Category: MORNING Prayers

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One Minute Reflection – 30 July – “If this day you only knew what makes for peace”

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One Minute Reflection – 30 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”– Readings: Ps 53:6-7, Ps 53:3, 1 Cor. 10:6-13, Luke 19:41-47

If you had known, in this your day, even you, the things that are for your peace!

Luke 19:41-47

REFLECTION – “May peace reign in your walls”. O Jerusalem, built as a city with compact unity”, peace in your strength, peace in your love! For your strength is your love. Listen to the Song of Songs: “Love is strong as death”. What wonderful words, brethren !… Who can resist death ? People resist flames, floods, steel; they resist tyrants and kings; let death come and who can resist it? There is nothing stronger. Love alone can match up to its strength. It can be said that love is strong as death. Because love kills what we used to be to make us become what as yet we were not, it carries out in us a work of death. Saint Paul died this death. He said: “The world is crucified to me and I to the world”, and those to whom he said: “You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” died this death.

Love is strong as death… let peace, therefore, be in your strength, Jerusalem; let peace be in your love. And by this strength, love, peace “may prosperity be in your towers”, that is to say, on your heights. Profusion of delights, countless riches, this is the God who is one, this is he with whom all this city’s inhabitants hold communion. This is he who will be our abundance in the city of Jerusalem.

St Augustine (Discourse on the Psalms, Ps 121[122])

PRAYER – Lord God, You hold out the light of Your Word to those who do not know You. Strengthen in our hearts the faith You have given us, so that no trials may quench the fire Your Spirit kindled within us. Grant that the prayers of Your faithful St Peter Chrysologus, may assist us to grow in love. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 30 July – A Prayer to Seek the Consolation of the Cross

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Our Morning Offering – 30 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”

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 You,
when You, 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 Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 29 July – Now that the Daylight Fills the Sky, We Lift our Hearts to God on High

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Our Morning Offering – 29 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”

Now that the Daylight Fills the Sky,
We Lift our Hearts to God on High
By St Ambrose (340-397)
Great Latin Father and Doctor of the Church
Trans J M Neale (1818-1866)

Now that the daylight fills the sky,
We lift our hearts to God on high
That He, in all we do or say,
Would keep us free from harm today,

Would guard our hearts and tongues from strife,
From angry words, would shield our life,
From evil sights, would turn our eyes
And close our ears to vanities.

So we, when this new day is gone
And night in turn is drawing on,
With conscience by the world unstained,
Shall praise His name for vict’ry gained.

“All praise to You, Creator Lord!
All praise to You, eternal Word!
All praise to You, O Spirit wise!”
We sing as daylight fills the skies.
Amen

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One Minute Reflection – 29 July – “Mary has chosen the better portion and she shall not be deprived of it.”

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One Minute Reflection – 29 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Memorial of St Martha – Readings: Ps 44:8, Ps 44:2, 2 Cor 10:17-18; 11:1-2, Luke 10:38-42

At that time, Jesus entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him to her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also seated herself at the Lord’s feet, and listened to His word.

Luke 10:38-42

REFLECTION – O ineffable Fire, O eternal Father, I no longer want my desire to tire of wanting your honor and the salvation of souls nor my eyes to dry up. I beg of you by your grace that they might become two rivers flowing out from you, a peaceful sea. Praise, praise to you, o Father, for you have responded to my request, and even to what I did not know, and even to what I had not asked of you. By giving me the gift of tears, you have invited me to offer you all my gentle, loving, anguished desires and my humble and constant prayers.

Now I ask you to have mercy on the world and on your holy Church. I beg you to do what you cause me to ask of you. Do not delay in having mercy on the world, agree to realizing your servants’ desire. You are the one who causes them to cry out, so hear their voice. Your truth said that if we call, we shall be answered, if we knock, it shall be opened to us, if we ask, it shall be given us. O eternal Father, your servants cry out to you for mercy. So answer them.

PRAYER – Almighty ever-living God, Your Son graciously came as a guest to the home of St Martha and was the friend of her family. Martha in her sorrow was moved to declare her total faith in Him, grant we pray, that in our trials and sorrows, we too may prove our love for You. By her prayers give us grace to serve Christ faithfully in our brethren and bring us to Your home in heaven. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 28 July – O God of Our Life

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Our Morning Offering – 28 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”

O God of Our Life
By St Augustine (354-430)
Father & Doctor of the Church

O God of our life,
there are days when the burdens we carry
chafe our shoulders and weigh us down,
when the road seems dreary and endless,
the skies grey and threatening,
when our lives have no music in them
and our hearts are lonely
and our souls have lost their courage.
Flood the path with light,
run our eyes to where the skies are full of promise,
tune our hearts to brave music,
give us the sense of comradeship,
with heroes and saints of every age
and so quicken our spirits,
that we may be able to encourage, the souls of all,
who journey with us on the road of life,
to Your honour and glory.
Amen

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 28 July – “Not a hair on your head will be destroyed”

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But you will be delivered up by your parents and brothers and relatives and friends; and some of you they will put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake; yet not a hair of your head shall perish. By your patience you will win your souls.

Luke 21:9-19

REFLECTION – Persevere with strength and constancy in witnessing to divine grace … ; press on to receive the crown in the power of the Spirit. The Lord will be your protector and guide, as he has said: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age”. Happy the prison which despatches the men of God to heaven!

Let there be nothing in your hearts and minds now except God’s words. It is by these that the Holy Spirit has all along strengthened you for suffering. Let no one think of death, but rather of immortality; do not think of the passing pain but of everlasting glory, as it is written: “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful”. Again, when scripture speaks of the sufferings which consecrate the martyrs to God … “Though in the sight of men they were punished, their hope is full of immortality! They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them for ever”. When you reflect that you will be judges and will reign with Christ the Lord, you must rejoice. In the light of the joy that is to come, you must trample on present sufferings.

The Lord made himself a model of all this. He taught us that no one can come to his kingdom except those who followed him on his way, when he said: “He who loves his life will lose it. And he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life”, Saint Paul, too, exhorts us that if we wish to attain the Lord’s promises, we should imitate the Lord in everything: “We are children of God,” he says, “and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him”.

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 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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One Minute Reflection – 27 July – “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer'”

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And He entered the temple, and began to cast out those who were selling and buying in it, saying to them, It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of thieves. And He was teaching daily in the temple.

Luke 19:41-47

REFLECTION – I have therefore hastened to exhort you to set yourselves in harmony with the mind of God. For even Jesus Christ, our inseparable Life, is the Mind of the Father, as also the bishops, established in the furthest quarters, are in the mind of Jesus Christ. Hence it is fitting for you to set yourselves in harmony with the mind of the bishop, as indeed you do. For your noble presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted to the bishop, as the strings to a harp. And thus by means of your accord and harmonious love Jesus Christ is sung. Form yourselves one and all into a choir, that blending in concord, taking the key-note of God, you may sing in unison with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father.

You are stones of the temple, prepared beforehand for a building of God the Father, being raised to the heights by the engine of Jesus Christ, which is the Cross, using as your rope the Holy Spirit. Your faith is the windlass, and love is the way which leads up to God. So then, you are all companions in festal procession along the way, bearing your God and shrine, bearing Christ and your holy treasures, fully arrayed in the commandments of Jesus Christ. And in your rejoicings I too have a part. I rejoice with you that you love nothing pertaining to the outward life, but God only.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch (Letter to the Ephesians)

PRAYER – All-powerful and ever-living God, splendour of true light and never-ending day, chase away the night of sin and fill our minds with the glory of Your coming. Take away our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh, help us in our battle with sin and the devil. By our prayers, Your holy Sacraments and the strength of the Holy Spirit, may we be ever vigilant of the evil one. By our Baptism in Your Son, we are Your children, grant us Your protection. Kindly listen to the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints and Angels, whose prayers we beg, through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God for all eternity, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 27 July – Jesu Dulcis Memoria

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Our Morning Offering – 27 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”

Jesu Dulcis Memoria
By St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
Mellifluous Doctor

Jesus, the very thought of Thee
with sweetness fills my breast,
But sweeter far Thy face to see
and in Thy presence rest.

Nor voice can sing nor heart can frame,
Nor can the memory find
a sweeter sound than Jesus’ name,
O Saviour of mankind.

O hope of every contrite heart,
O joy of all the meek
to those who fall, how kind Thou art,
how good to those who seek!

But what to those who find?
Ah this nor tongue nor pen can show,
the love of Jesus, what it is none
but His loved ones know.

Jesus our only joy be Thou
as Thou our prize wilt be.
Jesus, be Thou our glory now
and through eternity.
Amen

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 26 July – Weeping with Christ

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At that time, when Jesus drew near to Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, If you had known, in this your day, even you, the things that are for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

Luke 19:41-47

REFLECTION – Do not despise sinners because we are all guilty. If you rise up against him for love of God, weep for him, rather. Why despise him? Despise his sins and pray for him if you would be like Christ, who was not angered at sinners but prayed for them. Don’t you see how he wept over Jerusalem? For we too have been played around with by the devil more than once. Why despise someone just like ourselves, who has been a plaything of the devil who taunts us all? You who are merely a man, why despise the sinner? Is it because he is not righteous like you? But where is your righteousness so long as you have no love? Why did you not weep over him? To the contrary, you persecute him. It is because of their ignorance that some people are annoyed with others – those who think they have discernment into the works of sinners.

St Isaac the Syrian (Ascetical discourses)

PRAYER – True light of the world, Lord Jesus Christ, as You enlighten all men for their salvation, give us grace, we pray, to herald Your coming by preparing the ways of justice and of peace. Help us Lord, that we may sprout and bear fruit, fitting to grow and be a home of comfort to our neighbour. By the prayers of Sts Anne and Joachim, may we too be beacons of Your Light and of the glory of Your Kingdom. Through Jesus our Lord, Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 26 July – Nunc, Sancte, nobis Spiritus By St Ambrose

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Our Morning Offering – 26 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood – Reminding you and myself, that in Catholic Time, Monday is the day of the Holy Ghost and/or the Holy Angels.

Nunc, Sancte, nobis Spiritus
By St Ambrose (340-397)
Come, Holy Ghost, Who ever One
Trans John Henry Newman (1801-1890) Trans 1836

Come, Holy Ghost, Who ever One
Art with the Father and the Son.
Come, Holy Ghost, our souls possess
With Thy full flood of holiness.

In will and deed, by heart and tongue,
With all our powers, Thy praise be sung.
And love light up our mortal frame,
Till others catch the living flame.

Almighty Father, hear our cry
Through Jesus Christ our Lord most high,
Who with the Holy Ghost and Thee
Doth live and reign eternally.

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Our Morning Offering – 25 July – The Christopher Prayer, Make Us True Christ Bearers

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Our Morning Offering – 25 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Feast of St James the Greater and the Memorial of St Christopher (died c 251)

The Christopher Prayer,
Make Us True Christ-Bearers
Anonymous

Father, grant that we may be,
bearers of Christ Jesus, Your Son.
Allow us to fill, the world around us,
with Your light.
Strengthen us, by Your Holy Spirit,
to carry out our mission
of living and following
the path of Jesus, our Lord.
Help us to understand,
that by Your grace
our gifts are Your blessings,
to be shared with others.
Fill us with Your Spirit of love
to give glory to You
in loving all
and preaching by our love.
Nourish in us the desire
to go forth
as the bearers of Your Son
fearless and gentle,
loving and merciful.
Make us true Christ-Bearers,
that in seeing us,
only He is visible.
Amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 25 July – “My cup you will indeed drink”

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One Minute Reflection – 25 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Feast of St James the Greater – Readings: Ps 138:17, Ps 138:1-2, 1 Cor. 4:9-15, Matt 20:20-23

To this very hour we hunger and thirst, and we are naked and buffeted, and have no fixed abode.

1 Cor. 4:9-15

REFLECTION – We are celebrating today the heavenly birthday of a martyr. We must not consider ourselves altogether strangers to his virtue of patience. If with the Lord’s help we are striving to observe the virtue of patience, though we are living in a time of peace for the Church, yet we are holding the palm of martyrdom. There are in truth two kinds of martyrdom: one in the heart, the other in heart and action at the same time. And so we can be martyrs, even if we are not slain by anyone’s sword. To die at the hands of a persecutor is unmistakably martyrdom; to bear insults, to love one who hates us, is martyrdom in our secret thought.

Truth, who asked the sons of Zebedee: “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” testifies that there are two kinds of martyrdom, one in our secret actions, the other in public. When they immediately answered: “We are able,” the Lord replied: “You will indeed drink my cup”. What do we understand by his cup except his passion, of which he said elsewhere: “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me”? But the sons of Zebedee, James, that is, and John, did not both die as martyrs; yet each heard that he would drink of the cup. John did not end his life in martyrdom, yet was a martyr, because he sustained in his heart the suffering he did not undergo in his body. We too, following his example, can be martyrs without a sword, if we truly guard patience in our minds.

St Gregory the Great (Homilies on the Gospel, no.35 )

PRAYER –  Lord our God, You accepted the sacrifice of St James, the first of Your Apostles to give his life for Your sake. May Your Church find strength in his martyrdom and support in his constant prayer. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. St James the Greater, Apostle of Christ, Pray for us! Amen

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Our Morning Offering – 24 July – Virgin Full of Goodness, Mother of Mercy

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Our Morning Offering – 24 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”

Virgin Full of Goodness,
Mother of Mercy
By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Doctor angelicus
Doctor communis

Virgin full of goodness,
Mother of mercy,
I entrust to you my body and my soul,
my thoughts and my actions,
my life and my death.
My Queen,
come to my aid
and deliver me from the snares of the devil.
Obtain for me the grace of loving
my Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
with a true and perfect love,
and after Him,
O Mary,
of loving you with all my heart
and above all things.
Amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 24 July – “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones”

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And the master commended the unjust steward, in that he had acted prudently; for the children of this world, in relation to their own generation, are more prudent than the children of the light.

Luke 16:1-9

REFLECTION – You should know where your own existence comes from, breath, intellect, and what is most precious of all: knowledge of God; from where comes hope of the kingdom of heaven and of beholding the glory that, at present, you see only dimly as in a mirror but that, tomorrow, you will see in all its purity and brilliance. From whence does it come that you are a child of God, inheritor along with Christ and, dare I say it, that you yourself are a god ? Where does all this come from, and through whom ?

Again, to speak only of things of lesser importance, those that are obvious: who granted you sight of the beauty of the heavens, the movement of the sun, the cycle of the moon, the countless stars and, in it all, the harmony and order governing them? Who gave you the rain, the cultivation of the land, food, art, laws, cities, a civilized life, close relationships with people like yourself ?

Isn't it from He who, before all else and in return for all His gifts, requires of you to love humankind? When He, our God and Lord, is not ashamed to be called our Father, are we going to deny our brethren? No, my brothers and friends, do not let us be dishonest stewards of the good things confided to us.

St Gregory Nazianzen (Homily 14, On love for the poor)

PRAYER – All-powerful and ever-living God, splendour of true light and never-ending day, chase away the night of sin and fill our minds with the glory of Your coming. Take away our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh, help us in our battle with sin and the devil. By our prayers, Your holy sacraments and the strength of the Holy Spirit, may we be ever vigilant of the evil one. Hear the prayers of our Queen and Mother, the Blessed Virgin of Mercy on our behalf dear Lord. We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 23 July – Prayer Before a Crucifix

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Our Morning Offering – 23 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”

Prayer Before a Crucifix

Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus,
while before Thy face I humbly kneel and,
with burning soul,
pray and beseech Thee
to fix deep in my heart, lively sentiments
of faith, hope and charity,
true contrition for my sins,
and a firm purpose of amendment.
While I contemplate,
with great love and tender pity,
Thy five most precious wounds,
pondering over them within me
and calling to mind the words which David,
Thy prophet, said of Thee, my Jesus:
“They have pierced My hands and My feet,
they have numbered all My bones.”
Amen.

Say – Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be for the Catholic Church and the intentions of the Holy Father. A Plenary Indulgence, under the usual conditions, may be gained by those who shall say this prayer with devotion before an image of our Crucified Redeemer. A Partial Indulgence may also be gained for each devout recitation.

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One Minute Reflection – 23 July – I am in your midst as he who serves

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One Minute Reflection – 23 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”

The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and they who exercise authority over them are called Benefactors. But not so with you. On the contrary, let him who is greatest among you become as the youngest, and him who is the chief as the servant.

Luke 22:24-30

REFLECTION – The Son of God himself, who is before all ages, the invisible, the incomprehensible, the bodiless, the beginning from the beginning, light from the light, source of life and immortality, image of the archetype, immovable seal, unchangeable image, the Father’s definition and Word, he it is who came to his own image and took to himself flesh for the sake of our flesh. Then he united himself with an intelligent soul for my soul’s sake, purifying like by like. He took to himself all that is human, except sin… He who enriches others becomes poor. He took to himself the poverty of my flesh so that I might obtain the riches of his godhead. He who is full empties himself. He emptied himself of his godhead for a brief time so that I might share in his fulness.

What is this wealth of goodness ? What is this mystery that touches me ? I received the divine image and I did not keep it. He receives my flesh to save the image and grant immortality to the flesh. This, his second communion with us, is far more marvellous than the first… It was necessary that holiness be conferred on man through the humanity God took to himself. In this way, conquering the tyrant by force, he freed us and led us back to himself through his Son, the mediator. The Son brought this about to the honour of the Father to whom, in all things, he is seen to defer.

St Gregory Nazianzen (Homily no.45)

PRAYER – A pure heart create for me O God, put a steadfast spirit within me! Lord God, bestow a full measure of Your grace to us. Keep us within in the path of Your commandments, help us to work on the earth of our souls, rooting out the weeds and casting forth the stones of malice. Grant that by the prayers of our Blessed and Merciful Mother, we may succeed in attaining sanctity. Through Christ, our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, forever, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 22 July – Christ be Near

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Our Morning Offering – 22 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”

Excerpt from St Patrick’s Breastplate
Christ be Near
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.

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One Minute Reflection – 22 July – I took hold of Him and would not let Him go

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I will rise and go about the city; in the streets and crossings I will seek Him Whom my heart loves.

Song 3:2-5; 8:6-7

REFLECTION – Sometimes when meditating she began to see her interior deformities and to be so displeased with herself that with anxiety she would wonder how she could ever be pleasing to God, who would see so many stains in her, for where she saw only one stain the penetrating eyes of the divinity would see an infinite number.

She was reassured about this by the divine reply: “Love makes pleasing.” By this she understood that if on earth human love has such power that sometimes it makes the deformed pleasing, for love’s sake, to those who love them, and even at times so pleasing that the lovers, through the power of love, want to resemble their loved ones, how then be distrustful of God, who is Love itself? Cannot He, through the power of love, make pleasing those whom he loves?

Another time, when she was downcast at the memory of her former sins to such an extent that she desired only to hide herself completely, the Lord deigned to incline with such gracious condescension toward her that the whole court of heaven seemed to be trying to restrain him as if in astonishment. The Lord responded thus: “Nothing can restrain me from following her when she so powerfully attracts my heart by the cords of her humility.”

St Gertrude of Helfta (The Herald of Divine Love, Book III, ch. 30)

PRAYER – Almighty, ever-living God, Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ made Mary of Magdala the first herald of Easter joy. Grant that, following her example and helped by her prayers, we may, in this life, proclaim the living Christ and come to see Him reigning with You in glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 21 July – Lord, I Am Yours

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Our Morning Offering – 21 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”

Lord, I Am Yours
Prayer of Dedication to the Lord
By St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of Charity

Lord,
I am Yours
and I must belong to no-one but You.
My soul is Yours
and I must live only by You.
My will is Yours
and must love only for You.
I must love You as my first cause,
since I am from You.
I must love You as my end and rest,
since I am for You.
I must love You more than my own being,
since my being subsists by You.
I must love You more than myself,
since I am all Yours
and all in You.
Amen

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One Minute Reflection – 21 July – “I have come, not to abolish, but to fulfil”

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One Minute Reflection – 21 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Sir 15:5, Ps 91:2, 2 Tim 4:1-8, Matt 5:13-19

Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled.

Matt 5:13-19

REFLECTION – Brethren, let us “sing to the Lord a new song.” To the old man, the old song; to the new man, a new song. The Old Testament is an old song, the New Testament a new song. The first covenant concerns mostly temporal and earthly promises. People who remain attached to the things of the earth still sing an old song. In order to sing the new song, a person must love eternal things. That love is both new and eternal; it is always new, because it never grows old.

But if we think about it, this love is very old. How could it be new? My brethren, was eternal life born yesterday? Eternal life is Christ and, as God, he was not born yesterday. For “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God. He was present to God in the beginning. Through him all things came into being, and apart from him nothing came to be.” If he made what is old, what is he other than eternal, co-eternal with the Father? It is we who, by sin, have fallen into senescence. Human beings have become old as a consequence of sin. It is by God’s grace that we are renewed. All who are thus renewed in Christ sing a new song for they are beginning to be established in eternal life.

PRAYER – Holy, almighty God, You sent Your prophets and then Your only Son to teach us and lead us to eternal life. 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 a continued growth in grace. Send us Your Spirit, to enlighten our hearts and minds and grow in love for You and the Word made flesh. Guide us in our understanding and living, by the Words of the Word. Holy Mother Mary intercede for us, that we may merit to be co-heirs of His Kingdom. Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 20 July – Lord Jesus, may I know myself and know Thee

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Our Morning Offering – 20 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”

Indulgenced – 500 days every time said

Lord Jesus, may I know myself and know Thee.
May I desire nothing save only Thee.
May I hate myself and love Thee.
May I do everything for the sake of Thee.
May I humble myself and exalt Thee.
May I think of nothing except Thee.
May I die to myself and live in Thee.
May I receive whatever happens as from Thee.
May I banish self and follow Thee,
And ever desire to follow Thee.
May I fly from myself and fly to Thee,
That I may deserve to be defended by Thee.
May I fear for myself and fear Thee,
And be among those who are chosen by Thee.
May I distrust myself and trust in Thee.
May I be willing to obey on account of Thee.
May I cling to nothing but to Thee,
And may I be poor for the sake of Thee.
Look upon me, that I may love Thee.
Call me, that I may see Thee,
And ever and ever enjoy Thee. Amen.

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One Minute Reflection – 20 July – Share your bread with the hungry

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Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own.

Isa 58:7-11

REFLECTION – We should not reject those goods that may potentially be of use to our neighbor. It is in the nature of possessions to be possessed and that of goods to spread good. God intended them for man’s well being. Our goods lie in our hands like tools, instruments that we can put to good use so long as we know how to wield them… Nature has made a servant of wealth, not a mistress. So we shouldn’t decry it since it is neither good not bad in itself but completely neutral. We ourselves are alone responsible for the use, good or bad, which we make of it. Our minds, our consciences are entirely set free from disposing as they choose of the goods entrusted to them. What we should destroy are not our goods but the covetousness that perverts their use. When we have acquired integrity then we shall know how to use them with integrity. Those goods we are told to get rid of we should understand to be the unregulated desires of the soul. You gain nothing from depriving yourself of your money if you remain rich in unregulated desires.

See how the Lord conceived of the use of external goods: we need to detach ourselves, not from the money that enables us to live, but from the forces that cause us to use it badly, namely sicknesses of the soul. We need to purify our souls, that is to say, make them poor and naked and, in that state, listen to the Lord’s call: “Come, follow me.” He is the way along which the pure of heart walk. Here is a man who thinks of his fortune, his gold, silver, houses, as graces from God, and he shows Him his thanks by succoring the poor from his own resources. He knows well that he possesses these goods more for the sake of his brothers than for himself; he remains stronger than his wealth and is far from becoming its slave; he does not lock it up in his heart. And if, one day, his money is about to disappear, he accepts his ruin with just as joyful a heart as in the days of his prosperity. Now this man, I say, God declares blessed and calls “poor in spirit”; he is a certain heir of the Kingdom of heaven, which will be closed to those who could not look beyond their own wealth.

St Clement of Alexandria (Homily “How can the rich be saved?”)

PRAYER – Almighty Father, You made us Your children, You called us from all ages and You formed us by Holy Mother Church. Grant, we pray, that by Your grace, we may be ever faithful to her and be guided by Your Holy Spirit of love. O God, may Your Mother and ours and Your holy Angels and Saints intercede for us that, being made imitators of the Lord’s Passion, we may merit to be co-heirs of His Kingdom. Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever, amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 19 July – Prayer for Five Graces By St Alphonsus Liguori

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Our Morning Offering – 19 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”

Prayer for Five Graces
By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
Most Zealous Doctor

Eternal Father, Your Son has promised
that You would grant, all the graces
we ask of You in His name.
Trusting in this promise and in the name of
and through the merits of Jesus Christ,
I ask of You five special graces:
First, I ask pardon for all the offenses I have committed,
for which I am sorry with all my heart
because I have offended Your infinite goodness.
Second, I ask for Your divine Light,
which will enable me to see
the vanity of all things of this earth
and see also, Your infinite greatness and goodness.
Third, I ask for a share in Your love,
so that I may detach myself from all creatures,
especially from myself and love only Your holy will.
Fourth, grant me the grace to have confidence
in the merits of Jesus Christ
and in the intercession of Mary.
Fifth, I ask for the grace of perseverance,
knowing that, whenever I call on You for assistance,
You will answer my call and come to my aid.
I fear only, that I will neglect to turn to You in time of need
and thus bring myself to ruin.
Grant me the grace to pray always,
O Eternal Father,
in the name of Our Lord Jesus.
Amen.

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Our Morning Offering – 18 July – Anima Christi

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Our Morning Offering – 18 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”

Anima Christi

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from the side of Christ, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
Good Jesus, hear me
Within Your wounds, shelter me
from turning away, keep me
From the evil one, protect me
At the hour of my death, call me
Into Your presence lead me
to praise You with all Your saints
Forever and ever,
Amen

For many years the Anima Christi was popularly believed to have been composed by Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) , as he puts it at the beginning of his Spiritual Exercises and often refers to it. In the first edition of the Spiritual Exercises Ignatius merely mentions it, evidently supposing that the reader would know it. In later editions, it was printed in full. It was by assuming that everything in the book was written by Ignatius that it came to be looked upon as his composition. On this account the prayer is sometimes referred to as the Aspirations of St. Ignatius Loyola and so my image shows St Ignatius at prayer.

However, the prayer actually dates to the early fourteenth century and was possibly written by Pope John XXII but its authorship remains uncertain. It has been found in a number of prayer books printed during the youth of Ignatius and is in manuscripts which were written a hundred years before his birth. The English hymnologist James Mearns found it in a manuscript of the British Museum which dates to about 1370. In the library of Avignon there is preserved a prayer book of Cardinal Pierre de Luxembourg (died 1387), which contains the prayer in practically the same form as we have it today. It has also been found inscribed on one of the gates of the Alcázar of Seville, which dates back to the time of Pedro the Cruel (1350–1369).

The invocations in the prayer have rich associations with Catholic concepts that relate to the Eucharist (Body and Blood of Christ), Baptism (water) and the Passion of Jesus (Precious Blood and Holy Wounds).

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One Minute Reflection – 18 July – This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you

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This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

John 15:12-16

REFLECTION – Since all of our Lord’s sacred utterances contain com­mandments, why does he say about love as if it were a special commandment: “This is my commandment, that you love one another?” It is because every commandment is about love, and they all add up to one commandment be­cause whatever is commanded is founded on love alone. As a tree’s many branches come from one root, so do many virtues come forth from love alone. The branch which is our good works has no sap unless it remains attached to the root of love. Our Lord’s commandments are then both many and one: many through the variety of the works, one in their root which is love.

Our Lord himself instructs us to love our friends in him, and our enemies for his sake. That per­son truly possesses love who loves his friend in God and his enemy for God’s sake.

There are some people who love their neighbors, drawn by blood relationship or by natural affection, and Scripture does not oppose this kind of love. But what we give freely and naturally is one thing, and the obedience we owe to the Lord’s commandments out of love is another. Those I’ve mentioned indisputably love their neighbors… but their love does not come from spiritual but from natural motives. Therefore when the Lord said: “This is my commandment, that you love one another”, he added immediately: “Just as I have loved you,” meaning, “You must love for the same reason that I have loved you.”

Saint Gregory the Great ( Homilies on the Gospels, no. 27)

PRAYER – O Lord Jesus, I adore you wounded on the Cross, having drunk vinegar and gall. I beg you, that your wounds may be the remedy of my soul. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.

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Our Morning Offering – 17 July – Deign, O Immaculate Virgin

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Our Morning Offering – 17 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”

Deign, O Immaculate Virgin
By St Paschasius Radbertus (785–865)

Deign, O Immaculate Virgin,
Mother most pure,
to accept the loving cry of praise
which we send up to you
from the depths of our hearts.
Though they can but add little to your glory,
O Queen of Angels,
you do not despise, in your love,
the praises of the humble and the poor.
Cast down upon us a glance of mercy,
O most glorious Queen,
graciously receive our petitions.
Through your immaculate purity of body and mind,
which rendered you so pleasing to God,
inspire us with a love of innocence and purity.
Teach us to guard carefully the gifts of grace,
striving ever after sanctity, so that,
being made like the image of your beauty,
we may be worthy to become,
the sharers of your eternal happiness.
Amen

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One Minute Reflection – 17 July – By their fruits you will know them

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One Minute Reflection – 17July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Ps 46:2, Ps 46:3, Rom 6:19-23, Matt 7:15-21

By their fruits you will know them.

Matt 7:15-21

REFLECTION – Vice mimics virtue, and the tares strive to be thought wheat, growing like the wheat in appearance, but being detected by good judges from the taste. The devil also transfigures himself into an angel of light; not that he may reascend to where he was, for having made his heart hard as an anvil, he has henceforth a will that cannot repent; but in order that he may envelope those who are living an Angelic life in a mist of blindness, and a pestilent condition of unbelief. Many wolves are going about in sheep’s clothing, their clothing being that of sheep, not so their claws and teeth: but clad in their soft skin, and deceiving the innocent by their appearance, they shed upon them from their fangs the destructive poison of ungodliness.

We have need therefore of divine grace, and of a sober mind, and of eyes that see, lest from eating tares as wheat we suffer harm from ignorance, and lest from taking the wolf to be a sheep we become his prey, and from supposing the destroying Devil to be a beneficent Angel we be devoured: for, as the Scripture says, he goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. This is the cause of the Church's admonitions, the cause of the present instructions, and of the lessons which are read.

St Cyril of Jerusalem (Catechetical Lecture 4:1)

PRAYER – Lord God, in Your wisdom You created us, by Your Providence, You rule us. Penetrate our inmost being with Your holy light so that our way of life may always be one of faithful service and childlike trust in You. Grant that by the intercession of our most Holy and Blessed Virgin Mother, we may always follow behind Your Son, obey His Words and grasp His hand, to lead us to You, Through Jesus Christ our Lord with the Holy Spirit, one God now and for all eternity, amen

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Our Morning Offering – 16 July – “The Flos Carmeli”

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Our Morning Offering – 16 July – The Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

“The Flos Carmeli
The Flower of Carmel”
By St Simon Stock (1165-1265)

O most beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel,
fruitful vine, splendour of Heaven,
Blessed Mother of the Son of God,
Immaculate Virgin,
assist me in this my necessity.
O Star of the Sea,
help me and show me herein
that thou art my Mother.
O Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Queen of Heaven and earth,
I humbly beseech thee from the bottom of my heart,
to succour me in this my necessity.
There are none that can withstand thy power.
O show me herein, that thou art my Mother. Amen.

O Mary, conceived without sin,
pray for those who have recourse to thee.
(Repeat three times)

Sweet Mother, I place this cause in thy hands.
(Repeat three times)

This prayer, the “Flos Carmeli” (“The Flower of Carmel”), was composed by St Simon Stock (1165-1265), a Carmelite, so-called because he and other members of his order lived atop Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. St Simon Stock was visited by the Blessed Virgin Mary on 16 July 1251, at which time, she bestowed upon him a scapular, or habit, (commonly called “the Brown Scapular”), which became part of the liturgical clothing of the Carmelite order
Oral tradition tells of St Simon Stock praying, with a passionate intensity to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, during a time of great distress and hardship for the Order. With fervour and faith, he prayed his prayer, the Flos Carmeli for the first time. And Our Lady answered his prayer. Thus, for seven centuries the Flos Carmeli continues to be prayed to the Blessed Mother with the firm faith that she she will answer its request with her powerful help.

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One Minute Reflection – 16 July – Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves

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Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Matt 7:15-21

REFLECTION – Could Jesus Christ, my brothers, give us more clear and more certain evidence to make us known and distinguish good Christians from the bad, than by telling us that we will know them, not in their words, but to their works. A good tree, he tells us, cannot bear bad fruits, like a bad tree cannot bear good ones. Yes, my brothers, a Christian who has only a false devotion, an affected virtue and who is only external, despite all the precautions he will take to counterfeit himself, will soon let the disturbances of his heart appear from time to time, either in his words, or in his actions. No, my brothers, there is nothing so common that these virtues be ‟apparent”, that is to say a hypocrisy. We will see at the last judgment that most Christians have only had a religion of whim or mood, that is to say, inclinations, and that very few have only sought God in what they have done.

We first say that a Christian who wants to work sincerely in his salvation, must not be content to do good works; But he still has to know who he does them for and how he should do them. Secondly, we say that it is not enough to appear virtuous in the eyes of the world, but that it is still necessary to be in the heart. If, now, my brothers, you ask me how we can know that a virtue is true and that it will lead us to heaven, my brothers, here it is: listen to it well, gravel it well in your heart; so that each action you will do, you can know if it will be rewarded in heaven. I say that for an action to please God, it must have three conditions: the first, that it is interior and perfect; the second, humble and without return to oneself; the third, both constant and persistent: if in everything you do, you will find these conditions, you are sure to work for the heavens.

St John Vianney (Sermon for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost)

PRAYER – Almighty God, to whom this world with all its goodness and beauty belongs, give us grace joyfully to begin this day in Your name and to fill it, with an active love for You and for our neighbour. Grant us the grace to repent of our sins, to turn to the Cross of Your Son and to beg Him, in His great love and suffering, to forgive us again! Mary, the Madonna of Humility, intercede for us in our weakness and help us become humble and look only at the face of Christ. Amen

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Our Morning Offering – 15 July – To our Lady of Sorrows By St Bonaventure

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Our Morning Offering – 15 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” and the Memorial of St Bonaventure (1221-1274) Seraphic Doctor of the Church

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.