But Thomas, when of this he heard,
Was doubtful of his brethren’s word;
Wherefore, again there came the Lord.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

“Behold My side, O Thomas, see;
My hands, My feet, I show to thee;
Not faithless but believing be.”
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

When Thomas say that wounded side,
The truth no longer he denied,
“Thou art my Lord and God,” he cried.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Oh, blest are they who have not seen
Their Lord and yet believe in Him;
Eternal life awaiteth them.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

On this Most Holy Day of days,
To God your hearts and voices raise
In laud and jubilee and praise.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
Amen!

Posted in APRIL -MONTH of the RESURRECTION and the BLESSED SACAMENT, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, EASTER, FRANCISCAN OFM, GOD ALONE!, HOLY SATURDAY, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, The RESURRECTION, The WORD, THEOLOGICAL

One Minute Reflection – 30 March – He is not here, for He is risen, as He said.

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 30 March – Holy Saturday – The Lord’s Vigil Mass of Easter, Blessing of the Fire, Prophecies, Blessing of the Font, First Mass of Easter – Matthew 28:1-7 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“And the Angel answering, said to the women: Fear not you, for I know that you seek Jesus Who was Crucified, He is not here, for He is risen, as He said.” – Matthew 28:5-6

REFLECTION – “When the third day dawned of the Lord’s Sacred repose in the tomb … Christ, the “power and Wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:24), with the author of death lying prostrate, conquered even death itself and opened to us access to eternity, when He raised Himself from the dead by His Divine Power in order to make known to us the paths of Life.

Then there was a great earthquake, for an Angel of the Lord came down from Heaven, with raiment like snow and his countenance like lightening.   He appeared attractive to the devout and severe to the wicked – for he terrified the soldiers and comforted the timid women, to whom the Lord Himself first appeared after rising because, their intense devotion, so merited.   Then He was seen by Peter, then by the disciples going to Emmaus, then by all the Apostles except Thomas.   Later He presented Himself to be touched by Thomas, who proclaimed his faith:  “My Lord and my God.”   And thus, during forty days, He appeared in many ways to His disciples, both eating and drinking with them.

He enlightened our faith with proofs and lifted up our hope with promises, so as finally, to enkindle our love with gifts from Heaven!” … St Bonaventure (1217-1274) Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – O God, Who dost illuminate this most holy night by the glory of the Lord’s Resurrection, preserve in the new children of Thy family, the spirit of adoption which Thou hast given, that renewed in body and mind, they may render to Thee a pure service. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, HOLY SATURDAY, HOLY WEEK, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN Saturdays, MATER DOLOROSA - Mother of SORROWS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 30 March – My Most Sorrowful Lady By St Anselm

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 30 March – Holy Saturday

My Most Sorrowful Lady
By St Anselm (1033-1109)
Marian Doctor
Magnificent Doctor

My most sorrowful Lady,
what can I say about the fountains,
that flowed from your most pure eyes,
when you saw your only Son before you,
bound, beaten and suffering?
What do I know of the flood,
that drenched your matchless face,
when you beheld your Son,
your Lord and your God,
stretched on the Cross without guilt,
when the flesh of your flesh,
was cruelly butchered by wicked me?
How can I judge
what sobs troubled your most pure breast
when you heard,
“Woman, behold your son,”
and the disciple,
“Behold, your Mother,”
when you received, as a son,
the disciple, in place of the Master,
the servant, for the Lord?
Amen

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DYING / LAST WORDS, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, GOOD FRIDAY, ONE Minute REFLECTION, OUR Cross, POETRY, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY CROSS, The LAMB of GOD, The PASSION, The SECOND COMING, The SEVEN PASSION Feasts, The SIGN of the CROSS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 29 March– There they crucified Him – John 19:18

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 29 March – Good Friday – The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St John 18:1-40.19,1-42. – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

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

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

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

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

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

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, GOD ALONE!, GOOD FRIDAY, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS for SEASONS, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The SEVEN PASSION Feasts

Our Morning Offering – 29 March – Membra Jesu Nostri, O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 29 March – Good Friday

Membra Jesu Nostri
O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
By Blessed Arnulf of Leuven O.Cist. (c1200-1276)

O sacred Head, now wounded,
with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
with thorns, Thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory,
what bliss till now was Thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call Thee mine.

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered,
was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine, was the transgression
but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Saviour!
’Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favour,
vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

Men mock and taunt and jeer Thee,
Thou noble Countenance,
Though mighty worlds shall fear Thee
and flee before Thy glance.
How art thou pale with anguish,
with sore abuse and scorn!
How doth Thy Visage languish
that once was bright as morn!

Now from Thy cheeks has vanished,
their colour once so fair;
From Thy red lips is banished
the splendour that was there.
Grim death, with cruel rigour,
hath robbed Thee of Thy life;
Thus Thou hast lost Thy vigour,
Thy strength in this sad strife.

My burden in Thy Passion,
Lord, Thou hast borne for me,
For it was my transgression
which brought this woe on Thee.
I cast me down before Thee,
wrath were my rightful lot;
Have mercy, I implore Thee;
Redeemer, spurn me not!

What language shall I borrow
to thank Thee, dearest Friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever
and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never,
outlive my love to Thee.

My Shepherd, now receive me;
my Guardian, own me Thine.
Great blessings Thou didst give me,
O Source of gifts Divine.
Thy Lips have often fed me
with words of Truth and Love;
Thy Spirit oft hath led me
to Heavenly joys above.

Here I will stand beside Thee,
from Thee I will not part;
O Saviour, do not chide me!
When breaks Thy loving Heart,
When soul and body languish
in death’s cold, cruel grasp,
Then, in Thy deepest anguish,
Thee in mine arms I’ll clasp.

The joy can never be spoken,
above all joys beside,
When in Thy Body broken
I thus with safety hide.
O Lord of Life, desiring
Thy Glory now to see,
Beside Thy Cross expiring,
I’d breathe my soul to Thee.

My Saviour, be Thou near me
when death is at my door;
Then let Thy Presence cheer me,
forsake me nevermore!
When soul and body languish,
oh, leave me not alone
But take away mine anguish
by virtue of Thine own!

Be Thou my consolation,
my shield when I must die;
Remind me of Thy Passion
when my last hour draws nigh.
Mine eyes shall then behold Thee,
upon Thy Cross shall dwell,
My heart by faith enfolds Thee.
Who dieth thus dies well!

This Poem/Hymn was incorrectly ascribed to St Bernard of Clairvaux, for they are consistent with his style and his devotion. However, “the external proof for this ascription is so slight as to be negligible” (Hurlbut, VII, 18).
The “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” did appear in St Bernard’s collected works but only two hundred years after his death. When the Monasteries were suppressed in the French Revolution, all of the relevant manuscripts disappeared. The only surviving manuscript, dated 1320, bears Arnulf’s name (Arnulfus de louan). Here is Blessed Arnulf’s story:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/04/02/saint-of-the-day-2-april-blessed-arnulf-of-leuven-o-cist-c1200-1276-abbot/

Arnulf’s Poem consists of a cycle of seven Poems, each a meditation on one of the Wounds of the Crucified Christ.
The words of the Hymn remind us, not only of the depth of Christ’s love but also how much He suffers because of our sins.

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FATHERS of the Church, JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, LOVE of NEIGHBOUR, MAUNDY THURSDAY, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on KINDNESS, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on PRIDE, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, The PASSION, The WORD

Our Lenten Journey with the Angels and the Saints – 28 March – Maundy Thursday – Your Attitude Must Be That of Christ

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Lenten Journey with the Angels and the Saints – 28 March – Maundy Thursday – 1 Corinthians 11:20-32, John 13:1-15 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Carry one another’s burdens.”
Gal 6:2

“He loved them unto the end.”
John 13:1

MAUNDY THURSDAY
Your Attitude Must Be That of Christ

Blessed Guerric of Igny (c1080-1157)
Cistercian Abbot

“He was in the form of God,” equal to God by nature, since He shared in God’s power, God’s eternity and God’s very being … He did the job of a servant “by humbling Himself, obeying His Father even to death, death on a Cross.” (cf Phil 2:5-8). One might consider it to be trivial that, as God’s Son and His equal, He served His Father as a servant. More than that, He served His own servant more than any other servant. For the human being had been created to serve His Creator. What could be more just for you, than to serve him who made you, without Whom you would not be? And what could be more blest, than to serve Him, since to serve Him is to reign? But the human being said to His Creator: “I will not serve.” (Jer 2:20)

Then the Creator said to the human being: “So I will serve you! Go sit down at the table; I will serve. I will wash your feet. Rest. I will take your pains upon myself; I will carry your weakness… If you grow tired or are burdened, I will carry you, you and your burden, so as to be the first to fulfil my law: ‘Carry one another’s burdens’ (Gal 6:2)… If you are hungry or thirsty… here I Am, ready to be sacrificed, so that you might eat My Flesh and drink My Blood… If you are taken into captivity or, if you are sold, here I Am… Redeem yourself by paying the ransom you will get from Me. I give Myself as ransom… If you are sick, if you fear death, I will die in your place, so that from My Blood you may make for yourself, a life-giving remedy!…”

O my Lord, what a price Thou paid to ransom my useless service! … What a way Thou has, full of love, of gentleness and of kindness, to win back and submit this rebellious servant, by triumphing over evil through good, by confounding my pride with Thy humility, by filling this ungrateful person, with Thy kindness! This! This is howThy Wisdom triumphed!” – (1st Sermon for Palm Sunday),

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FRANCISCAN OFM, HOLY COMMUNION, MAUNDY THURSDAY, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, The PASSION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 28 March– Maundy Thursday – ‘ … He Whom the Angels adore in Heaven, is at these fishermen’s feet! …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 28 March – Maundy Thursday – 1 Corinthians 11:20-32, John 13:1-15 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“You call Me Master and Lord. And you say well, for so I Am. If then I, being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that as I have done to you, so you do also.” – John 13:14-15

REFLECTION – “Jesus rose from supper and took off His outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around His waist. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet. We read a story of the same kind in Genesis. Abraham says to the messengers – the three Angels who visit him: “Let some water be brought that you may bathe your feet and then rest yourselves under the tree; let me bring you a little food that you may refresh yourselves” (Gen 18:4-5). What Abraham did for the three Angels, Christ did for His Apostles, those messengers of the Truth, who were to preach faith in the Blessed Trinity, to all the world.

He stoops down to them, like a child – He stoops down and washes their feet. What an incomprehensible humility! what inexpressible goodness! He Whom the Angels adore in Heaven, is at these fishermen’s feet! The Face that causes Angels to tremble bends over the feet of these poor men! Therefore, Peter is seized with fear… When He has washed their feet He makes them “lie down under the tree” as it says in the Song of Songs: “I delight to rest in His shadow and His fruit is sweet to my mouth” (Song 2:3). This fruit is His Body and Blood, given them today by Him. It is the “morsel of bread” He set before them and that gave them strength for the work they must undertake…

Behold, “on this mountain the Lord of Hosts will prepare for all peoples a feast of rich meat with the marrow” (Is 25:6)… In the Upper Room where the Apostles are to receive the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the Lord of all the world, throws a feast today for all the peoples who believe in Him… This is what the Church does today throughout the world. It was for her sake that Christ prepared this feast on Mount Zion, this food that restores us, His True Body, rich in every spiritual virtue and charity. This He has given to His Apostles and has commanded them to give to those who believe in Him.” – St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Franciscan, Doctor of the Church (Sermons for Sundays and Feasts, Maundy Thursday).

PRAYER – O God, from Whom Judas received the punishment of his guilt and the thief the reward of his confession: grant unto us the full fruit of Thy clemency, that even as in His Passion, our Lord Jesus Christ gave to each a retribution according to his merits, so having taken away our old sins, He may bestow upon us the grace of His Resurrection. Who with Thee lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in HOLY WEEK, HYMNS, LENT 2024, MAUNDY THURSDAY, Our MORNING Offering, QUOTES on PATIENCE, The LAMB of GOD, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 28 March – Man of Sorrows—Wrapt in Grief

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 6 April – Maundy Thursday in Holy Week

Man of Sorrows—Wrapt in Grief
From an old French Hymn
Author Unknown

Man of Sorrows—wrapt in grief,
Bow Thine ear to our relief;
Thou for us the path hast trod
Of the dreadful wrath of God.
Thou the cup of fire hast drain’d
Till its light alone remain’d:
Lamb of Love!—we look to Thee,
Hear our mournful litany!

By the garden—fraught with woe,
Whither Thou full oft wouldst go:
By Thine Agony of prayer
In the desolation there!
By the chains of sleep, which bound
Watchers in their trance profound;
Lord!—behold our bended knee,—
Listen to our litany!

By the conflict foul and fell
With the loosen’d fiends of hell,
By the darkness of the hour
Shadow’d with the tempter’s power,
By the dire and deep distress
Of that mystery fathomless;—
Lord! our tears in mercy see
Mingling with our litany!

By the vision then, which stole
Looming o’er Thy spotless soul,
Of the pride and guilt of man,
Since his fall from grace began,—
Seas of sin, with billowy waves,
Yawning into countless graves;—
Lord! ourselves from shipwreck free,
Hear our solemn litany!

By the Chalice, when it came
Pregnant with a hell of flame:
By those Lips—which fain would pray
That it might but pass away:
By the Heart, which drank it dry,
Lest a rebel race should die;—
Let Thy Pity be our plea,
Hear our solemn litany!

Man of Sorrows! —let Thy grief
Purchase for us our relief—
Lord of Mercy—bow Thine ear,
Slow to anger—swift to hear:
Let the garden Thou hast trod
Draw us to the throne of God;
So Gethsemane shall be
Sweet in every litany!

This translation by Matthew Bridges (1800-1894)
(The Passion of Jesus 1852) Hymnist, Poet, Writer
Converted to Catholicism in 1848, by the influence of
John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Tune: “Anima Christi (English)” traditional English melody.

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on MYSTERIES of our FAITH, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The PASSION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 27 March – ‘Come, come, let us go up together to the Mount of Olives.’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 27 March – St John Damascene (675-749) Confessor, Father and Doctor of the Church – Wednesday in Holy Week – Isaias 53:1-12, Luke 22:1-71 and 23:1-53 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“But Jesus he delivered up to their will.” – Luke 23:25

REFLECTION – “Come, come, let us go up together to the Mount of Olives. Together let us meet Christ, Who is returning today from Bethany and going of His own accord to that Holy and Blessed Passion, to complete the Mystery of our Salvation. And so He comes, willingly taking the road to Jerusalem, He Who came down from the heights for us, to raise us who lie in the depths, to exaltation with Him, as the revealing Word says: “above all authority and rule and power and above every Name that is named” (Eph 1:21). He comes without display, without boast. For, as the Prophet says, “He will not contend or shout out and no-one will hear His Voice” (Is 42:2). He is gentle and lowly and His entrance is humble…

Then, let us run with Him as He presses on, to His Passion. Let us imitate those who have gone out to meet Him, not scattering olive branches or garments or palms in His path but spreading ourselves before Him as best we can, with humility of soul and upright purpose. So may we welcome the Word as He comes (Jn 1:9); so may God, Who cannot be contained within any bounds, be contained within us.

For He is pleased to have shown us this gentleness, He Who is gentle and who “rides upon the setting sun” (Ps 56:12) which refers to our extreme lowliness. He is pleased to come and live with us and to raise us up, or bring us back to Himself through the Word which unites to God.” – St Andrew of Crete (660-740) Bishop and Father (Homily for Palm Sunday).

RAYER – Almighty, eternal God, Who to defend the honour paid to sacred images, filled blessed John with heavenly learning and wondrous strength of soul, grant that, by his intercession and example, we may imitate the virtues of those whose images we honour and may enjoy the help of their patronage. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOOD FRIDAY, HOLY WEEK, LENT 2024, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on THANKSGIVING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 27 March – In Thine Hour of Holy Sadness

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 27 March – “Spy” Wednesday in Holy Week

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

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

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, HOLY WEEK, LENT 2024, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on SIN, St PETER!, The PASSION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 26 March – Tuesday of Holy Week – Jesus looked at him

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 26 March– Tuesday of Holy Week – Jeremias 11:18-20, Mark 14:32-72; 15, 1-46

“ I know not this man of whom you speak. And immediately the cock crew again. And Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said unto him: Before the cock crows twice, thou shalt thrice deny me. And he began to weep.” – Mark 14:71-72

REFLECTION – “The first time Peter denied, he did not weep because the Lord had not looked at him. He denied a second time and did not weep because the Lord still did not look at him. He denied a third time; Jesus looked at him and he wept very bitterly (Lk 22:62). Look at us, Lord Jesus, so that we might know how to weep for our sins. This shows us that even the fall of the Saints may be useful to us. Peter’s denial has done me no wrong, on the contrary, I have gained from his repentance – I have learned to be beware of faithless companions. …

So Peter wept and wept bitterly; he wept so hard that he washed away his offence with his tears. And you, too, if you would win pardon, wipe out your guilt with tears. At that very moment, in that same hour, Christ will look at you. If some kind of fall happens to you, then He, the ever-present witness of your intimate life, looks at you to call you back and cause you to confess your lapse. Then do as Peter did, who thrice said: “Lord, you know that I love you” (Jn 21:15). He denied three times and three times he also confessed. But he denied by night; he confessed in broad daylight.

All this has been written, to make us understand, that no-one should be puffed up. If Peter fell for having said: “Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be” (Mt 26:33), who is there to count on himself? … From whence then, Peter, shall I call you to mind, to teach me your thoughts as you wept? From heaven where you have already taken your place among the choirs of angels, or from the grave? For that death, from which the Lord was raised, did not reject you in your turn. Teach us what use your tears were to you. But you taught it without delay for having fallen before you wept, your tears caused you to be chosen to guide others, you who, to begin with, did not know how to guide yourself.” – St Ambrose (340-397) Bishop of Milan, Father and Doctor of the Church – Commentary on St Luke’s Gospel, 10,89f.

PRAYER – Almighty and eternal God, grant us so to celebrate thy mysteries of our Lord’s Passion, that we may deserve to obtain forgiveness. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, JESUIT SJ, OUR Cross, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on CONSOLATION, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, REDEMPTIVE Suffering, The HOLY CROSS, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The REDEMPTION, The STATIONS of the CROSS

Our Morning Offering – 26 March – This is My Joy, To Follow My Saviour

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 26 March – Tuesday in Passion Week

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

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

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY WEEK, JANUARY month of THE MOST HOLY NAME of JESUS, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on the CHURCH, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS, The HOLY NAME, The INCARNATION, The KINGDOM of GOD, The PASSION, The SEVEN LAST WORDS of CHRIST, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 25 March– ‘ … The sweetness and perfume of His Name.’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 25 March – – Monday in Holy Week – Isaias 50:5-10, John 12:1-9 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“The house was filled with the odour of the ointment.” – John 12:3

REFLECTION – “When she had anointed the Lord’s feet this woman did not wipe them with a cloth but with her own hair, to show Him greater honour … Like a thirsty person drinking from a fresh waterfall, this holy woman drank in grace full of delights, from the Springs of Holiness, to quench the thirst of her faith.

However, in the allegorical or mystical sense, this woman prefigured the Church, which offered the full and entire devotion of its faith to Christ …There are twelve ounces to a pound and this is the amount of perfume the Church possesses, having received the teaching of the twelve Apostles, as if it were a precious perfume. Indeed, what more precious is there than the Apostles’ teaching, which contains both faith in Christ and the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven? Furthermore, it is related that the whole house was filled with the scent of that perfume because, the whole world has been filled with the Apostles’ teaching. As it is written: “Through all the earth their voice resounds and to the ends of the world, their message” (Ps 19[18]:5).

In the Song of Songs we read the following words addressed through Solomon, to the Church: “Your name spoken is a spreading perfume” (1,2). Not without cause, is the Lord’s Name called a “spreading perfume.” As you know, as long as perfume is preserved inside its flask, it keeps its fragrance but, as soon as is poured out or emptied, it spreads out its fragrant scent. Even so, as long as our Lord and Saviour reigned with His Father in Heaven, the world was unaware of Him, He was unknown here below. But when, for our salvation, He deigned to humble Himself, by descending from Heaven, to take on a human body, then He spread abroad in the world, the sweetness and perfume of His Name.“ – St Chromatius of Aquilaea (Died c 407) – Bishop of Aquileia, Italy, Theologian, Exegete (Sermon 11).

PRAYER – Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who fail through our weakness in so many difficulties, may be relieved through the pleading of the Passion of Thy Only-begotten Son. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in CHRIST the HIGH PRIEST, FATHERS of the Church, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 25 March – A Prayer of the Passion

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 25 March – Monday in Holy Week

A Prayer of the Passion
By St Melito of Sardis (Died 180)
Bishop of Sardis, Apologist, Father

Lord Jesus Christ,
You were bound as a ram,
You were shorn like a lamb,
You were led to the slaughter like a sheep,
You bore the wood of the Cross on Your shoulders,
You were led up the hill of Calvary,
You were displayed naked on the Cross,
You were nailed to the bitter Cross by three spikes,
You delivered Your last Seven Words from the Cross
You died on the Cross, with a shout of victory,
You were buried in noble Joseph’s rock-hewn tomb,
By Your boundless suffering on our behalf,
fix our eyes unceasingly on Your broken Body
and the Blood that poured from Your Hands, Feet and Side.
By the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
that renews each day Your Sacrifice
of the Cross on our Altars,
apply the merits of the Cross to all humanity
and, especially to those who worship it daily
and who offer themselves back to You,
our great High Priest
and perpetually Intercessor,
before the Eternal Throne of God.
You live and reign,
through all the ages of ages.
Amen.

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, HOLY WEEK, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The PASSION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 24 March – ‘Behold the hour is at hand …’ Matthew 26:45

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 24 March – Palm Sunday – Philippians 2:5-11, Matthew 26:36-75; 27:1-60. – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

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

REFLECTION – By St Nerses Chnorhali (1102-1173) Armenian Bishop (Jesus, Only Son of the Father 708-724)

“Because of sin, O innocent One,
You were set before the criminal’s judgement seat;
When You return in the Father’s glory
Do not judge me together with him.

You were put to scorn with sacrilegious spittle
On account of the first created man’s shame;
Wipe away the dishonour of the impudent man’s sins,
With which my Face is covered…

You have put on crimson,
Set the scarlet cloak over You
As a dishonour and an affront,
As Pontius Pilate’s soldiers thought it to be (Mt 27:28).

Remove sin’s shirt of hair from Me,
Crimson red, colour of blood,
Re-clothe me in the garment of joy
With which You clothed the first man.

Kneeling, they made sport,
Acting ridicule, they mocked;
When they saw it, Heaven’s armies
Worshipped in fear.

This You underwent that You might remove
The shame, of being sin’s accomplice, from Adam’s nature in us
That, from my soul and my conscience,
You might suppress my sorrowing shame…

Following the judge’s verdict,
You received the terrible blows of flagellation
Over Your whole body
And on Your limbs’ every part.

As for me who, from foot to head
Suffer unbearable pain:
Be pleased to heal me once again
As through the grace of Baptism’s fount.

In exchange for the thorns of sin
That the curse caused to grow up for us (Gn 3,18)
A Crown of Thorns was set on Your Head
By the labourers in Jerusalem’s vineyard (Mt 21,33f.).

Pull out the thorns of sin from me,
Which my enemy planted within me,
And heal in me the bite of the wound
That the marks of sin might be erased.”

PRAYER – Almighty, eternal God, Who, to provide mankind an example of humility for it to imitate, willed that the Saviour should assume our flesh and suffer death upon the Cross, mercifully grant that we may be found worthy of the lesson of His endurance and the fellowship of His Resurrection. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FRANCISCAN OFM, GOD ALONE!, HOLY WEEK, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONSOLATION

Our Morning Offering – 24 March – To Thee, O Jesus, Hosanna!

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 24 March – Palm Sunday

To Thee, O Jesus, Hosanna!
By St Bonaventure (1217-1274)
Seraphic Doctor of the Church

To Thee, O Jesus,
do I turn, as my true and last end.
Thou art the River of Life
which alone can satisfy my thirst.
Without Thee, all else is barren and void.
Without all else, Thou alone art enough for me.
Thou art the Redeemer of those that are lost,
the sweet Consoler of the sorrowful,
the Crown of Glory of the victors,
the recompense of the Blessed.
One day I hope to receive of Thy 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 await Thy Coming,
when I hope to enter into the joy of my Lord.
Hosanna!

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, OUR Cross, The HOLY CROSS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 23 March – “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” – John 12:21

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 23 March – Saturday in Passion Week – Jeremias18:18-23, John 12:10-36 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” – John 12:21

REFLECTION – “At Jerusalem the crowd cried out: “Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord, the King of Israel” (cf Mk 11:10). The phrase “He Who comes.” is well said because He is always coming, He never fails us – “The Lord is close to those who call upon Him in truth. Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord” (Ps 144:18; 117:26). The gentle King of peace stands at our door… Soldiers here below, Angels in Heaven, mortals and immortals… cry aloud: “Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord, the King of Israel.” The Pharisees, however, stand aloof (Jn 12:19) and the priests are incensed by it. But the voices which sing God’s praises ring out without ceasing – creation is full of joy…

That is why, on this very day, some Greeks, prompted by this tremendous acclamation to worship God with devotion, approached one of the Apostles, named Philip and said to him: “We would like to see Jesus.” Note well, it is the whole crowd who carries out the task of herald and prompts these Greeks to be converted. Straightaway, these latter address Christ’s disciples – “We would like to see Jesus.” Those gentiles are imitating Zachaeus, not that they climb a sycamore tree [to see Jesus] but, they make haste to rise up in their knowledge of God (Lk 19:3). “We should like to see Jesus” not so much to behold His Face but, to bear His Cross. For Jesus, Who could see their desire, had unambiguously declared to those who were standing by: “Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” calling “glory” the conversion of the gentiles.

And He gave the name “glory” to the Cross. For, from that day to this, the Cross is glorified. Indeed, it is the Cross which still today, Consecrates Kings, adorns Priests, protects Virgins, gives constancy to Hermits, reinforces the Marriage bond and strengthens Widows. It is the Cross which makes the Church fruitful, brings light to the peoples, guards the desert, opens paradise.” – St Proclus of Constantinople (Died c446) Archbishop of Constantinople, Confessor, Defender of the Church and of the Blessed Virgin, Writer, renowned Preacher, Father of the C hurch (Sermon for Palm Sunday).

PRAYER – O Lord, may the people dedicated to Thee desire to serve Thee more and more that, taught by these sacred rites, they may be enriched by more precious gift,s as they grow in favour with Thy majesty. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).