Category: MORNING Prayers

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One Minute Reflection – 13 September – Jesus at table with the Pharisees

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One Minute Reflection – 13 September – Readings: Ps 85:3; 85:5, Ps 85:1, Eph 3:13-21, Luke 14:1-11

And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath? But they remained silent. And He took and healed him and let him go.

Luke 14:1-11

REFLECTION – The world’s eternal and invisible Creator, preparing to save humankind, which for long ages had been hindered by its subjection to the heavy law of death, deigned “in these last days” to become man that in his mercy he might redeem those who in justice he condemned. And so as to show the depth of his love for us, he not only became a man but a poor and humble man so that, by drawing near to us in his poverty, he might make us sharers in his riches. So poor did he become for our sake that he had nowhere to lay his head: “Foxes have dens and the birds of the air have their nest, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”.

This is the reason why he agreed to go and dine wherever he was invited, not out of an excessive enjoyment in eating but so that he could teach the way of salvation and stimulate faith. There he would fill the guests with light by his miracles and the servants, who were kept busy inside and were not free to go with him, would hear the words of salvation. Indeed, he despised no one and none were considered unworthy of his love because “he has mercy on all; he hates nothing of what he has made and takes care of them all”.

So that he might carry out this work of salvation the Lord entered the house of an eminent Pharisee on the sabbath. The scribes and Pharisees watched him with the intention of calling him to account, so that if he were to cure the man with dropsy they could accuse him of breaking the Law and, if he did not, they could accuse him of blasphemy or inability. By the pure light of his word of truth they were to see the darkness of their deceit vanish away.

Blessed Guerric of Igny

PRAYER – Lord God and holy Father, guard our faith we pray and grace us with Your mercy. Keep us ever faithful to Your precepts and bring us to Your home, to look upon Your Face. May the prayers of Your saints assist us on our journey. In your untiring life of trust in God, And may our Holy and Sorrowful Mother Mary, be our merciful protector. We ask all this through Christ, our Lord with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 12 September – Mary! How Sweetly Falls That Word

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Our Morning Offering – 12 September – Feast of the Holy Name of Mary

Mary! How Sweetly Falls That Word
Anonymous, 19th Century

Mary! How sweetly falls that word
On my enraptured ear!
Oft do I breathe in accents low,
That sound when none are near.
Chorus:
Sing, O my lips and loudly proclaim:
O Mary, O Mary, how sweet is thy name!
Sing, O my lip, and loudly proclaim;
O Mary, O Mary, how sweet is thy name!

Sweet as the warbling of a bird,
Sweet as a mother’s voice;
So sweet to me is that dear name,
It makes my soul rejoice.
Chorus.

Bright as the glittering stars appear,
Bright as the moonbeams shine,
So bright in my mind’s eye is seen
Thy loveliness divine!
Chorus.

Through thee I offer my requests,
And when my prayer is done,
In ecstasy sublime I see
Thee seated near thy Son.
Chorus.

Tune: St Basil’s Hymnal: Unnamed Tune. (1889)

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One Minute Reflection – 12 September – May the most glorious Virgin Mother Mary be jubilant !

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One Minute Reflection – 12 September – Readings: Ps 44:13, 15-16., Ps 44:2, Sir 24:23-31, Luke 1:26-38

At that time, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.

Luke 1:26-38

REFLECTION – May the holy divinity of your glory, my God, O my gentleness, with which you deigned to fill and to inhabit for nine months the chaste viscera of the Virgin Mary, bless you. May the highest virtue of your divinity, which bent to the humbleness of the virginal valley, bless you. May the utmost art of your almightiness, God most high, with which you imparted onto the virgin rose such virtue, radiance, and comeliness as you yourself could yearn for, bless you. May your wondrous wisdom, whose copious grace made all of Mary’s life and body, as well as her soul, comparable with your worthiness, bless you. May you strong, wise and most dulcet love which made you, the flower and spouse of virginity, become the Son of a virgin, bless you.

May the worthiest heart and soul of the most glorious Virgin Mother Mary (whom, because of my need for salvation, you chose for yourself as mother and that her motherly clemency might always be open to me) be jubilant to you on my behalf. May that most faithful concern which is yours for me (by which you have provided me with an advocate and patron saint of such capability that through her I may easily be able to find your grace, and in whom, I trustfully believe, your eternal mercy is preserved for me) be jubilant to you. May that wonderful tabernacle of your glory, which alone has ministered to you worthily as a holy dwelling place, and through which you can best make amends for me to yourself for the due measure of praise and glory that I owe you, be jubilant to you.

Saint Gertrude of Helfta

PRAYER – Heavenly Father, assist us at all times we pray, to obtain a spirit of worthy penance, for our sins and that of all the world. To the invocation of Your Divine Son, Jesus, we call on the intercession of His holy Mother, to aid us on our pilgrimage. With great affection and confidence, we honour the Holy Hearts and invoke the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, to be our constant source of pure assistance and succour that we might bear fruits worthy of their Names. Blessed be the Name of Mary! Amen

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Our Morning Offering – 11 September – Mother of Love, of Sorrow and of Mercy

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Our Morning Offering – 4 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Mother of Love, of Sorrow and of Mercy
By St Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373)

O Blessed Virgin Mary,
Immaculate Mother of God,
who endured a martyrdom of love and grief,
beholding the sufferings and sorrows of Jesus!
Thou didst co-operate in the benefit of my redemption
by thy innumerable afflictions
and by offering to the Eternal Father,
His only-begotten Son, as a holocaust
and victim of propitiation for my sins.
I thank thee for the unspeakable love
which led thee to deprive thyself
of the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus,
true God and true Man, to save me, a sinner.
Oh! make use of the unfailing intercession
of thy sorrows with the Father and the Son,
that I may steadfastly amend my life
and never again crucify
my loving Redeemer by my sins
and that, persevering till death in His grace,
I may obtain eternal life
through the merits of His Cross and Passion.
Amen
Mother of love, of sorrow and of mercy, pray for us!

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One Minute Reflection – 11 September – “When the Lord saw her… he said to her: ‘Do not weep’”

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One Minute Reflection – 11 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Readings: Ps 85:1-3, Ps 85:4, Gal 5:25-26; 6:1-10, Luke 7:11-16

And as He drew near the gate of the town, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large gathering from the town was with her. And the Lord, seeing her, had compassion on her, and said to her, Do not weep.

Luke 7:11-16

REFLECTION – Christ, hope of the believer, does not call those who leave this world ‘dead’ but ‘sleeping’ when he says: “Our friend Lazarus is asleep”. The apostle Paul, likewise, does not want us to be grieved “about those who have fallen asleep”. By this, if our faith holds that “everyone who believes” in Christ, according to his word in the Gospel, “will never die”, we know that he himself is not dead and we too will not die. Because “the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven and the dead will rise”. May hope in the resurrection encourage us, then, since we shall see then all those we have lost. It matters that we should firmly believe in him, that is to say that we obey his precepts, since he applies his mighty power to raising the dead with more ease than we rouse those who are asleep.

This is what we say; and yet, I don't know through what feeling, we take refuge in tears and a feeling of regret compromises our faith. Alas! How pitiable man's condition is, and without Christ how empty our life is! But you, O Death, who are cruel enough to break the union between spouses and separate those whom friendship unites, from henceforth your power has been shattered. From now on your pitiless yoke has been crushed by him who threatened you through the words of the prophet Hosea: “O death, I will be your death”. That is why we hurl our challenge together with the apostle Paul: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”. He who vanquished you has redeemed us; he has delivered his beloved soul into the hands of sinners that he might make them his beloved friends.

It would take too long to call to mind everything in Holy Scripture that should bring us all consolation. It is enough to hope in the resurrection and raise our eyes to the glory of our Redeemer since it is in him that we are already raised, as our faith gives us to believe, according to the apostle Paul's words: “If we have died with Christ we believe that we shall also live with him”.

Saint Braulion of Saragossa

PRAYER – Remember Lord, Your solemn Covenant, renewed and consecrated by the Blood of the Lamb, so that Your people may obtain forgiveness for their sins and continued growth by grace. May the Blessed Virgin, the Sorrowful Mother of Christ, our Treasure, intercede for our salvation. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ Your Son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God with You Father, now and forever, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 10 September – I Rise – An Old Morning Prayer

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I Rise – An Old Morning Prayer – Excerpt
From The Blossoms of the Cross — 1894
The Sisters of St Joseph

I rise In God’s strength,
In God’s power,
In the Agony of Christ,
In the Cross of Christ,
In Christ’s Precious Blood,
These will sustain me against my enemies,
visible and invisible.
I rise in the blessing of Christ
which my dearest Jesus left to the whole world.
Protect me, All-Holy Trinity,
God the Father, Who created me,
God, the Son, Who redeemed me in His Precious Blood,
God, the Holy Ghost, Who sanctified me in Holy Baptism.
God, the Father, I give myself to Thee!
God, the Son, I commend myself to Thee!
God, the Holy Ghost, teach me!
Mary, Mother of God, assist me!
All you Saints of God, pray for me!
All you Holy Angels, protect me!
The Cross of Christ preserve me!
Amen

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One Minute Reflection – 10 September – “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God”

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One Minute Reflection – 10 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Readings: Ps 91:13-14, Ps 91:2, 1 Cor. 4:9-14, Luke 12:32-34

For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

Luke 12:32-34

REFLECTION – “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. The beginning of the New Testament is altogether joyful and full of fresh grace. It even nudges the unbeliever and sluggish to pay heed and, more to the point, to act by promising happiness to the unfortunate and the Kingdom of heaven to those in exile, those in any kind of distress. The beginning of the new Law is pleasant to hear and starts off under happy auspices since the Legislator follows on from this beginning by giving so many assurances of beatitude. In this way those who have been attracted by them will go from one virtue to the next, climbing the eight steps that this Gospel has set up and placed within our hearts. For it is clear that what it is all about is the ascent of the heart and of the progress of merit through eight steps of virtue, leading men gradually from the lowest to the highest levels of evangelical perfection. In this way they will at last enter and see the God of gods in Zion, in his Temple, of which the prophet has said: “It had a stairway of eight steps,”.

The first virtue of the beginner is to renounce the world, through which we become poor in spirit; the second is gentleness, by which we submit ourselves and become accustomed to obedience; then the grief with which we lament our sins or with weeping beg for the virtues. These we certainly enjoy wherever we have the greatest hunger and thirst for justice, as much for ourselves as for others, and begin to be stirred by zeal against sinners. Yet, lest immoderate fervour turn into fault, the mercy by which it is tempered follows after. Through putting this into practice and training ourselves, when we have learnt how to be just and how to be merciful, then we may, perhaps, be capable of entering into contemplation and giving ourselves to the purification of our hearts so as to see God.

Blessed Guerric of Igny

PRAYER – Lord God, in Your wisdom, You created us, in love. By Your providence, You rule us, in love. Penetrate our inmost being with the holy light of Your Son. Penetrate our hearts with the overwhelming love for Your love, so that we may weep in consolation. May the Light that is Jesus Christ our Lord, enlighten our hearts that we may see clearly the way we should tread. May the prayers of Your holy Angels, Martyrs, Saints and our Sorrowful Martyr Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, be our guiding inspiration. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 9 September – Indulgenced Prayers

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Our Morning Offering – 9 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Indulgenced prayers to the Blessed Virgin

Mary!

(300 days every time said. Plenary indulgence at the point of death to those who have frequently invoked the name of Mary during life)

Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, holy Grant me strength against thine enemies.

(300 days every time said)

Thou who wast a Virgin before thy delivery, pray for us. Hail Mary, etc.

Thou who wast a Virgin in thy delivery, pray for us. Hail Mary, etc.

Thou who wast a Virgin after thy delivery, pray for us. Hail Mary, etc.

(300 days every time said)

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

(300 days every time said. The Blessed Virgin may also be invoked under any other title approved by ecclesiastical authority)

My mother, deliver me from mortal sin.

Hail Mary, etc., thrice.

(300 days every time said)

O Mary, bless this house, where thy name is ever held in benediction. All glory to Mary Immaculate, ever Virgin, blessed among women, the mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, queen of paradise.

(300 days every time said)

Mary, our hope, have pity on us.

(300 days every time said)

Mother of love, of sorrow, and of mercy, pray for us.

(300 days every time said)

Holy Mary, deliver us from the pains of hell.

(300 days every time said)

My mother, my sure trust!

(300 days every time said)

Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, make us saints.

(300 days every time said)

Mother of mercy, pray for us.

(300 days every time said)

Mary, Virgin Mother of God, pray earnestly to Jesus for me.

(300 days every time said)

O Mary, make me live in God, with God, and for God.

(300 days every time said)

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One Minute Reflection – 9 September – “Those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him”

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One Minute Reflection – 9 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary ” – Readings: Ps 85:1-3, Ps 85:4, Gal 5:25-26; 6:1-10, Luke 7:11-16

And He said, Young man, I say to you, arise. And he who was dead, sat up, and began to speak.

Luke 7:11-16

REFLECTION – The Word of God, incorporeal, incorruptible and immaterial, came down to our world. Not that he had been far from it before, since no part of creation was ever without him. Together with his Father he filled all things. But he came to us full of love for us and showed himself to us openly. He took pity on our race and our weakness and was moved by the corruption that had got the better of us.

He could not allow death to rule over us any longer. Had death prevailed, creation would have perished and the Father's work in forming man would have been in vain… Therefore he took to himself a nature which was no different from ours. He built himself a temple, a body that is, in the womb of the Virgin, and so made himself an instrument in which to dwell and make himself known. In this way he took from us a body like our own and, since all are subject to the corruption of death, he surrendered his body to death for us all and led it to the Father lovingly for our sake.

St Athanasius

PRAYER – Almighty Lord and God, protect us by Your power and love throughout this day, even as You have enabled us, in Your love to begin it. Do not let us turn aside to any sin but let our every thought, word and deed be done in love for You and Your creatures, our neighbour. Teach us to love as You have loved us and may our Sorrowful and Holy Mother, show us the way. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who loved us to the end, with the Holy Spiriti, God now and for all eternity, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 8 September – Mary the Dawn, Christ the Perfect Day

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Our Morning Offering – 8 September – Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Mary the Dawn, Christ the Perfect Day

Mary the dawn, Christ the Perfect Day.
Mary the gate, Christ the Heavenly Way!

Mary the root, Christ the Mystic Vine.
Mary the grape, Christ the Sacred Wine!

Mary the wheat, Christ the Living Bread.
Mary the stem, Christ the Rose blood-red!

Mary the font, Christ the Cleansing Flood.
Mary the cup, Christ the Saving Blood!

Mary the temple, Christ the temple’s Lord.
Mary the shrine, Christ the God adored!

Mary the beacon, Christ the Haven’s Rest.
Mary the mirror, Christ the Vision Blest!

Mary the mother, Christ the mother’s Son.
By all things blest while endless ages run.
Amen

Melody: Mary the Dawn; Music: Anon
Text: Anon, or by the Dominican Sisters of Summit

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One Minute Reflection –8 September – “Looking around at those seated in the circle, Jesus said: ‘Here are my mother and my brothers’ “

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One Minute Reflection –8 September – Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Readings: Sedulius, Ps 44:2, Prov 8:22-35, Matt 1:1-16

The Lord begot me, the firstborn of His ways, the forerunner of His prodigies of long ago; from of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth.

Prov 8:22-35

REFLECTION – Rightly indeed does the Virgin Mary, who truly conceived the first born of all, hold first place in the congregation of the just. For Christ is “the firstborn of many brethren”. And so, in the divinely inspired scriptures, what is said in general of the Virgin Mother the Church is said individually of the Virgin Mary; and what is said in the particular case of the Virgin Mother Mary is rightly understood of the Virgin Mother Church universally; and when mention is made of either, it is to be understood almost indifferently and conjointly of both.

Every faithful soul, spouse of the Word of God, mother, daughter and sister of Christ, is understood to be a virgin with her own form of fertility. This is said of the whole Church, more particularly of Mary, and individually of the faithful soul, by the Wisdom itself of God, the Father’s Word. Therefore, the text continues: “I shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord”. The inheritance of the Lord universally is the Church, more particularly Mary, and individually every faithful soul. Christ abode for nine months in the tent of Mary’s womb; he abides until the consummation of the ages in the tent of the Church’s faith; he will abide for ever and ever in the knowledge and love of the faithful soul.

Isaac of Stella (?-c.1171) Cistercian monk

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.

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Our Morning Offering – 7 September – Christ be Near

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Our Morning Offering – 7 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary”

Christ be Near
Excerpt from St Patrick’s Breastplat
St Patrick (c 386 – 461)

Christ be near, at either hand,
Christ behind, before me stand,
Christ with me, where’er I go,
Christ around, above, below.

Christ be in my heart and mind,
Christ within my soul enshrined,
Christ control, my wayward heart,
Christ abide and ne’er depart.

Christ my Life and only Way,
Christ my Lantern, night and day,
Christ be my unchanging Friend,
Guide and Shepherd to the end.

We have this prayer and his own story in one of the certainly authentic writings of this beloved Saint Patrick – his Confessio, which is, above all, an act of homage to God, for having called Patrick, unworthy sinner, to the apostolate.

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One Minute Reflection – 7 September – “The hour is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God”

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One Minute Reflection – 7 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Readings: Ps 85:1-3, Ps 85:4, Gal 5:25-26; 6:1-10, Luke 7:11-16

And He said, Young man, I say to you, arise. And he who was dead, sat up, and began to speak. And He gave him to his mother. But fear seized upon all, and they began to glorify God, saying, A great prophet has risen among us, and God has visited His people.

Luke 7:11-16

REFLECTION – “Awake, you sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will give you light!” We often say of those who are manifestly dead that they are sleeping; and indeed they are all sleeping for the One who is able to awaken them. For you a dead person is truly dead: you may well slap and shake him, he will not wake up. But for Christ, the man he commanded to “Rise up!” was merely sleeping and he rose up immediately. It is easy enough to waken a sleeper from his bed but Christ awakens a dead man from his tomb with even greater ease.

“By now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days” But the Lord, for whom all things are done with ease, is coming. No bonds hold secure before the Savior's voice. The powers over the dwellings of the dead tremble and Lazarus is restored to life. For Christ's life-giving will even this death of four days is merely a sleep.

But reflect over the nature of this resurrection. Lazarus, coming alive out of the tomb, was as yet unable to walk. So the Lord commanded his disciples: “Untie him and let him go”. Christ raised him up; they set him free from his bonds. The true majesty of the God who brings the dead back to life emerges in this narrative. The Word of life exhorts those who are bound by their evil habits. Having been strongly admonished these sinners return to themselves, begin to reconsider their lives and feel the weight of the chains of their evil habits. Ashamed, they make up their minds to change their lives. From then on they are raised from death and brought back to life since they condemn their former way of living. However, even though they are alive once more, they cannot walk as yet; their bonds have to be untied. This is the ministry our Lord entrusted to his disciples when he said: “Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”.

St Augustine

PRAYER – Our Father who art in heaven, almighty and eternal God, teach us to pause often during our active lives and recollect ourselves. Let us put away the problems of life and commune with You in prayer and meditation. Mary, Holy and Sorrowful Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, teach us the how to pray and how to imitate your courage and strength in silence. Pray for us that we may be inspired to turn to our God for strength, in this vale of tears. Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Advocate, with the Holy Spirit, one God now and for all eternity, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 6 September – The Day is Filled with Splendour

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Our Morning Offering – 6 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary”

The Day is Filled with Splendour
Benedictine Nuns of Stanbrook Abbey

The day is filled with splendour
When God brings light from light,
And all renewed creation
Rejoices in His sight. —
The Father gives His children
The wonder of the world
In which His power and glory
Like banners are unfurled. —
With every living creature,
Awaking with the day,
We turn to God our Father,
Lift up our hearts and pray: —
O Father, Son and Spirit,
Your grace and mercy send,
That we may live to praise You
Today and to the end.
Amen

The Day is Filled with Splendour, is a hymn written by the Benedictine Nuns of Stanbrook Abbey. It is sung during Morning Prayer in the Divine Office. It is set to the hymn tune: Paderborn, first published in the Katholische Kirchengesänge of 1616. Psalter Week 3

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One Minute Reflection – 6 September – The hope of our resurrection!

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One Minute Reflection – 6 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Readings: Ps 85:1-3, Ps 85:4, Gal 5:25-26; 6:1-10, Luke 7:11-16

And the Lord, seeing her, had compassion on her, and said to her, Do not weep. And He went up and touched the stretcher; and the bearers stood still. And He said, Young man, I say to you, arise. And he who was dead, sat up, and began to speak.

Luke 7:11-16

REFLECTION – He rose again on the third day, what then is to come after in His body, i.e. in the Church, He makes appear; for He shewed in example, what He promised in reward, that as believers knew and owned that He had Himself risen again, so they might hope for the rewards of the resurrection in themselves at the end of the world. Lo, we, through the death of the flesh, remain in the dust until the end of the world, but He on the third day budded into life from the dryness of death, that by the very renewal of His flesh by itself He might shew the power of His Divine Nature…. Already indeed the body of the Lord lives after death, but our bodies are kept back from the glory of the resurrection until the end of the world. Whence he carefully introduced this same delay, by saying, And that I shall rise at the last [novissimo] day from the earth.

Therefore we have a hope of our own resurrection, by considering the glory of our Head. But lest anyone say perhaps merely in the secret thought of his heart, that it was in this way that He rose again from the dead, viz. that being God and Man in one and the same Person, the death, which He underwent in His Human Nature, He overcame by His Divine Nature, while we, who are mere men, are not able to rise from the curse of death; it happened rightly that, in the season of His resurrection, the bodies of many of the Saints arose at the same time, that both in Himself He might shew us an example, and by the resurrection of others who were like to ourselves in respect of a mere human nature, He might give us a sure confirmation.

St Gregory the Great 

PRAYER – God of mercy and love, You offer all peoples the dignity of sharing in your life. Rule over our hearts and bodies this day. Sanctify us and guide our every thought, word and deed, my our hands be held out to our neighbour in imitation of Your love and mercy. By the intercession of Mary the Sorrowful Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ and our Mother, strengthen us to love each other as brothers and sisters. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 5 September – A Eucharistic Offering

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Our Morning Offering – 5 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

A Eucharistic Offering
By Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

Lord, all things in heaven and earth are Yours.
I desire to offer myself to You
in free and perpetual oblation,
so that I may forever be with You.
Lord, in simpliciy of heart,
I offer myself this day to You,
to be Your servant in service
and sacrifice of perpetual praise.
Accept me with the oblation of Your precious Body,
which this day I offer You in the presence
of Your holy Angels, here invisibly present,
so that it may be to my salvation
and to the salvation of all people.
Amen

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One Minute Reflection – 5 September – “After a long time the master of those servants came back”

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One Minute Reflection – 5 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Readings: Sir 45:30, Ps. 131:1, Sir 44:16-27; 45:3-20, Matt 25:14-23

Then after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

Matt 25:14-23

REFLECTION – “Brothers, up till now we have done nothing at all: so let us begin today.” It was to himself that Saint Francis addressed this counsel; let us humbly make it our own. How true it is that we have done nothing – or very little – as yet! One year follows another without our asking ourselves what we could have made of them. Hasn’t there been anything to change, to add or take away from our way of behaving? How carelessly we have lived, as though the day were never going to come when the eternal Judge would call us to himself and we would have to give an account of our deeds and of what we have done with our time.

Don’t let us waste our time. We ought not to put off for tomorrow what we could do today. The grave overflows with good intentions and, in any case, who can say whether tomorrow we shall still be alive? Let us listen to the voice of our conscience; it is the voice of the prophet: “Oh that today you would hear his voice: Harden not your heart,”.

All we have is the present moment: so let us keep a watch over it and live it as though it were a treasure entrusted to us. Time doesn’t belong to us; don’t let us waste it.

Padre Pio

PRAYER – Almighty and merciful God, open the ears and eyes of our hearts and fill us with Your grace. May we follow You in holiness all the days of our lives. Grant we pray, that as You brought Your Saints and Martyrs to overcome fearlessly, the persecutions of Your people, that we too may remain invincible under Your protection and by their prayers, be strengthened against the snares of the enemy. St Lawrence Justinian, pray for us in these times of evil! Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 4 September – “You cannot serve God and mammon”

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One Minute Reflection – 4 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Readings: Ps 83:10-11, Ps 83:2-3, Gal 5:16-24, Matt 6:24-33

But seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be given you besides.

Matt 6:24-33

REFLECTION – See what benefits Jesus Christ promises and how beneficial his commands are to us since they set us free from such great evils. The misery caused you by riches, he says to us, is not just that of arming thieves against you and filling your mind with impenetrable gloom. The great wound they inflict is to snatch you away from the blessed service of Jesus Christ to make you slaves of a piece of senseless, soulless metal.

“You cannot serve both God and money.” My brethren, let us shudder at the thought that we are forcing Jesus Christ to speak to us about money as though it were an alternative divinity to God ! But surely, you will say, didn't the patriarchs of old find it possible to serve God and money at the same time? Certainly not. But how, then, was it that Abraham and Job set such store by their wealth? I reply that there's no question here of invoking those who possessed riches but those who were possessed by them. Job was a rich man; he made use of money without being its slave; he was its master, not its worshipper. He considered his wealth as though it had been another's and saw himself as its administrator, not its proprietor. That was why he was not the least bothered when he lost it.

St John Chrysostom

PRAYER – Holy God, Almighty Father, You taught us to honour Your holy day and the day of rest. In Your divine Son, Whom You gave to us as our brother and glorified by His Resurrection, You showed us the way to our eternal life. As His glorified body shines anew, we rejoice in our future life with Him and embrace His day as our own, each Sunday renewing His Resurrection and each day of our lives. We run forward to sing Your glory together with our Holy Mother, the Blessed Virgin and most Sorrowful Mary, to eternity, through our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 4 September – To Our Lady of Sorrows by St Bonaventure

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Our Morning Offering – 4 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary” and Mary’s Saturday

To Our Lady of Sorrows
By St Bonaventure (1217-1274)
Seraphic Doctor of the Church

O most holy Virgin,
Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by the overwhelming grief you experienced
when you witnessed the Martyrdom,
the Crucifixion and the Death,
of your Divine Son,
look upon me, with eyes of compassion
and awaken in my heart,
a tender commiseration for those sufferings
and a sincere detestation of my sins,
in order that,
being disengaged from all undue affection
for the passing joys of this earth,
I may sigh after the eternal Jerusalem
and that, henceforward, all my thoughts
and all my actions may be directed
towards this one most desirable object,
the honour, glory and love
of our divine Lord Jesus,
and to you,
the Holy and Immaculate
Mother of God.
Amen

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Our Morning Offering – 3 September – O Divine Jesus! Lonely in So Many Tabernacles

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Our Morning Offering – 3 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary” – The Memorial of St Pope Pius X (1835-1914) (Pontiff 1903-1914)

O Divine Jesus!
Lonely in So Many Tabernacles
By St Pope Pius X (1835-1914)
“Pope of the Blessed Sacrament”

O Divine Jesus!
Lonely today in so many Tabernacles,
without visitor or worshipper,
I offer Thee my lonely heart.
May it’s every beat be a prayer of love to Thee.
Thou art ever watching under the Sacramental Veils,
in Thou love, Thou never sleeps
and Thou art never weary of Thy vigils for sinners.
O Loving Jesus!
O Lonely Jesus!
may my heart be a lamp,
the light of which shall burn and beam
for Thee alone.
Watch, Sacramental Sentinel!
Watch for the weary world,
for the erring soul
and for Thy poor lonely child.
O Jesus, my God, I adore Thee,
here present in the Sacrament of Thy love.
Amen

Indulgences:
100 days each time before the Tabernacle
300 days each time before the Blessed Sacrament Exposed
(St Pope Pius X – 3 July 1908)
Prayers to the Sacred Heart
15th Ed 1936

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One Minute Reflection – 3 September – “Tend my sheep”

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One Minute Reflection – 3 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary” – Readings: Ps 88:20-22, Ps 88:2, 1 Thess. 2:2-8, John 21:15-17

At that time, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these do? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My lambs.

John 21:15-17

REFLECTION – The Lord asks Peter what he already knew, and that not just once but a second and a third time, whether Peter loved him. And each time he has the same answer, that he is loved, while just as often he gives Peter the same charge to feed His sheep. To the threefold denial there is now appended a threefold confession of love. His tongue is not to yield a feebler service to love than it did to fear, and the testimony of his word must be just as open in the presence of life as it was before the threat of death. If it was the sign of fear to deny the Shepherd then let it be the office of love to feed the Lord’s flock.

Those who have this as their purpose in feeding the flock of Christ, that they may have them as their own and not as Christ's, are convicted of loving themselves and not Christ. They are motivated either by the desire of boasting, or of wielding power, or of acquiring gain, and not from the love of obeying, serving, and pleasing God. The thrice repeated saying of Christ condemns those, therefore, of whom the apostle complains that they seek their own interests, not the things that are Jesus Christ's. For what do the words mean: "Do you love me? Feed my sheep"? It is as though he said, “If you love me, do not think of feeding yourself but feed my sheep as mine, and not as your own; seek my glory in them, and not your own; my dominion, and not yours; my gain, and not yours… So let us not love ourselves, but him; and in feeding his sheep, let us be seeking the things which are his, not the things which are our own.

St Augustine 

PRAYER – God our Father, Your rule is a rule of love, Your providence is full of mercy for Your people. Through the intercession of Your |Angels and Saints and the Most Sorrowful Mother of Your Son, that we may be granted the spirit of wisdom and understanding in Your Word. Grant that by the light of the Your Word made flesh, we may know our eternal home and strive to attain eternal joy there with You. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

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Our Morning Offering –2 September – The Suscipe of Ven Sr Catherine McAuley

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Our Morning Offering – 2 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary”

The Suscipe
of Venerable Sr Catherine McAuley (1778-1841)

My God, I am Yours for time and eternity.
Teach me to cast myself entirely
into the arms of Your loving Providence
with a lively, unlimited confidence
in Your compassionate, tender pity.
Grant, O most merciful Redeemer,
that whatever You ordain or permit,
may be acceptable to me.
Take from my heart all painful anxiety,
let nothing sadden me but sin,
nothing delight me
but the hope of coming
to the possession of You,
my God and my all,
in Your everlasting kingdom.
Amen

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One Minute Reflection – 2 September – “He had the servants called”

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One Minute Reflection – 2 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary” – Readings: Ps 36:30-31, Ps 36:1, Sir 31:8-11, Luke 19:12-26

You knew that I am a stern man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow. Why, then, did you not put my money in a bank, so that I on my return might have gotten it with interest?

Luke 19:12-26

REFLECTION – O beloved Truth, O calmest equity of my God, how shall I dare to appear in your presence, bowed down as I am beneath the load of my iniquity, the crushing weight of all my negligence? I have not been faithful, nor have I traded with the talent you entrusted me, the priceless treasure of Christian faith and the spiritual life. I ought to have committed your money to the bankers of your charity so that I might draw abundant interest of perfection from it and so give you back what belongs to you with interest. And not only have I spent your precious talent, my time, but I have wasted it, squandered it utterly away. Where shall I go? Who shall I turn to? “From your presence, where shall I flee?”.

O Truth, you have justice and equity as your inseparable judges. Woe to me if, when I come before you, I lack an advocate to plead my cause. O Love, come forward on my behalf; answer for me; sue for my pardon. If you plead my cause, I know I still have hope of life.

I know what I will do: “The cup of salvation I will take up”. I will lay it upon the empty scale of Truth's balance. So I shall supply all that is lacking and outweigh all my sins. That cup will raise up again all my ruins; with that cup I shall worthily overbalance all my unworthiness.

O beloved Truth, I could not, dare not stand before you without my Jesus; but with him, my Jesus, I will come with joy and gladness. Then sit on your judgement seat, O Truth...: “I fear no evil”.

St Gertrude of Helfta

PRAYER – Lord, my God, You chose us from the foundations of the world to be Your children. We pray that our courage may not fail us as we strive to live in obedience to Your commandments and by our lives spread Your holy Word. We ask too for courage, as we are attacked from all sides, in our struggle home to You. Grant that through the prayers of our Sorrowful Mother, we may fight unto death for Your love and the glory of Your Kingdom. Through our Lord, Jesus, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 1 September – What Can I Say? By St Anselm

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Our Morning Offering – 1 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary”

As we enter the Month of our Sorrowful Mother, let us unite ourselves to her and offer her our meagre consolation.

What Can I Say?
By St Anselm (1033-1109)
Magnificent Doctor
Marian Doctor

My most merciful 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 men?
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

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One Minute Reflection – 1 September – “No servant can serve two masters”

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One Minute Reflection – 1 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary” – Readings: Ps 83:10-11, Ps 83:2-3, Gal 5:16-24, Matt 6:24-33

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: No man serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will stand by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Matt 6:24-33

REFLECTION – To want to place one’s hope and trust in passing things is to want to set one’s foundations in running water! Everything passes, God abides. To be attached to what is transitory is to cut oneself off from what endures. For who, carried away by the angry whirling of a rapid, can stand firm in that roiling flood? So if you want to avoid being carried away by the current then flee from all that flows away. Otherwise, the object of our love will make us end up doing exactly what we wanted to avoid. Whoever attaches himself to transitory things will surely be dragged along to wherever the things he is clinging to are drifting.

So the first thing we must do is to keep ourselves from loving material goods; the second is not to put our trust in such of those goods as are entrusted for our use and not our enjoyment. The soul who is attached to goods that only pass away very soon loses its own stability. The current of this present life carries off whoever it bears, and it is a foolish delusion, for whoever this current carries, to try to stand upright in it.

St Gregory the Great

PRAYER – God our Father, Your rule is a rule of love, Your providence is full of mercy for Your people. Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of the Word made flesh and His sorrowful Mother, grant the spirit of wisdom and understanding in Your Word, Your Son Jesus Christ. Grant that by the healing Word our repentant hearts may know our way to our eternal home and strive to attain eternal joy there with You. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 31 August – Act of Consecration and Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

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Our Morning Offering – 31 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” On this the last day of this Marian Month, let us consecrate ourselves to her. Immaculate Heart and attempt, to constantly attone, for the endless acts of violence and blasphemy, committed against Jesus, our Lord and our God and His blessed Mother.

Act of Consecration and Reparation
to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

O Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Queen of Heaven and Earth
and tender Mother of men,
in accordance with thy ardent wish
made known at Fatima,
I consecrate to thee, myself, my brethren,
my country and the whole human race.
Reign over us and teach us
how to make the Heart of Jesus reign
and triumph in us and around us,
as It has reigned and triumphed in thee.
We wish to atone for the many crimes
committed against Jesus and thee.
We wish to call down upon our country
and the whole world,
the peace of God in justice and charity.
We promise to imitate thy virtues,
by the practice of a Christian life
without regard to human respect.
We resolve to receive Holy Communion
on the first Saturday of every month
and to offer thee five decades
of the Rosary on this day,
together with our sacrifices
in the spirit of reparation and penance.
Amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 31 August – “Gird your loins and light your lamps”

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One Minute Reflection – 31 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – St Raymond Nonnatus 1204-1240) Priest, Confessor, Cardinal, Friar of the Mercedarian Order. – Readings: Ps 36:30-31, Ps 36:1, Sir 31:8-11, Luke 12:35-40

You also must be ready, because at an hour that you do not expect, the Son of Man is coming.

Luke 12:35-40

REFLECTION – It is so that our spirit may be detached from its fantasies that the Word invites us to shake off this heavy sleep from the eyes of our souls, so that we may not slide away from the true reality by clinging to what lacks substance. That is why he sets before us an image of vigilance when he says: “Let your loins be girt and your lamps lit”. The meaning of these symbols is clear enough. Someone who is girded with temperance lives in the light of a pure conscience because filial trust enlightens his life like a lamp. Lit up by the truth, that person’s soul is detached from the sleep of illusion because no empty dreams are leading it astray. As the Word says: if we do this we shall enter into a life like that of the angels.

Indeed, these are they who wait for the Lord at his return from the wedding and who are seated by the heavenly gates with watchful eyes so that the King of Glory might once more pass through when he returns from the marriage feast and enters again into the beatitude above the heavens. “Coming forth like the groom from his bridal chamber”, he united to himself like a virgin the nature we had prostituted to idols, once he had restored its virginal integrity through sacramental regeneration. The nuptials having now been accomplished, since the Church has been espoused by the Word and brought into the chamber of his mysteries, the angels awaited the return of the King of Glory to the blessedness that matches his nature.

St Gregory of Nyssa 

PRAYER – O God, Who made blessed Raymund, Thy Confessor, famous for delivering Thy faithful from the captivity of the infidels, grant us, by his intercession that, having been released from the bonds of our sins, we may with free minds, do what is pleasing to Thee. 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

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One Minute Reflection – 30 August – “Is not life more than food”

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One Minute Reflection – 30 August – St Rose of Lima OP (1586-1617) Virgin – Readings: Ps 83:10-11, Ps 83:2-3, Gal 5:16-24, Matt 6:24-33

Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life a greater thing than the food, and the body than the clothing?

Matt 6:24-33

REFLECTION – If spiritual things hold first place in our lives, material needs will cause us no concern, for God in his goodness will give them to us in abundance. On the other hand, if we devote ourselves entirely to earthly pursuits and neglect our spiritual life, concern for what this life has to offer will lead us to neglect our souls. I urge you, therefore, let us not overturn the established order. We know that our Master is good, so let us commit everything to him and not be taken up with the cares of this life. “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things even before you ask him”.

Jesus wishes us, then, to be free from every anxiety regarding temporal affairs, and to have all possible leisure for the things of the Spirit. He says: "Your part is to seek spiritual blessings, and I myself will provide amply for your material needs. Look at the birds in the sky. They neither sow nor reap nor gather crops into barns, and yet your Father feeds them." In other words, "If I take such care of irrational birds as to supply them with all they need without plowing or sowing, I will take much greater care of you who are endowed with reason, if only you make up your minds to put spiritual things before temporal ones. If I made these creatures for your sake, as well as the whole of creation, and if I take such care of them, of what great care will I not deem you worthy - you for whom I created all of this?"

St John Chrysostom (Baptismal catechesis, no.8)

PRAYER – Almighty God, Giver of all good things, Who willed that blessed Rose, imbued in early life with the dew of heavenly grace, should bloom among the Indians with the beauty of virginity and patience, grant unto us, Thy servants that, following the fragrance of her sweetness, we may be found worthy to become a sweet savour of Christ. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen 

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Our Morning Offering – 30 August – Virginis Proles for the Feast of St Rose of Lima

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Our Morning Offering – 30 August – St Rose of Lima OP (1586-1617) Virgin

Virginis Proles
Anonymous Latin, 8th Century
Trans. Fr Edward Caswall C.Orat. (1814-1878)

O Thou Thy Mother’s Maker, hail!
Hail, Virgin-born! to Thee;
Hear us, who on this day record
Thy Virgin’s memory.

Oh, through her prayers our sins forgive,
All good and gracious King !
So purified in heart may we
Thy praise eternal sing.

All glory to the Father be;
Praise to His only Son;
With Thee, who dost from both proceed.
While endless ages run.

This Hymn is used for Matins in the Common of Virgins in the Extraordinary form of the Roman Breviary. Verses 1, 4 and 5 above, are used for a Virgin who is not a Martyr.

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Our Morning Offering – 29 August – John, the Chosen One

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Our Morning Offering – 29 August – The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist
Lauds Hymn
Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal

God called great prophets to foretell
the coming of His Son.
The greatest, called before his birth,
was John, the chosen one.

His life was filled with joy and hope;
he knew he must decrease,
and that we must prepare a place
where Jesus may increase.

John searched in solitude for Christ
and knew Him when He came.
He showed the world the Lamb of God
and hailed Him in our name.

That lonely voice cried out the truth
Derided and denied.
As witness to the law of God
His mighty martyr died.

We praise You, Trinity in One,
the light of unknown ways,
the hope of all who search for You
whose love fills all our days.