Quote of the Day – The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor
One Minute Reflection – 8 September – The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Forsake her not and she will preserve you;
love her and she will safeguard you…..Wisdom 4:6
REFLECTION – “Go to Mary and sing her praises and you will be enlightened.
For it is through her that the true Light shines on the sea of this life.”…St Ildephonsus
PRAYER – Lord God, the day of our salvation dawned when the Blessed Virgin gave birth to Your Son.
As we celebrate her nativity, grant us Your grace and Your peace.
Through Christ, our Lord, Your Son in union with the Holy Spirit.
Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 8 September – The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
God Our Father,
Give Your chosen people
Your help and strength.
The birth of the Virgin Mary’s son
was the dawn of our salvation.
May our celebration of her nativity
bring us closer to lasting peace
and may the virtues that she modeled
develop in our lives,
to love You and our neighbours more perfectly.
Grant this through Mary’s Son,
who is Christ our Lord. Amen
Adapted from “The Liturgy of the Hours”
Dear all
I did the unmentionable – spilled an entire cup over my keyboard!
Just went to buy a new one.
I’ll be back tomorrow.
With love
God bless you all
Ana
DAY THREE – NOVENA in honour of the EXALTATION of the HOLY CROSS – 7 September
Jesus suffers humiliation
Jesus, you manifested Your power through Your miracles
but in carrying the Cross, You showed
that God preferred to be humility than to be conquest.
You were beaten and spat upon,
mocked and derided.
You suffered humiliation for love of all
as You struggled under the weight of the heavy Cross.
You did this to show Your oneness with the powerless of the earth.
You took the side of the helpless
and You shamed the arrogant and the powerful.
May we, Lord, in our relationship with our brothers and sisters,
avoid domineering attitudes and instead, be of service to them.
May the glory of your cross help us understand
that hearts can never be conquered through imposition or arrogance
but through disinterested service.
Make us servants to one another
and may self-giving characterize our relationships with all.
Amen.
DAILY PRAYER:
Dear Lord Jesus
Who because of Your burning love for us willed to be crucified
and to shed Your Most Precious Blood for the redemption
and salvation of our souls,
to bear the sins of all the history of humanity,
from Adam to the end of time.
look down upon us and grant the petition we ask
…………….( mention your intention)
We trust completely in Your Mercy.
Cleanse us from sin by Your Grace,
sanctify our work,
give us and all those who are dear to us,
our daily bread, lighten the burden of our sufferings,
bless our families,
and grant to the nations, so sorely afflicted,
Your Peace, which is the only true peace,
so that by obeying Your Commandments
we may come at last to the glory of Heaven.
O Cross, you are the glorious sign of victory.
Through your power may we share
in the triumph of Christ Jesus. Amen
Glory Be. (3x)
DAY TWO – NOVENA in honour of the EXALTATION of the HOLY CROSS – 6 September
Jesus Falls and Simon of Cyrene Assists Him in carrying the Cross
Jesus, you fell three times while carrying Your cross.
You were exhausted by the tortures and the lack of sleep
and Your executioners had to ask the help of Simon the Cyrene
to help You carry the cross. You were nearly dead when you reached Calvary.
Simon of Cyrene was the most blessed person
because he was transformed by helping You carry Your cross.
Make us remember, dear Jesus, in our moments of suffering and trials,
that we, too, help carry Your cross and that it is an honour to suffer with You.
Give us hearts that easily respond to the sufferings around us,
believing that when we help the needy and the abandoned,
we are actually serving You. Amen
DAILY PRAYER:
Dear Lord Jesus
Who because of Your burning love for us willed to be crucified
and to shed Your Most Precious Blood for the redemption
and salvation of our souls,
to bear the sins of all the history of humanity,
from Adam to the end of time.
look down upon us and grant the petition we ask
…………….( mention your intention)
We trust completely in Your Mercy.
Cleanse us from sin by Your Grace,
sanctify our work,
give us and all those who are dear to us,
our daily bread, lighten the burden of our sufferings,
bless our families,
and grant to the nations, so sorely afflicted,
Your Peace, which is the only true peace,
so that by obeying Your Commandments
we may come at last to the glory of Heaven.
O Cross, you are the glorious sign of victory.
Through your power may we share
in the triumph of Christ Jesus. Amen
Glory Be. (3x)
Thought for the Day – 6 September
In 1984, at the close of the 1983 Holy Year of the Redemption at the Vatican, St Pope John Paul II entrusted to the young people of the world a simple, 12-foot wooden Cross, asking them to carry it across the world. This is now the heart of every World Youth Day this very simple, powerful, ancient Christian symbol: two large planks of wood, known as the World Youth Day Cross, that many have called the “Olympic Torch” of the huge Catholic festival of young people.
The World Youth Day cross has many names: the Jubilee Cross, the Pilgrim Cross, the Youth Cross. In 1984, at the close of the 1983 Holy Year of the Redemption at the Vatican, St Pope John Paul II entrusted to the young people of the world a simple, twelve-foot wooden Cross, asking them to carry it across the world as a sign of the love which the Lord Jesus has for humankind and “to proclaim to everyone that only in Christ who died and is risen is there salvation and redemption.” Since that day, carried by generous hands and loving hearts, the Cross has made a long, uninterrupted pilgrimage across the continents, to demonstrate, as Pope John Paul II had said, “the Cross walks with young people and young people walk with the Cross.”
The cross does not journey alone. Since 2003 it has been accompanied by an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary. a copy of the Icon of our Lady known as the ‘Salus Populi Romani’. The original from which this Icon has been copied is considered by some to be from the eighth century and is housed in a chapel in the Basilica of St Mary Major in Rome. St Pope John Paul II entrusted to the youth an icon of the Blessed Mother that would accompany the cross. “It will be a sign of Mary’s motherly presence close to young people who are called, like the Apostle John, to welcome her into their lives.”
The World Youth Day Cross and Icon speak to us of the two focal points of the message of Christianity: of the Cradle and of the Cross; of Christ who was born of Mary and of Christ who was crucified for us; of Christmas and Good Friday; of the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery. The Icon and Cross, therefore, are potent symbols of the joy and suffering that we experience in our Christian pilgrimage.
Because we follow a crucified Christ, we enter into solidarity with the world’s suffering masses. We experience the power and love of God through the vulnerable and suffering. The Cross teaches us that what could have remained hideous and beyond remembrance is transformed into beauty, hope and a continuous call to heroic goodness.
To celebrate the Triumph of the Cross is to acknowledge the full, cruciform achievement of Jesus’ career. Jesus asks us to courageously choose a life similar to his own. Suffering cannot be avoided nor ignored by those who follow Christ. Following Jesus implies suffering and a cross. The mark of the Messiah is to become the mark of his disciples. (Fr Rosica)
Quote of the Day – 6 September
One Minute Reflection – 6 September
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who has granted us his love…Romans 8:35-37
REFLECTION – “On the Way of the Cross, you see, my children, only the first step is painful. Our greatest cross is the fear of crosses. . . We have not the courage to carry our cross and we are very much mistaken; for, whatever we do, the cross holds us tight — we cannot escape from it. What, then, have we to lose? Why not love our crosses and make use of them to take us to heaven?”………St Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney
PRAYER – Shed Your clear light on our hearts dear Lord, so that walking continually in the way of Your commandments, we may never be deceived or misled but rejoice continually in the clarity of Your Cross, for by Your Holy Cross, You have shown us the way to You. Amen
Our Morning Offering – 6 September
O Lord, take away my heart of stone
By Archbishop Baldwin of Canterbury (d 1190)
O Lord, take away my heart of stone,
my hardened heart
and grant to me a new heart,
a heart of flesh, a clean heart.
Come, You who cleanse the heart
and love the pure of heart,
possess my heart and dwell in it,
containing it and filling it,
higher than the highest
and more intimate
than my most intimate thoughts.
You are the image of all beauty
and the seal of all holiness,
seal Your image on my heart
and seal my heart in Your mercy.
O God, the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Amen
DAY ONE – NOVENA in honour of the EXALTATION of the HOLY CROSS – 5 September
Jesus our Lord, You carried Your cross through the streets of Jerusalem,
with Your head bloodied by the crown of thorns.
Your enemies mocked You and your friends abandoned You.
You carried the cross, the sins of all humanity,
on Your shoulders and in the silence of Your sufferings, we are reborn.
Jesus our Lord, You taught us that we should also carry others’ sins.
to suffer in silence, yet our sufferings can make reparation for our sins
and the sins of all the word.
Teach us, O Lord, to accept situations that we cannot change
and carry them as you carried Your cross
through the streets of Jerusalem. Amen
DAILY PRAYER:
Dear Lord Jesus
Who because of Your burning love for us willed to be crucified
and to shed Your Most Precious Blood for the redemption
and salvation of our souls,
to bear the sins of all the history of humanity,
from Adam to the end of time.
look down upon us and grant the petition we ask
…………….( mention your intention)
We trust completely in Your Mercy.
Cleanse us from sin by Your Grace,
sanctify our work,
give us and all those who are dear to us,
our daily bread, lighten the burden of our sufferings,
bless our families,
and grant to the nations, so sorely afflicted,
Your Peace, which is the only true peace,
so that by obeying Your Commandments
we may come at last to the glory of Heaven.
O Cross, you are the glorious sign of victory.
Through your power may we share
in the triumph of Christ Jesus. Amen
Glory Be. (3x)
This feast was observed in Rome before the end of the seventh century. It commemorates the recovery of the Holy Cross, which had been placed on Mount Calvary by St. Helena and preserved in Jerusalem but then had fallen into the hands of Chosroas, King of the Persians. The precious relic was recovered and returned to Jerusalem by Emperor Heralius in 629.
The lessons from the Breviary tell us that Emperor Heraclius carried the Cross back to Jerusalem on his shoulders. He was clothed with costly garments and with ornaments of precious stones. But at the entrance to Mount Calvary a strange incident occurred. Try as hard as he would, he could not go forward. Zacharias, the Bishop of Jerusalem, then said to the astonished monarch: “Consider, O Emperor, that with these triumphal ornaments you are far from resembling Jesus carrying His Cross.” The Emperor then put on a penitential garb and continued the journey.
Triumph of the Cross
This day is also called the Exaltation of the Cross, Elevation of the Cross, Holy Cross Day, Holy Rood Day, or Roodmas. The liturgy of the Cross is a triumphant liturgy. When Moses lifted up the bronze serpent over the people, it was a foreshadowing of the salvation through Jesus when He was lifted up on the Cross. Our Mother Church sings of the triumph of the Cross, the instrument of our redemption. To follow Christ we must take up His cross, follow Him and become obedient until death, even if it means death on the cross. We identify with Christ on the Cross and become co-redeemers, sharing in His cross.
We make the Sign of the Cross before prayer which helps to fix our minds and hearts to God. After prayer we make the Sign of the Cross to keep close to God. During trials and temptations our strength and protection is the Sign of the Cross. At Baptism we are sealed with the Sign of the Cross, signifying the fullness of redemption and that we belong to Christ. Let us look to the cross frequently and realise that when we make the Sign of the Cross we give our entire self to God — mind, soul, heart, body, will, thoughts.
O cross, you are the glorious sign of victory.
Through your power may we share in the triumph of Christ Jesus.
Thought for the Day – 5 September – The Memorial of St Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
Through her life and work Mother Teresa gave visibility to the invisible God, as a light bulb makes electricity visible. As the light bulb does not produce the electricity, so too the power to do good belonged not to her but to the Lord. There were therefore no grounds for her to be proud. It was clear to her that the more united she was to Jesus, like the branch to the vine, the more abundantly she would bear fruit for Him.
“Let us thank God and Our Lady” was her spontaneous response when people thanked her for the blessings they received through her prayers. Aware of the Source of all power, she wrote in the first pages of her handwritten Constitutions:
“It was Jesus Christ on the Cross through His blessed Mother—in His great mercy and love—who chose one of His most unworthy and most incapable of human beings to start His own work among the poor. Therefore the Society as a whole or in detail is completely and will always remain the sole possession of the Mother of God.”
(Fr Sebastian Vazhakala MC a member of St Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, who knew, worked and loved St Teresa for 31 years)
St Mother Teresa Pray for us that we too may make the invisible God visible! “Let us thank God and Our Lady”
Quote/s of the Day – 5 September – The Memorial of St Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
“As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus’ thirst. “Repent and believe,” Jesus tells us. What are we to repent? Our indifference, our hardness of heart. What are we to believe? Jesus thirsts even now, in your heart and in the poor – He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you.”
Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.
“Unless we believe and see Jesus in the appearance of bread on the altar, we will not be able to see him in the distressing disguise of the poor.”
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”
“If you can’t feed a hundred people
them just feed one.”
The Simple Path
Silence is Prayer
Prayer is Faith
Faith is Love
Love is Service
The Fruit of Service is Peace
“The so-called right to abortion
has portrayed the GREATEST of GIFTS
a CHILD
as a competitor
an intrusion and
an inconvenience.”
One Minute Reflection – September 5 – The Memorial of St Mother Teresa (1910-1997)
Each one has his own gift from God……….1 Cor 7:7
REFLECTION – “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love…..God doesn’t require us to succeed, He only requires that we try…….I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” ….St Mother Teresa of Calcutta
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, help me to be holy in the way that You have laid out for me. Let me carry out the duties of my state in life to the full and so attain the holiness proper to me. St Mother Teresa please pray for us that we may all use the gifts we have been given for the Glory of God. Amen
Thought for the Day – 4 September – The Feast of Our Lady of Consolation
Pope Benedict XVI encouraged the faithful to pray to Our Lady of Consolation, stating “From Her We Can Always Learn How to Look Upon Jesus:”
“As we come to the conclusion of this solemn celebration, we offer a prayer to Mary Most Holy, who in Turin is venerated as the principal patroness with the title Blessed Virgin of Consolation. To her I entrust this city and all those who live here. O Mary, watch over the families and the workers; watch over those who have lost faith and hope; comfort the sick, those in prison and all who suffer. O Help of Christians, sustain the young people, the elderly and persons in difficulty. O Mother of the Church, watch over her pastors and the whole community of believers, that they may be “salt and light” in the midst of the world.
The Virgin Mary is she who more than any other contemplated God in the human face of Jesus. She saw him as a newborn when, wrapped in swaddling clothes, he was placed in a manger; she saw him when, just after his death, they took him down from the cross, wrapped him in linen and placed him in the sepulcher. Inside her was impressed the image of her martyred Son; but this image was then transfigured in the light of the Resurrection. Thus in Mary’s heart was carried the mystery of the face of Christ, a mystery of death and of glory. From her we can always learn how to look upon Jesus with a gaze of love and of faith, to recognise in that human countenance, the Countenance of God.”
To our Lord and our God, Jesus Christ, we pray for a greater love of His Mother and to our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Consolation, we lift our prayers for patience, for support and for comfort in our times of confusion, fear and anxiety. Pray for us, Our Lady of Consolation!
Quote/s of the Day – 4 September – The Feast of Our Lady of Consolation
“Has anyone ever come away from Mary,
troubled or saddened or ignorant
of the heavenly Mysteries?
Who has not returned to everyday life
gladdened and joyful
because a request has been granted
by the Mother of God?”
“As the Mother of Christ,
Mary is the Mother
of our wisdom and justice,
of our holiness and redemption.
She is more our Mother
than the mother of our flesh.”
“O Mary, I have not doubt
that whenever we run to you,
we shall obtain all that we desire.
Let those then who have no hope, hope in you.”
One Minute Reflection – 4 September – The Feast of Our Lady of Consolation
Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”….John 2:4-5
REFLECTION – “The Church calls Mary the “Queen of Mercy” because we believe she opens the abyss of God’s mercy to whomever she wills, when she wills and as she wills.
No sinner — no matter how great — who has Mary as protector is ever lost.”…St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) – Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Almighty God, grant that Your faithful, who rejoice in the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may be delivered from every evil here on earth, through her prayer and come to the enduring joys of heaven. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit Mary, our Consolation and Comforter, pray for us! Amen.
Our Morning Offering – 4 September – The Feast of Our Lady of Consolation
Prayer to Our Lady of Consolation
O Mary Immaculate, our Mother and Consolation,
I take refuge in your most loving heart
with all the confidence of which I am capable;
you shall be the dearest object
of my love and veneration.
To you, who are the dispenser
of the treasures of Heaven,
I shall always have recourse,
in my sorrows to have peace,
in my doubts to have light,
in my dangers to be defended,
in all my needs to obtain your assistance.
Be therefore my refuge,
my strength,
my consolation, O Mary the Consoler!
At the hour of my death,
graciously receive the last sighs of my heart
and obtain for me a place in your heavenly home,
where all hearts shall praise with one accord
the adorable Heart of Jesus for ever more,
and your most lovable heart, O Mary.
Our tender Mother, Comforter of the afflicted,
pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Grant also peace and holiness to the Church,
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen
Thought for the Day – 3 September – The Memnorial of St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) – Father & Doctor of the Church
By his writings, St Gregory is one of the Four Fathers of the Latin Church and the influence of his writings dominated the Middle Ages. His Pastoral Care, became the pastoral manual of later centuies and his Moralia laid the foundation for medieval spirtuality.
In his thirteen years as Pope, this “servant of the servants of God”, crowded in a lifetime.
He died in 604, sick and worn out, still dictating letters on his deathbed. He was buried at St Peter’s and his epitaph called him “the great consul of God.”
St Gregory shows the critical importance of leadership and the fantastic things that a good leader can accomplish. He influenced every aspect of religious life and is with good reason called “the Great”.
His life shows how important one man’s witness can be.
We are “one man” too – the tiny bit we do might seem inconsequential – but God works in mysterious ways and His Hand covers all the earth – our tiny bit could well be spread by that Hand!
St Gregory the Great, Servant of the Servants, pray for us!
Quote/s of the Day – 3 September – The Memorial of St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) – Father & Doctor of the Church
“If we knew at what time we were to depart from this world,
we would be able to select a season for pleasure
and another for repentance.
But God, who has promised pardon to every repentant sinner,
has not promised us tomorrow.
Therefore we must always dread the final day,
which we can never foresee.
This VERY DAY is a day of truce, a day for conversion.
And yet we refuse to cry over the evil we have done!
Not only do we not weep for the sins we have committed,
we even add to them…”
“Don’t be anxious about what you have,
but about what you are!”
“When we attend to the needs of those in want,
we give them what is theirs, not ours.
More than performing works of mercy,
we are paying a debt of justice.”
“The Emperor of heaven, the Lord of men and of angels,
has sent you His epistles for your life’s advantage—
and yet you neglect to read them eagerly.
Study them, I beg you and meditate daily on the words
of your Creator. Learn the heart of God in the words of God,
that you may sigh more eagerly for things eternal,
that your soul may be kindled
with greater longings for heavenly joy.”
Our Morning Offering – 3 September – The Memorial of St Pope Gregory the Great – Father & Doctor
St Gregory’s Prayer of Praise
It is only right,
with all the powers of our heart and mind,
to praise You Father
and Your Only-Begotten Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Dear Father,
by Your wondrous condescension
of loving-kindness toward us, Your servants,
You gave up Your Son.
Dear Jesus,
You paid the debt of Adam for us
to the Eternal Father by Your Blood
poured forth in loving-kindness.
You cleared away the darkness of sin
by Your magnificent and radiant Resurrection.
You broke the bonds of death
and rose from the grave as a Conqueror.
You reconciled heaven and earth.
Our life had no hope of eternal happiness
before You redeemed us.
Your Resurrection has washed away our sins,
restored our innocence and brought us joy.
How inestimable is the tenderness
of Your Love!
Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 2 September – The Memorial of St Solomon Le Clercq FSC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HC9QWCtvB8)
“I’m Solomon Le Clercq
and I want,
I want to sign,
to say that I’ll die,
I’ll die a happy man
if Jesus is at my side
and I say:
I want to live for Jesus,
I want!
I want to die for Jesus,
I want!
To live and to die
a real man of God!
To live and die a real
Brother from God!”
“As for us, we hold, to what we believed,
ten and twenty years ago;
to what our forefathers believed,
one hundred years ago
and one thousand years ago
and to that which,
the whole Catholic world,
has always believed.”
“Do not be troubled.
Ask constantly for the help of God ….
Why should we weep
since the Gospel tells us to rejoice
when we have something to endure
for His name’s sake?
Let us then suffer joyfully
and with thanksgiving
the crosses and afflictions
which He may send us.
As for myself,
it would seem that I am not
worthy to suffer for Him,
since I have not as yet
encountered any trials,
whereas so many confessors
of Jesus Christ are in affliction.”
One Minute Reflection – 2 September – Today’s Gospel Matthew 25:14-30
For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but anyone who has not, will be deprived even of what he has.…Matthew 25:29
REFLECTION – ” Fear is the wrong attitude: the servant who is afraid of his master and fears his return hides the coin in the earth and it does not produce any fruit. This happens, for example, to those who after receiving Baptism, Communion and Confirmation subsequently bury these gifts beneath a blanket of prejudice, beneath a false image of God that paralyses faith and good works, thus betraying the Lord’s expectations. However, the parable places a greater emphasis on the good fruits brought by the disciples who, happy with the gift they received, did not keep it hidden with fear and jealousy but made it profitable by sharing it and partaking in it. Yes, what Christ has given us is multiplied in its giving!” …Pope Benedict XVI ( Angelus address of Sunday, 16 November 2008)
PRAYER – Lord my God, teach me to be unafraid to share the Light of the Gospel with all. Teach me to go out and spread Your gifts with all who enter my life. For You have called me and I must respond without fear but with joy and love. St Solomon Le Clercq – you ‘wanted’ to be all for God! Please pray for us all, amen.
Our Morning Offering – August 31
Prayer of Abandonment to God’s Will
O Lord, I do not know
what to ask of You.
You alone know
what are my true needs.
You love me more
than I myself know how to love.
Help me to see my real needs
which are concealed from me.
I do not dare to ask,
either for a cross
or for consolation.
I can only wait on You.
My heart is open to You.
Visit and help me,
for the sake of Your great mercy.
Strike me and heal me;
cast me down and raise me up.
I worship in silence Your holy will
and Your unsearchable ways.
I offer myself as a sacrifice to You.
I have no other desire
than to fulfill Your will.
Teach me to pray.
Pray You Yourself in me.
Amen
by Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow
Vasily Mikhaylovich Drozdov
The Holy Father’s Prayer Intention for September 2017
SEPTEMBER:
PARISHES – That our parishes, animated by a missionary spirit,
may be places where faith is communicated
and charity is seen.
September: Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Seven Sorrows of
the Blessed Virgin Mary
1. The prophecy of Simeon
2. The Flight to Egypt
3. Loss of Child Jesus for 3 days
4. Meeting Jesus carrying His Cross
5. The Crucifixion of Jesus
6. The Pieta – receiving Jesus’ Body
7. The Burial of Jesus
The month of September is dedicated to the Seven Sorrows of Mary.
Devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary dates from the twelfth century, when it made its appearance in monastic circles under the influence of St Anselm and St Bernard.
The Cistercians and then the Servites undertook to propagate it.
The Devotion became widespread in the fourteenth and especially the fifteenth centuries, particularly in the Rhineland and Flanders, where Confraternities of the Sorrowful Mother sprang up. It was in this context that the first liturgical formularies in her honour were composed. A provincial council of Mainz in 1423 made use of these in establishing a “Feast of the Sorrows of Mary” in reparation for Hussite profanations of her images.
In 1494 the feast appeared in Bruges, where the Precious Blood of Christ was venerated; later on it made its way into France. It did not, however, become widespread in France before Benedict XIII included it in the Roman Calendar in 1727.
God vouchsafed to select the very things about Him which are most incommunicable and in a most mysteriously real way communicate them to her. See how He had already mixed her up with the eternal designs of creation, making her almost a partial cause and partial model of it. Our Lady’s co-operation in the redemption of the world gives us a fresh view of her magnificence. Neither the Immaculate Conception nor the Assumption will give us a higher idea of Mary’s exaltation than the title of co-redemptress. Her sorrows were not necessary for the redemption of the world but in the counsels of God they were inseparable from it. They belong to the integrity of the divine plan. Are not Mary’s mysteries Jesus’ mysteries and His mysteries hers? The truth appears to be that all the mysteries of Jesus and Mary were in God’s design as one mystery. Jesus Himself was Mary’s sorrow, seven times repeated, aggravated sevenfold. During the hours of the Passion, the offering of Jesus and the offering of Mary were tied in one. They kept pace together; they were made of the same materials; they were perfumed with kindred fragrance; they were lighted with the same fire; they were offered with kindred dispositions. The two things were one simultaneous oblation, interwoven each moment through the thickly crowded mysteries of that dread time, unto the eternal Father, out of two sinless hearts, that were the hearts of Son and Mother, for the sins of a guilty world which fell on them contrary to their merits but according to their own free will.
— Fr. Frederick Faber, The Foot of the Cross.
Mater Dolorosa, please pray for us!
World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation – 1 September 2017
Pope Francis has designated 1 September as the annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. He hopes this day will be a time for individuals and communities to “reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which He has entrusted to our care and to implore His help for the protection of creation as well as His pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.”
On June 18, 2015, Pope Francis released an encyclical on ecology entitled, “Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home.” Prior to the public release, the Holy Father sent the encyclical to all Bishops around the world with a handwritten note, seen below.
The Ecology Encyclical: Care for Our Common Home: https://youtu.be/RR2s5cZ8Dvw
All-powerful God, You are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of Your creatures.
You embrace with Your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of Your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in Your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
That we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognise that we are profoundly united
with every creature as we journey towards Your infinite light.
We thank You for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace. Amen
Thought for the Day – 1 September – the Memorial of St Giles, one of th Fourteen Holy Helpers
Despite the fact that much about St Giles is shrouded in mystery, we can say that he was one of the most popular saints in the Middle Ages. St Giles may not have been a martyr but, as the word martyr means, he was a true witness to the faith. This is attested to by the faith of the People of God in the Middle Ages. He became one of the “holy helpers” and can still function in that role for us today.
It seems appropriate, that St Giles, who loved nature and whom nature loved, who made his home in a forest, in a hollow tree, should have his feast day today, 1 September, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.
There is nothing random, nothing that happens by chance – all is held in God’s hands!
St Giles pray for us and for all of God’s creation.
Quote/s of the Day – Pope Francis – Laudato Si – – 1 September – World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
“Creatures are not just resources but have value in and of themselves and give glory to God
It is not enough, however, to think of different species merely as potential “resources” to be exploited, while overlooking the fact that they have value in themselves. Each year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never know, which our children will never see because they have been lost for ever. The great majority become extinct for reasons related to human activity. Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. We have no such right. (33)”
“Overpopulation is not the problem
Instead of resolving the problems of the poor and thinking of how the world can be different, some can only propose a reduction in the birth rate. At times, developing countries face forms of international pressure which make economic assistance contingent on certain policies of “reproductive health”. […] To blame population growth instead of extreme and selective consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the issues. It is an attempt to legitimise the present model of distribution, where a minority believes that it has the right to consume in a way which can never be universalised, since the planet could not even contain the waste products of such consumption. (50)”
Dear mother earth, who day by day
Unfolds rich blessing on our way,
O praise God! Alleluia!
The fruits and flowers that verdant grow,
Let them His praise abundant show.
O praise God, O praise God,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
St. Francis of Assisi
(Translated by William H Draper) (Image by St Francis by Albert Chevallier Tayler)
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