Quote/s of the Day – 8 July – The Memorial of Sts Priscilla and Aquila – Patrons of Catholic Marriage and Families
Speaking of Marriage and the Family
“Authentic married love is caught up into divine love . . . so that this love may lead the spouses to God . . . and in God, they find the strength, to carry on their roles and responsibilities.”
Gaudium et Spes (Joy and Hope, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World), 48
“Merciful love is supremely indispensable between those who are closest to one another: between husbands and wives, between parents and children, between friends and it is indispensable in education and in pastoral work.”
“The future of humanity passes by way of the family. It is therefore indispensable and urgent, that every person of good will should endeavour to save and foster the values and requirements of the family. I feel that I must ask for a particular effort in this field, from the sons and daughters of the Church. Faith gives them full knowledge of God’s wonderful plan, they, therefore, have an extra reason for caring for the reality that is the family in this time of trial and of grace. They must show the family special love. This is an injunction that calls for concrete action.”
St Pope John Paul (1920-2005)
“We speak a lot about behavioural problems, mental health, the well-being of the child, the anxiety of the parents and the children— but do we even know what a wound of the soul is? Do we feel the weight of the mountain that crushes the soul of a child in those families, where members mistreat and hurt one another to the point of breaking the bonds of marital fidelity? What effect do our choices — often poor choices— have on the souls of children?”
Pope Francis
24 June 2015
“During these days, we will reflect in particular on the family, which is the fundamental cell of society. From the beginning the Creator blessed man and woman, so that they might be fruitful and multiply and so the family then, is an image of the Triune God in the world.”
Thought for the Day – 25 June – Monday of the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel Matthew 7:1-5 & The Memorial of St Maximus of Turin (? – c 420)
“Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye”
Love — caritas — is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth. Each person finds his good by adherence to God’s plan for him, in order to realise it fully: in this plan, he finds his truth, and through adherence to this truth he becomes free (cf. Jn 8:32)…
Charity is love received and given. It is “grace”. Its source is the wellspring of the Father’s love for the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Love comes down to us from the Son. It is creative love, through which we have our being; it is redemptive love, through which we are recreated. Love is revealed and made present by Christ (cf. Jn 13:1) and “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5). As the objects of God’s love, men and women become subjects of charity, they are called to make themselves instruments of grace, so as to pour forth God’s charity and to weave networks of charity.
This dynamic of charity received and given is what gives rise to the Church’s social teaching…: the proclamation of the truth of Christ’s love in society. This doctrine is a service to charity but its locus is truth… Development, social well-being, the search for a satisfactory solution to the grave socio-economic problems besetting humanity, all need this truth. What they need even more is that this truth should be loved and demonstrated. Without truth, without trust and love for what is true, there is no social conscience and responsibility and social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation, especially in a globalised society at difficult times like the present….Pope Benedict XVIEncyclical « Caritas in veritate
“To illustrate this view of Maximus’ ministry in his city, I would like to point out for example Sermons 17 and 18, dedicated to an ever timely topic: wealth and poverty in Christian communities. In this context too, the city was fraught with serious tensions. Riches were accumulated and hidden. “No one thinks about the needs of others”, the Bishop remarked bitterly in his 17th Sermon. “In fact, not only do many Christians not share their own possessions but they also rob others of theirs. Not only, I say, do they not bring the money they collect to the feet of the apostles but in addition, they drag from priests’ feet their own brethren who are seeking help”. And he concluded:“In our cities there are many guests or pilgrims. Do what you have promised adhering to faith, so that what was said to Ananias will not be said to you as well: “You have not lied to men but to God'”(Sermon 17, 2-3).”…Pope Benedict Homily on St Maximus 31 October 2007
One Minute Reflection – 15 June – Friday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel Matthew 5:27-32
“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, makes her an adulteress and whoever marries a divorced woman, commits adultery.”…Matthew 5:31-32
REFLECTION – “Married love particularly reveals its true nature and nobility when we realise that it takes its origin from God, who is love… Marriage, then, is far from being the effect of chance or the result of the blind evolution of natural forces. It is in reality the wise and provident institution of God the Creator, whose purpose was to effect in man His loving design. As a consequence, husband and wife, through that mutual gift of themselves alone… develop that union of two persons in which they perfect one another, cooperating with God in the generation and rearing of new lives. The marriage of those who have been baptised is, in addition, invested with the dignity of a sacramental sign of grace, for it represents the union of Christ and His Church (Eph 5:32).
In the light of these facts the characteristic features and exigencies of married love are clearly indicated. This love is above all fully human, a compound of sense and spirit. It is not, then, merely a question of natural instinct or emotional drive. It is also, and above all, an act of the free will, whose trust is such that it is meant not only to survive the joys and sorrows of daily life but also to grow, so that husband and wife become, in a way, one heart and one soul and together attain their human fulfilment.
It is a love which is total—that very special form of personal friendship in which husband and wife generously share everything, allowing no unreasonable exceptions and not thinking solely of their own convenience. Whoever really loves his partner, loves not only for what he receives but loves that partner, for the partner’s own sake, content to be able to enrich the other with the gift of himself.
Married love is also faithful and exclusive of all other and this until death. This is how husband and wife understood it on the day on which, fully aware of what they were doing, they freely vowed themselves to one another in marriage… Finally, this love is fecund. It is not confined wholly to the loving interchange of husband and wife; it also contrives to go beyond this to bring new life into being.”…Blessed Paul VI – Humanae vitae, 8-9
PRAYER – Yours is the day and Yours, the night, Lord God and we are Your children. Grant we pray, that the weakness of our humanity, the drive of our emotions and flesh may not overpower us. Lead us Lord, through the dangers of our day, give us strength and true love, wishing only our final home for those who share our lives, especially our spouse. Mary, pray for us, that we may imitate your faithfulness in all things, St Joseph be a guide and a support to us all. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
One Minute Reflection – 10 June – Tenth Sunday of the Year B – Today’s Gospel Mark 3:20-35
“But whoever blasphemes against the holy Spirit will never have forgiveness but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”…Mark 3:29
REFLECTION – “Why is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit unforgivable? How should this blasphemy be understood? St Thomas Aquinas replies that it is a question of a sin that is “unforgivable by its very nature, insofar as it excludes the elements through which the forgiveness of sin takes place.” According to such an exegesis, “blasphemy” does not properly consist in offending against the Holy Spirit in words; it consists rather in the refusal to accept the salvation which God offers us through the Holy Spirit, working through the power of the Cross. If man rejects the “convincing concerning sin” which comes from the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:8) and which has the power to save, he also rejects the “coming” of the Counsellor (Jn 16:7) – that “coming” which was accomplished in the Paschal Mystery, in union with the redemptive power of Christ’s Blood: the Blood which “purifies the conscience from dead works” (Heb 9:15).
We know that the result of such a purification is the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, whoever rejects the Spirit and the Blood (cf. 1Jn 5:8) remains in “dead works,” in sin. And the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit consists precisely in the radical refusal to accept this forgiveness, of which he is the intimate giver and which presupposes the genuine conversion which he brings about in the conscience. If Jesus says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven either in this life or in the next, it is because this “non-forgiveness” is linked, as to its cause, to “non-repentance,” in other words to the radical refusal to be converted…
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, then, is the sin committed by the person, who claims to have a “right” to persist in evil – in any sin at all – and who thus, rejects Redemption. One closes oneself up in sin, thus making impossible one’s conversion and consequently the remission of sins, which one considers not essential or not important for one’s life. This is a state of spiritual ruin, because blasphemy against the Holy Spirit does not allow one to escape from one’s self-imposed imprisonment.”… St John Paul II (1920-2005) Encyclical “Dominum et vivificantem”
PRAYER – Lord God strength of those who hope in You, support us in our prayer because we are weak and can do nothing without You. Grant always the help of Your grace so that, in fulfilling Your commandments, we may please You in the depths of our hearts and souls and be free of sin against You. Fill us with the Holy Spirit, who is our refuge, our strength, our truth. Through Christ, our Lord, with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen. “Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Mark 3:35
One Minute Reflection – 8 June – The Solemnity of The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
...But one soldier thrust his lance into his side and immediately blood and water flowed out...John 19:34
REFLECTION – “When the Church, in the days immediately succeeding her institution, was oppressed beneath the yoke of the Caesars, a young Emperor saw in the heavens across, which became at once the happy omen and cause of the glorious victory that soon followed. And now, to-day, behold another blessed and heavenly token is offered to our sight-the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, with a cross rising from it and shining forth with dazzling splendour amidst flames of love. …. there is in the Sacred Heart a symbol and a sensible image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love one another…”…Pope Leo XII – Annum Sacrum (Holy Year) 1899
PRAYER – “May Your heart dwell always in our hearts! May Your blood ever flow in the veins of our souls! O sun of our hearts, You give life to all things by the rays of Your goodness! I will not go, until Your heart has strengthened me, O Lord Jesus! May the heart of Jesus be the king of my heart! Blessed be God. Amen.”…St Francis De Sales (1567-1622) Doctor of Charity
8 June – Blessed and Holy Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus – (Friday after the Second Sunday after Pentecost) and The World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests.
Excerpt from ENCYCLICAL of Pope Pius XII HAURIETIS AQUAS – on DEVOTION TO The SACRED HEART
15 May 1956
Venerable Brethren: Health and Apostolic Benediction.
1. “You shall draw waters with joy out of the Saviour’s fountain.” These words by which the prophet Isaias, using highly significant imagery, foretold the manifold and abundant gifts of God which the Christian era was to bring forth, come naturally to Our mind when We reflect on the centenary of that year when Our predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, gladly yielding to the prayers from the whole Catholic world, ordered the celebration of the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Universal Church.
2. It is altogether impossible to enumerate the heavenly gifts which devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has poured out on the souls of the faithful, purifying them, offering them heavenly strength, rousing them to the attainment of all virtues. Therefore, recalling those wise words of the Apostle S. James, “Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights,” We are perfectly justified in seeing in this same devotion, which flourishes with increasing fervour throughout the world, a gift without price, which our divine Saviour the Incarnate Word, as the one Mediator of grace and truth between the heavenly Father and the human race imparted to the Church, His mystical Spouse, in recent centuries when she had to endure such trials and surmount so many difficulties.
3. The Church, rejoicing in this inestimable gift, can show forth a more ardent love of her divine Founder and can, in a more generous and effective manner, respond to that invitation which St John the Evangelist relates as having come from Christ Himself: “And on the last and great day of the festivity, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If any man thirst, let him come to Me and let him drink that believeth in Me. As the Scripture saith: Out of his heart there shall flow rivers of living waters.’ Now this He said of the Spirit which they should receive who believed in Him.”
8. The Church has always valued and still does, the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus so highly, that she provides for the spread of it among Christian peoples everywhere and by every means. At the same time she uses every effort to protect it against the charges of so-called “naturalism” and “sentimentalism.” In spite of this it is much to be regretted that, both in the past and in our own times, this most noble devotion does not find a place of honour and esteem among certain Christians and, even occasionally, not among those who profess themselves moved by zeal for the Catholic religion and the attainment of holiness.
17. Through the years of Our pontificate–years filled not only with bitter hardships but also with ineffable consolations, these effects have not diminished in number or power or beauty but, on the contrary, have increased. Indeed, happily there has begun a variety of projects which are conducive to a rekindling of this devotion. We refer to the formation of cultural associations for the advancement of religion and of charitable works, publications setting forth the true historical, ascetical and mystical doctrine concerning this entire subject, pious works of atonement and, in particular, those manifestations of most ardent piety which the Apostleship of Prayer has brought about, under whose auspices and direction local gatherings – families, colleges, institutions – and sometimes nations have been consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. To all these We have offered paternal congratulations on many occasions, whether in letters written on the subject, in personal addresses, or even in messages delivered over the radio.
18. Therefore when We perceive so fruitful an abundance of healing waters, that is, heavenly gifts of divine love, issuing from the Sacred Heart of our Redeemer, spreading among countless children of the Catholic Church by the inspiration and action of the divine Spirit, We can only exhort you, venerable brethren, with fatherly affection to join Us in giving tribute of praise and heartfelt thanks to God, the Giver of all good gifts. We make Our own these words of the Apostle of the Gentiles: “Now to Him Who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations world without end. Amen.”
And the Twelve Promises here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/06/23/friday-23-june-2017-blessed-and-holy-solemnity-of-the-most-sacred-heart-of-jesus-friday-after-the-second-sunday-after-pentecost/
The World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests
This celebration offers an opportunity to lift up our priests in prayer and thanksgiving, asking God, that they might continually rediscover the gift of their ordination and experience the joy of the mission entrusted to them, while always growing in sanctity.
Let us Pray:
“Our Father for Priests”
Our Father who art in heaven,
Give us priests according to Your Heart.
That Thy name be hallowed,
Give us priests according to Your Heart.
That Thy kingdom come,
Give us priests according to Your Heart.
That Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,
Give us priests according to Your Heart.
To give us each day the Bread of life,
Give us priests according to Your Heart.
To forgive us our trespasses,
Give us priests according to Your Heart.
That we be not led into temptation,
Give us priests according to Your Heart.
And deliver us
And all of Your priests from evil. Amen.
(Anonymous)
Issued by the Congregation for the Clergy (vatican.va)
Our Morning Offering – 25 May “Mary’s Month” Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year B
Mary, Virgin and Mother, shows us what love is and whence it draws its origin and its constantly renewed power. To her we entrust the Church and her mission in the service of love.
Pope Benedict XVI: Deus Caritas Est, 42
Holy Mary, Mother of God
By Pope Benedict XVI:
Deus Caritas Est, 42
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
you have given the world its true light,
Jesus, your Son – the Son of God.
You abandoned yourself completely
to God’s call and this became a wellspring
of the goodness which flows forth from Him.
Show us Jesus.
Lead us to Him.
Teach us to know and love Him,
so that we too, can become capable of true love
and be fountains of living water
in the midst of a thirsting world.
Quote of the Day – 24 May “Mary’s Month” – Feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians
“This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace, continues uninterruptedly, from the consent, which she loyally gave, at the Annunciation and which she sustained, without wavering beneath the Cross, until the eternal fulfilment of all the elect.
Taken up to heaven, she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession, continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth, surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home.
Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress and Mediatrix. This, however, is so understood, that it neither takes away anything from, nor adds anything to, the dignity and efficacy of Christ the one Mediator.”
Lumen Gentium, 62
Blessed Pope Paul VI (1897-1978)
Our Morning Offering – 21 May 2018 “Mary’s Month!” – The First Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church
Prayer to Mary, Mother of the Church and Mother of our Faith
By our Holy Father, Pope Francis
Mother, help our faith! Open our ears to hear God’s word and to recognise His voice and call. Awaken in us a desire, to follow in His footsteps, to go forth from our own land and to receive His promise. Help us to be touched by His love, that we may touch Him in faith. Help us to entrust ourselves fully to Him and to believe in His love, especially at times of trial, beneath the shadow of the cross, when our faith is called to mature. Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One. Remind us that those who believe are never alone. Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus, that He may be light for our path. And may this light of faith, always increase in us, until the dawn of that undying day, which is Christ Himself, your Son, our Lord! Amen
Prayer to Mary at the conclusion of the Encyclical Lumen Fidei (29 June 2013) Image of Mary – Our Lady of the Column in St Peter’s Basilica
Quote/s of the Day – 11 May – “Mary’s Month!” – Friday of the Sixth Week of Eastertide
“Who, more than Mary, could be, a star of hope for us? With her “yes”, she opened the door of our world, to God Himself; she became the living Ark of the Covenant, in whom God took flesh, became one of us and pitched His tent among us.”
Spe Salvi 49
“Consequently, every time we approach the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharistic liturgy, we also turn to her who, by her complete fidelity, received Christ’s sacrifice for the whole Church. The Synod Fathers rightly declared that “Mary inaugurates the Church’s participation in the sacrifice of the Redeemer.” She is the Immaculata, who receives God’s gift unconditionally and is thus associated with His work of salvation. Mary of Nazareth, icon of the nascent Church, is the model for each of us, called to receive the gift that Jesus makes of Himself in the Eucharist.”
Sunday Reflection -– 29 April – Fifth Sunday of Eastertide: Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 15:1-8.
“Without Me you can do nothing” John 15:5
“In Christ it hath well pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell.” (Col 1:19) He is gifted with those supernatural powers that accompany the hypostatic union, since the Holy Spirit dwells in Him with a fullness of grace than which no greater can be imagined. To Him has been given “power over all flesh”; (Jn 17:2)… . From Him streams into the body of the Church all the light with which those who believe are divinely illumined, and all the grace by which they are made holy as He is holy…
It is He who imparts the light of faith to believers; it is He who enriches pastors and teachers and above all His Vicar on earth with the supernatural gifts of knowledge, understanding and wisdom, so that they may loyally preserve the treasury of faith, defend it vigorously and explain it and confirm it with reverence and devotion. Finally, it is He who, though unseen, presides at the Councils of the Church and guides them…
Holiness begins from Christ and Christ is its cause. For no act conducive to salvation can be performed unless it proceeds from Him as from its supernatural source. “Without me,” He says, “you can do nothing.”(Jn 15:5) If we grieve and do penance for our sins if, with filial fear and hope, we turn again to God, it is because He is leading us. Grace and glory flow from His inexhaustible fullness…
When the Sacraments of the Church are administered by external rite, it is He who produces their effect in souls. He nourishes the redeemed with His own flesh and blood and thus calms the turbulent passions of the soul; He gives increase of grace and prepares future glory for souls and bodies.
Christ our Lord wills the Church to live His own supernatural life and by His divine power permeates His whole Body and nourishes and sustains each of the members according to the place which they occupy in the body, in the same way as the vine nourishes and makes fruitful the branches which are joined to it. (cf. Jn 15:4-6).
Venerable Pius XII (1976-1958) Pope from 1939 to 1958
Encyclical “Mystici Corporis”
Sunday Reflection – 11 February 2018 – 6th Sunday of Year B – Pope Benedict and St John Paul
In liturgical prayer, especially the Eucharist and – formats of the liturgy – in every prayer, we do not speak as single individuals, rather we enter into the “we” of the Church that prays. And we need to transform our “I” entering into this “we”. Pope Benedict XVI is one of the great liturgists of our age. His seminal book, “The Spirit of the Liturgy”, written when he was still Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, is required reading in most seminaries and should be read by every Catholic.
“It is not the individual – priest or layman – or the group that celebrates the liturgy but it is primarily God’s action through the Church, which has its own history, its rich tradition and creativity. This universality and fundamental openness, which is characteristic of the entire liturgy is one of the reasons why it can not be created or amended by the individual community or by experts but must be faithful to the forms of the universal Church.
The entire Church is always present, even in the liturgy of the smallest community. For this reason there are no “foreigners” in the liturgical community. The entire Church participates in every liturgical celebration, heaven and earth, God and man. The Christian liturgy, even if it is celebrated in a concrete place and space and expresses the “yes” of a particular community, it is inherently Catholic, it comes from everything and leads to everything, in union with the Pope, the Bishops , with believers of all times and all places. The more a celebration is animated by this consciousness, the more fruitful the true sense of the liturgy is realised in it.
Dear friends, the Church is made visible in many ways: in its charitable work, in mission projects, in the personal apostolate that every Christian must realise in his or her own environment. But the place where it is fully experienced as a Church is in the liturgy : it is the act in which we believe that God enters into our reality and we can meet Him, we can touch Him. It is the act in which we come into contact with God, He comes to us and we are enlightened by Him.
So when in the reflections on the liturgy we concentrate all our attention on how to make it attractive, interesting and beautiful, we risk forgetting the essential: the liturgy is celebrated for God and not for ourselves, it is His work, He is the subject and we must open ourselves to Him and be guided by Him and His Body, which is the Church.
Let us ask the Lord to learn every day to live the sacred liturgy, especially the Eucharistic celebration, praying in the “we” of the Church, that directs its gaze not in on itself but to God and feeling part of the living Church, of all places and of all time.”…Pope Benedict XVI – Wednesday Audience 3 Oct 2012
“I have been able to celebrate Holy Mass in chapels built along mountain paths, on lakeshores and seacoasts. I have celebrated it on altars built in stadiums and in city squares….This varied scenario of celebrations of the Eucharist, has given me, a powerful experience of its universal and, so to speak, cosmic character – YES, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always, in some way, celebrated on the altar of the world. It unites heaven and earth. It embraces and permeates all creation!” St Pope John Paul “Ecclesia de Eucharista no 8”
Quote/s of the Day – 7 February – The Memorial of Blessed Pope Pius IX (1792-1878)
“The chisel is the pen of the sculptor.”
“If we are the heirs of Christ, let us remain in the peace of Christ. If we are the sons of God, we must be peacemakers….” INTER MULTIPLICES – PLEADING FOR UNITY OF SPIRIT: 21 March 1853
” From the very beginning and before time began, the eternal Father chose and prepared for His only-begotten Son, a Mother, in whom the Son of God would become incarnate and from whom, in the blessed fullness of time, He would be born into this world. Above all creatures did God so love her, that truly in her, was the Father well pleased, with singular delight. Therefore, far above all the angels and all the saints, so wondrously did God endow her, with the abundance of all heavenly gifts, poured from the treasury of His divinity, that this mother, ever absolutely free of all stain of sin, all fair and perfect, would possess that fullness of holy innocence and sanctity than which, under God, one cannot even imagine anything greater and which, outside of God, no mind can succeed in comprehending fully.”- INEFFABILIS DEUS – THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: 8 December 1854
“In the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass, celebrated by priests, the same life-giving victim is offered up. This entreaty reconciles us to God the Father. It “renews in a mysterious way the death of Christ, who having risen from the dead dies no longer. Death no longer has domination over Him.” Still, He is sacrificed for us in the mystery of this sacred oblation. No unworthiness or wickedness on the part of those offering it can ever defile this oblation.”- AMANTISSIMI REDEMPTORIS – ON PRIESTS AND THE CARE OF SOULS: 3 May 1858
One Minute Reflection – 7 February – The Memorial of Blessed Pope Pius IX (1792-1878)
And I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it…Matthew 16:18
REFLECTION – “Now you know well that the most deadly foes of the Catholic religion have always waged a fierce war but without success, against this Chair; they are by no means ignorant of the fact that religion itself can never totter and fall while this Chair remains intact, the Chair which rests on the rock which the proud gates of hell cannot overthrow and in which there is the whole and perfect solidity of the Christian religion.”…Blessed Pope Pius IX
PRAYER – Holy Father God, our eternal praise and thanksgiving are offered to You for this Chair of Peter! The Church instituted by our Saviour, Your divine Son. Grant we pray, that by the prayers of Blessed Pope Pius IX, who faithfully guarded her through times of great difficulty, that we too may live and move and have our being in You and with Jesus, our Lord, in His Holy Church. Amen
Saint of the Day 7 February – Blessed Pope Pius IX (1792-1878) Bishop of Rome, Writer. The longest regining Pope. Bl Pius was born as Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti on 13 May 1792 in Senigallia, Italy and he died on 7 February 1878 in Vatican City of natural causes. He reigned from 16 June 1846 to the day of his death. He is the longest-reigning Pope in the history of the Church, serving for over 31 years. During his Pontificate, Pius IX convened the First Vatican Council (1869–70), which decreed Papal Infallibility and promulgated the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, thus articulating a long-held belief that Mary, the Mother of God, was conceived without original sin. He conferred the title Our Mother of Perpetual Succour on a famous Byzantine icon from Crete entrusted to the Redemptorists. Pope Pius IX named three new Doctors of the Church: Hilary of Poitiers (1851), Alphonsus Liguori (1871), and Francis de Sales (19 July 1877).Patronages – Pius Seminary of Rome, Senigallia, Diocese of Senigallia, First Vatican Council. His body is incorrupt.
Bl Pope Pius IX was born in Senigallia, Italy, on 13 May 1792, the son of Gerolamo of the Counts Mastai Ferretti and Caterina Solazzi, of the local nobility. He was baptised on the day of his birth with the name Giovanni Maria. Of delicate physical constitution but of very lively intelligence, his childhood was marked by little voluntary mortifications and an intense religious life.
In 1809 he moved to Rome for higher studies. A disease not well diagnosed, which some called epilepsy, forced him to interrupt his studies in 1812. He was accepted into the Pontifical Noble Guard in 1815 but because of his illness he was immediately discharged. It was at this time that St Vincent Pallotti predicted that he would become Pope and that the Virgin of Loreto would free him eventually from the disease.
After serving briefly in the Tata Giovanni Educational Institute, he participated as a catechist in 1816 in a memorable mission in Senigallia and, immediately thereafter, decided to enter the ecclesiastical state. He was ordained a priest in 1819. Conscious of his noble rank, he committed himself to avoiding a prelatial career in order to remain only at the service of the Church.
He celebrated his first Mass in the Church of St Anne of the Carpenters at the Tata Giovanni Institute, of which he was named rector, remaining there until 1823. He was immediately recognised as assiduous in prayer, in the ministry of the Word, in the celebration of the liturgy, in the confessional and above all in his daily ministry at the service of the humblest and neediest. He admirably united the active and the contemplative life: ready for pastoral needs but always interiorly recollected, with strong Eucharistic and Marian devotion and fidelity to daily meditation and the examination of conscience.
In 1823 he left the institute to serve the Apostolic Nuncio in Chile, Mons. Giovanni Muzi. There he remained until 1825, when he was elected President of St Michael’s Hospice, a grand but complex institution in need of effective reform. To it Mastai applied himself with more than gratifying results but without ever neglecting his priestly duties. Two years later, at the age of 35, he was consecrated Archbishop of Spoleto. In 1831 the revolution which had begun in Parma and Modena spread to Spoleto. The Archbishop did not want the shedding of blood and repaired, as much as possible, the deleterious effects of the violence. When calm was restored, he obtained a pardon for all, even for those who did not merit it.
Another turbulent see awaited Mastai in Imola, where he was transferred in 1832. He remained an eloquent preacher, prompt in charity toward everyone, zealous for the supernatural as well as the material well-being of his Diocese, devoted to his clergy and seminarians, a promoter of education for the young, sensitive to the needs of the contemplative life, devoted to the Sacred Heart and to Our Lady, benevolent towards all but firm in his principles. In 1840 he received the Cardinal’s hat at the age of 48.
Despite having shunned honours, on the evening of 16 June 1846 Mastai found himself burdened with the greatest of them: he was elected Pope and took the name Pius IX.
He had a difficult pontificate, but precisely because of that he was a great Pope, certainly one of the greatest. Thoroughly aware of being the “Vicar of Christ” and responsible for the rights of God and of the Church, he was clear, simple consistent. He combined firmness and understanding, fidelity and openness.
He began with an act of generosity and Christian sensitivity: amnesty for political crimes. His first Encyclical was a programmatic vision but anticipated the “Syllabus”: in it he condemned secret societies, freemasonry and communism. In 1847 he promulgated a decree granting extensive freedom of the press and instituted a civil guard, the municipal and communal council, the Council of State and the Council of Ministers. From then on his interventions as Father of all nations and temporal Prince continued unabated.
The question of Italian independence, which he sympathised with, did not set the Prince against the Pope, a fact that alienated the most intransigent liberals. The situation came to a head on 15 November when Pellegrino Rossi, the head of government, was killed and Pius IX had to take refuge in Gaeta. After the proclamation of the Roman Republic (9 February 1849), he moved to Portici and later returned to Rome (12 April 1850). He reorganised the Council of State, established the Council for Finances, granted a new amnesty, re-established the Catholic hierarchy in England and in Holland.
In 1853 he condemned Gallican doctrines and founded the well-known “Seminario Pio”. He established the Commission on Christian Archaeology, defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December 1854 and blessed the rebuilt St Paul’s Basilica which had been destroyed by fire in 1823.
In 1856 he approved the plan for railways in the Papal States and on 24 April 1859 inaugurated the first section between Rome and Civitavecchia. In 1857 he visited the Papal States and was welcomed everywhere with rejoicing. He sent missionaries to the North Pole, India, Burma, China and Japan.
Meanwhile dark clouds gathered over him with the Italian “Risorgimento”, the Piedmontese annexations that were dismantling the Papal States and the expropriation of the Legations. Suffering but undaunted, he continued to show his charity and concern for all. In 1862 he established a dicastery to deal with the concerns of Eastern-rite Catholics; in 1864 he published his Syllabus condemning modern errors; in 1867 he celebrated the 18th centenary of the martyrdom of Peter and Paul; in 1869 he received the homage of the entire world for the golden jubilee of his priestly ordination. Later that year he opened the First Vatican Ecumenical Council, the pearl of his pontificate, and closed it on 18 July 1870.
With the fall of Rome (20 September 1870) and of the temporal power, the saddened Pontiff considered himself a prisoner of the Vatican, resisting the “Laws of Guarantees”, but approving the “Work of Congresses”. He consecrated the Church to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, disciplined the participation of Catholics in political life with the Non expedit and restored the Catholic hierarchy of Scotland. Suffering from poor health, he gave his last address to the parish priests of Rome on 2 February 1878. On 7 February the longest pontificate in history ended with his holy death. His body is incorrupt. He was Beatified on 3 September 2000 by St Pope John Paul II. (vatican.va).
Writings
• Amantissimi Redemptoris – On Priests and the Care of Souls, by Pope Pius IX, 3 May 1858 • Apostolicae Nostrae Caritatis – Urging Prayers For Peace, by Pope Pius IX, 1 August 1854 • Beneficia Dei – On The Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of His Pontificate, by Pope Pius IX, 4 June 1871 • Cum Nuper – On Care for Clerics, by Pope Pius IX, 20 January 1858 • Cum Sancta Mater Ecclesia – Pleading for Public Prayer, by Pope Pius IX, 27 April 1859 • Etsi Multa – On the Church in Italy, Germany, and Switzerland, by Pope Pius IX, 21 November 1873 • Exultavit Cor Nostrum – On the Effects of the Jubilee, by Pope Pius IX, 21 November 1851 • Graves ac Diuturnae – On the Church in Switzerland, by Pope Pius IX, 23 March 1875 • Gravibus Ecclesiae – Proclaiming a Jubilee for 1875, by Pope Pius IX, 24 December 1874 • Incredibili – On Persecution in New Granada, by Pope Pius IX, 17 September 1863 • Ineffabilis Deus – The Immaculate Conception, by Pope Pius IX, 8 December 1854 • Levate – On the Afflictions of the Church, by Pope Pius IX, 21 October 1867 • Maximae Quidem – On the Church in Bavaria, by Pope Pius IX, 18 August 1864 • Meridionali Americae – On the Seminary for Native Clergy, by Pope Pius IX, 30 September 1865 • Neminem Vestrum – On The Persecution Of Armenians, by Pope Pius IX, 2 February 1854 • Nemo Certe Ignorat – On Discipline for Clergy, by Pope Pius IX, 25 March 1852 • Nostis et Nobiscum – On The Church In The Pontifical States, by Pope Pius IX, 8 December 1849 • Nullis Certe Verbis – On the Need for Civil Sovereignty, by Pope Pius IX, 19 January 1860 • Omnem Sollicitudinem – On The Greek-Ruthenian Rite, Pope Pius IX, 13 May 1874 • Optime Noscitis – On Episcopal Meetings, by Pope Pius IX, 5 November 1855 • Optime Noscitis – On The Proposed Catholic University Of Ireland, by Pope Pius IX, 20 March 1854 • Praedecessores Nostros – On Aid for Ireland, by Pope Pius IX, 25 March 1847 • Quae in Patriarchatu – On the Church in Chaldae, by Pope Pius IX, 16 November 1872 • Quanta Cura – Condemning Current Errors, by Pope Pius IX, 8 December 1864 • Quanto Conficiamur Moerore – On Promotion of False Doctrines, by Pope Pius IX, 10 August 1863 • Quartus Supra – On the Church in Armenia, by Pope Pius IX, 6 January 1873 • Qui Nuper – On Pontifical States, by Pope Pius IX, 18 June 1859 • Qui Pluribus – On Faith And Religion, by Pope Pius IX, 9 November 1846 • Quod Nunquam – On the Church in Prussia, by Pope Pius IX, 5 February 1875 • Respicientes – Protesting the Taking of the Pontifical States, by Pope Pius IX, 1 November 1870 • Saepe Venerabiles Fratres – On Thanksgiving For Twenty-Five Years Of Pontificate, by Pope Pius IX, 5 August 1871 • Singulari Quidem – On the Church in Austria, by Pope Pius IX, 17 March 1856 • Syllabus of Errors, by Pope Blessed Pius IX, 8 December 1864 • Ubi Nos – On Pontifical States, by Pope Pius IX, 15 May 1871 • Ubi Primum – On Discipline for Religious, by Pope Pius IX, 17 June 1847 • Ubi Primum – On The Immaculate Conception, by Pope Pius IX, 2 February 1849 • Vix Dum a Nobis – On the Church in Austria, by Pope Pius IX, 7 March 1874
Our Morning Offering – 30 December – The Feast of the Holy Family and the Sixth Day of the Christmas Octave
Prayer to the Holy Family By Pope Francis from Amoris Laetitia
Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
in you we contemplate
the splendour of true love;
to you we turn with trust.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
grant that our families too
may be places of communion and prayer,
authentic schools of the Gospel
and small domestic churches.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
may families never again experience
violence, rejection and division;
may all who have been hurt or scandalised
find ready comfort and healing.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
make us once more mindful
of the sacredness
and inviolability of the family,
and its beauty in God’s plan.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Graciously hear our prayer.
Amen
Apologies folks, no new posts today except this morning prayer – the posts for the Holy Family for last year are here https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2016/12/30/
Quote of the Day – 15 December – Friday in the Second Week of Advent
“Now is the time to say to Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned Your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with You. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into Your redeeming embrace”.
Quote/s of the Day – 8 December – The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
“Mary, a Virgin, not only not only UNDEFILED but a Virgin whom grace has made INVIOLATE, FREE from EVERY STAIN of SIN.”
St Ambrose (340-397) Father and Doctor, Sermon 22, in the year 338
The Apostolic Constitution «Ineffabilis Deus», published on 8th December 1854, more 150 years ago, by Blessed Pope Pius IX on the theology regarding the privilege of the Immaculate Conception, in the following solemn proclamation of this Dogma of Catholic faith:
“To the honour of the holy and undivided Trinity, to the worthiness and splendid beauty of the Virgin Mother of God, to the upholding of the Catholic faith and to the furthering of the Christian religion, with the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, with that of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul and with Our own authority, we declare, we pronounce and we define the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the very first moments of her Conception, through the singular grace of Almighty God and through the foresight of the merits of Christ Jesus, Saviour of the human race, was preserved immune from all stains of original sin. We furthermore declare, pronounce and define that this doctrine has been revealed by God and, therefore, has to be strongly and always believed by all the faithful.” Blessed Pope Pius IX
“As soon as she [Mary] had the use of reason, that is, from the first moment of her Immaculate Conception in the womb of St Anne, from that time she began with all her powers to love her God and thus she continued to do, ever advancing more in perfection and love through her whole life. All her thoughts, her desires, her affections, were wholly given to God. Not a word, not a motion, not a glance of the eye, not a breath of hers that was not for God and for His glory, never departing one step, nor separating herself for one moment from the divine love.”…Saint Alphonsus Ligouri (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church
NOVENA TO CHRIST KING
in preparation for the Liturgical Feast
of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Written by Prince Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha, Archbishop of Krakow
Day Four Behold, your mother
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.
John 19:26-27 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
For the Mother of Christ is glorified as “Queen of the Universe.” She who at the Annunciation called herself the “handmaid of the Lord” remained throughout her earthly life faithful to what this name expresses. In this she confirmed that she was a true “disciple” of Christ, who strongly emphasised that his mission was one of service: the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt. 20:28). In this way Mary became the first of those who, “serving Christ also in others, with humility and patience lead their brothers and sisters to that King whom to serve is to reign” and she fully obtained that “state of royal freedom” proper to Christ’s disciples: to serve means to reign!…(St Pope John Paul II, The Encyclical Redemptoris Mater, 41)
Prayer: O God, whose sainthood is beyond understanding! Through Your Son Jesus Christ You have given us the paragon of sainthood and the path thereto. You have involved the Blessed Virgin Mary in the mission of Salvation by making her Christ’s Mother and ours. May You help us to see and believe that Virgin Mary is, for us, the model of ideal love. May our existence be permeated with the longing to bear love to Jesus and Mary. Mother of Divine Love, be mindful of the faithful gathered in this
temple and all other places where You are glorified and addressed in the world full of misery. Be mindful of our souls longing to bear indivisible love to your Son and thee. Be mindful of all souls, especially the souls loving your Son, teach them to fulfil His will as faithfully as possible, protect them from all sin and help them to attain perfect love in humility, simplicity and complete devotion to God. Through Christ, Our Lord, with the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayer to Jesus Christ King of the Universe by Adam Stefan Cardinal Sapieha (1927)
O Jesus, Lord of our hearts and immortal King of centuries, we hereby solemnly swear to You to stand faithfully by Your throne and by You. We swear never to blemish Your standard with unbelief, sectarianism or any other apostasy. We vow to You to persevere in the holy Catholic faith until we die.
May our posterity engrave it on our tombstones that we were never embarrassed because of our faith in You, Jesus the King and Your Gospel. May You reign in our hearts through grace. May You reign in our families through family virtues. May You reign in our schools through genuine Catholic upbringing.
May You reign in our society through justice and concord. May You reign everywhere, always and forever. May Your standard be a guide for us all, may Your Kingdom extend to every corner of the earth! Amen
Let us pray. Almighty God, the powerful King of all creation, we humbly beseech You to send the hosts of angels for our protection so that we may serve You with devotion, with no hindrance and in peace. We beseech You through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen
One Minute Reflection – 22 October – The Memorial of St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)
“Victory to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!“…Revelations 7:10
REFLECTION – “Not only the devil is involved in spiritual warfare but the Holy Spirit is equally involved, or more involved in it,
bringing men and women of goodwill the ability to overcome evil in their lives, so that they too can say: “Where evil abounded, grace super-abounded!” (Rom 5:20).” …St John Paul (The Holy Spirit (Dominum Et Vivificantem – 1986)
PRAYER – Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit! Your light will never fail us! By the intercession of St John Paul, grant us the grace to ever call on You, blessed and Holy Trinity, one God who brings us everlasting light and protection here on earth from the evil one. St John Paul, pray for us, amen.
Thought for the Day – 19 October – The Memorial of Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko (1947-1984)
Fr Jerzy Popiełuszko, a priest and martyr,….exercised his generous and courageous ministry beside all those who were working for freedom, for the defence of life and for its dignity. His work at the service of goodness and truth was a sign of contradiction for the regime governing Poland at the time. Love of the Heart of Christ led him to give his life and his witness was the seed of a new springtime in the Church and in society.
If we look at history, we can note how many pages of authentic spiritual and social renewal were written with the crucial contribution of Catholic priests, motivated solely by passion for the Gospel and for human beings and for their true freedom, both religious and civil.
How many initiatives of integral human promotion have been born from the intuition of a priestly heart! (13 June 2010, Pope Benedict XVI)
And so, let us pray for all our priests:
Pope Benedict’s Prayer for Priests
LORD JESUS CHRIST,
Eternal High Priest, You offered Yourself to the
Father on the altar of the Cross and through the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit gave Your priestly
people a share in Your redeeming sacrifice.
Hear our prayer for the sanctification of our priests.
Grant that all who are ordained to the ministerial
priesthood may be ever more conformed to You,
the divine Master.
May they preach the
Gospel with pure heart and clear conscience.
Let them be shepherds according to Your own Heart,
single- minded in service to You and to the Church
and shining examples of a holy,simple and joyful life.
Through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Your Mother and ours,draw all priests and the flocks
entrusted to their care to the fullness of eternal life where
You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
AMEN
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko, Pray for our Priests, pray for us all!
Saint of the Day – 5 October – Blessed Bartholomew Longo (Italian – Bartolo Longo) (1841-1926) Lawyer, Dominican Tertiary, Confessor, Apostle of the Rosary, Apostle of Marian Devotion, Papal Knight of the Holy Sepulchre.
Bartolo Longo was born into a wealthy family on February 10, 1841 in the small town of Latiano, near Brindisi, in southern Italy. His parents were devout Roman Catholics. In 1851, Longo’s father died and his mother remarried a lawyer. Despite Longo’s stepfather wanting him to become a teacher, Longo was set on becoming a lawyer. In 1861, Longo succeeded in convincing his stepfather and was sent to the University of Naples to study law.
In the 1860s, the Catholic Church in Italy found itself at odds with a strong nationalistic movement. General Giuseppe Garibaldi, who played a key role in Italian unification, saw the Pope as an antagonist to Italian nationalism and actively campaigned for the elimination of the papal office altogether. The Catholic Church in Europe was also competing with a growing popularity in Spiritualism and Occultism. Because of this, many students at the University of Naples took part in demonstrations against the pope, dabbled in witchcraft and consulted Neapolitan mediums. Longo became involved with a movement that he claimed led him into a Satanist cult. After some study and several “spiritual” experiences Longo said that he was ordained as a satanic priest.
In the following years, Longo’s life became one of “depression, nervousness and confusion”. Bothered by paranoia and anxiety, he turned to a hometown friend, Vincenzo Pepe, for guidance. It was Pepe who convinced him, in Longo’s account, to abandon Satanism and introduced him to the Dominican Father Alberto Radente who led him to a devotion to the rosary. On October 7, 1871, Longo became a Dominican tertiary and took the name “Rosario”. Around this time, he reportedly visited a séance and held up a rosary, declaring, “I renounce spiritualism because it is nothing but a maze of error and falsehood.”He also came to know some Franciscans with whom he helped the poor and incurably ill for two years. Bartolo also kept up his law practice, which took him to the nearby village of Pompei. He went to Pompei to take care of the affairs of Countess Marianna Farnararo De Fusco.
In Pompei, Longo later recounted, he was shocked at the erosion of the people’s faith. He wrote, “Their religion was a mixture of superstition and popular tradition. … For their every need, … they would go to a witch, a sorceress, in order to obtain charms and witchcraft.” Through talking to the citizens, Bartolo came to recognise their severe lack of catechesis. When he asked one man if there was only one God, the fellow answered, “When I was a child, I remember people telling me there were three. Now, after so many years, I don‘t know if one of them is dead or one has married.”
Longo wrote of his personal struggles with mental illness, paranoia, depression and anxiety. At one point, he noted struggling with suicidal thoughts but rejected them by recalling the promise of Saint Dominic, “he who propagates my Rosary will be saved.” Longo wrote that this promise is what convinced him to encourage public devotion to the rosary.
With the help of Countess Mariana di Fusco, he inaugurated a confraternity of the Rosary and in October 1873 started restoring a dilapidated church. He sponsored a festival in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary. In 1875, Longo obtained as a gift a painting portraying Our Lady of the Rosary, with Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of Siena. Sister M Concetta de Litala of the Monastery of the Rosary at Porta Medina had been holding it for the Dominican priest Alberto Radente. Radente had acquired it from a junk-shop dealer in Naples for a very small sum. The painting was in bad condition and Longo wrote of his immediate distaste of the poor artistic quality when he first saw it. However, he accepted the gift to conserve funds and to not insult the Sister Concetta. Longo raised funds to restore the image and placed it in the church in an effort to encourage pilgrimages. Miracles began to be reported and people began flocking in droves to the church. Longo was encouraged by the Bishop of Nola to begin the construction of a larger church—the cornerstone being laid on May 8, 1876. The church was consecrated in May 1891 by Cardinal La Valletta (representing Pope Leo XIII). In 1939, the church was enlarged to a basilica, known today as the Basilica of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Pompei.
At the suggestion of Pope Leo XIII, Bartolo Longo and the Countess Mariana di Fusco were married on April 7, 1885. The couple remained chaste and continued to do many charitable works and provided for orphaned children and the children of prisoners which for its time was revolutionary.
In 1906 they donated the entire property of the Pompeii shrine to the Holy See. Longo continued promoting the Rosary until his death on October 5, 1926, at the age of 85. The piazza on which his basilica stands has since been named in memory of Longo. His body is encased in a glass tomb and he is wearing the mantle of a Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, a papal order of knighthood.
On October 26, 1980 he was beatified by Pope John Paul II, who would call him the “Apostle of the Rosary” and mentioned him specifically in his apostolic letter “Rosarium Virginis Mariae” (The Rosary of the Virgin Mary).
On October 7, 2003 Pope John Paul II prayed for world peace at the Basilica. More than 30,000 people were waiting to greet him as he flew in by helicopter.
Quote/s of the Day – Pope Francis – Laudato Si – – 1 September – World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
“Creatures are not just resources but have value in and of themselves and give glory to God
It is not enough, however, to think of different species merely as potential “resources” to be exploited, while overlooking the fact that they have value in themselves. Each year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never know, which our children will never see because they have been lost for ever. The great majority become extinct for reasons related to human activity. Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. We have no such right. (33)”
“Overpopulation is not the problem
Instead of resolving the problems of the poor and thinking of how the world can be different, some can only propose a reduction in the birth rate. At times, developing countries face forms of international pressure which make economic assistance contingent on certain policies of “reproductive health”. […] To blame population growth instead of extreme and selective consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the issues. It is an attempt to legitimise the present model of distribution, where a minority believes that it has the right to consume in a way which can never be universalised, since the planet could not even contain the waste products of such consumption. (50)”
Pope Francis – Laudato Si
Dear mother earth, who day by day
Unfolds rich blessing on our way,
O praise God! Alleluia!
The fruits and flowers that verdant grow,
Let them His praise abundant show.
O praise God, O praise God,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
St. Francis of Assisi
(Translated by William H Draper) (Image by St Francis by Albert Chevallier Tayler)
One Minute Reflection – 1 September – World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it...Genesis 2:15
REFLECTION – “This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.”..Pope Francis “LAUDATO SI’
PRAYER – O God, from the very beginning of time You commanded the earth to bring forth vegetation and every fruit of every kind. You provide the sower with seed and give bread to eat. Grant, we pray, that this land, enriched by Your bounty and cultivated by human hands, may be fertile with abundant crops. Then Your people, enriched by the gifts of Your goodness, will praise You unceasingly now and for all ages unending. Through our Lord Jesus Christ in union with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.
The Memorial of the Queenship of Mary – 22 August – A Marian feast day decreed by Pope Pius XII on 11 October 1954, in his encyclical Ad caeli reginam to recognise and celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of the world, of the universe, of the angels, of heaven, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins, all Saints,of Families, Queen conceived without original sin Queen assumed into Heaven, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Queen of Mercy, Queen of Peace. The movement to officially recognise the Queenship of Mary was initially promoted by several Catholic Mariological congresses in Lyon, France, Freiburg, Germany and Einsiedeln, Switzerland. Pro Regalitate Mariae, an international society to promote the Queenship of Mary, was founded in Rome, Italy by noted Marioligist and writer Father Gabriel Roschini. Patronages – the diocese of Cabinda, Angola.
From early times Christians have believed and not without reason, that she of whom was born the Son of the Most High received privileges of grace above all other beings created by God. He “will reign in the house of Jacob forever,” “the Prince of Peace,” the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” And when Christians reflected upon the intimate connection that obtains between a mother and a son, they readily acknowledged the supreme royal dignity of the Mother of God.
In this feast, particularly cherished by the Popes of modern times, we celebrate Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Earth.
Pope Pius IX said of Mary’s Queenship: “Turning her maternal Heart toward us and dealing with the affair of our salvation, she is concerned with the whole human race. Constituted by the Lord, Queen of Heaven and earth and exalted above all choirs of Angels and the ranks of Saints in Heaven, standing at the right hand of Her only-begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, she petitions most powerfully with Her maternal prayers and she obtains what she seeks.”
And Pope Pius XII added the following: “We commend that on the festival there be renewed the consecration of the human race to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Upon this there is founded a great hope that there will rejoice in the triumph of religion and in Christian peace…
…Therefore, let all approach with greater confidence now than before, to the throne of mercy and grace of our Queen and Mother to beg help in difficultly, light in darkness and solace in trouble and sorrow…
. . Whoever, therefore, honours the lady ruler of the Angels and of men – and let no one think themselves exempt from the payment of that tribute of a grateful and loving soul – let them call upon her as most truly Queen and as the Queen who brings the blessings of peace, that She may show us all, after this exile, Jesus, who will be our enduring peace and joy.”
St Lomman, Abbot, (5th—early 6th century)
“The Help of Mary, Queen and Mother”
O Mary, when our eyes close in our last sleep and open to behold thy Son, the Just Judge and the Angel opens the Book and the Enemy accuses us; in that terrible hour, come to our aid. Be with us.
When death came to Joseph, you and your Son were with him: Thy Son to judge, thou to console. O Happy Joseph! When death comes for us, be near us. O Mary, when we are held captive in the place of atonement; plead for us and visit us, that we may find consolation in thy presence. Stretch forth thy hand to help us; deliver us from our bondage. We are thy children: Thou art our Mother. As little children we come to thee; we know no fear.
O Mary, He changed water into wine for thee, even as He said: My hour has not yet come. Now He will not refuse thee, when you plead for us thy children. O Mary, come quickly to our aid. Do not let us stray from the Fold. The wolf is waiting to destroy us. There shall be neither night nor day to thy praises.
Adoration to the Father Who created thee! Adoration to they Son, Who took flesh from thee! Adoration to the Holy Spirit, Thy Divine Spouse! Three in One, One in Three. Equal in all things. To Him be glory for ever. Forever. Forever. Amen.
Thought for the Day – 3 August – August the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Pope Paul VI said: “Mary offers a calm vision and a reassuring word to the people of our time, torn as we often are between anguish and hope, defeated as we can be by our own limitations and assailed by limitless aspirations, troubled in our minds and divided in our hearts, uncertain as we face the riddle of death, oppressed at times by loneliness, yet yearning for company and fellowship, a prey to boredom and disgust. Mary shows the victory of hope over anguish, of fellowship over solitude, of peace over anxiety, of joy and beauty over boredom and disgust, of eternal vision over earthly perceptions, of life over death.” (cf Marialis Cultus, 57)
Mary offers us a firm eschatological assurance and hope that God is in charge, through His Son, in His Holy Spirit.
Our love of Mary and devotion to her “fits into the only worship that is rightly called Christian, because it takes its origin and effectiveness from Jesus Christ, finds its complete expression in Christ and leads us through Christ in the Holy Spirit to the Father.” (Marialis Cultus, Introduction)
“Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5) are the last recorded words of Mary in Scripture. It is her message yesterday, today and forever. It is the hallmark of genuine spirituality, Christian behaviour and commitment to her son.
“Ask our Mother Mary, in whose heart we can find repose and peace, Mary who was full of the Holy Spirit, to nurture and foster the growth of the life of Jesus that is present in us by his Holy Spirit, so we can say that we not only belong to Jesus Christ and His Church but that we have become the Body of Christ because Christ lives in us and the love of Christ impels us to stay faithful as trustworthy stewards and disciples through all the competing pressures of life!” (Bishop Peter Ingham )
Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age……Matthew 28:20
REFLECTION – “For the most holy Eucharist contains the Church’s entire spiritual wealth: Christ Himself, our Passover and living bread. Through His own flesh, now made living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, He offers life to men………The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice.”…….St John Paul (Ecclesia de Eucharistia 1 &12)
PRAYER – Lord, let me live each day in joy – for You are with us to end of time. We have the joy of receiving Your Body and thus we live in You and You in us. Help us to give thanks and praise for the Holy Mass and Your saving Passion. St Bruno of Segni, your great love of the Holy Sacrament, led you to zealous efforts to spend your life in growing in others, understanding of the great Eucharistic grace we receive, please pray for us, amen.
Blessed and Holy Feast of Corpus Christi! 18 June 2017
“The solemnity of Corpus Christi originated within a very precise cultural and historical context. Its aim was to proclaim openly the faith of the People of God in Jesus Christ’s real, living presence in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist.”
Pope Benedict XVI explains the history of this feast, which dates back to the 13th century, as follows:
St Juliana of Cornillon had a vision which “presented the moon in its full splendour, crossed diametrically by a dark stripe. The Lord made her understand the meaning of what had appeared to her. The moon symbolised the life of the Church on earth, the opaque line, on the other hand, represented the absence of a liturgical feast (…) in which believers would be able to adore the Eucharist so as to increase in faith, to advance in the practice of the virtues and to make reparation for offences to the Most Holy Sacrament. (…)
Jacques Pantaléon of Troyes was also won over to the good cause of the Feast of Corpus Christi during his ministry as Archdeacon in Lièges. It was he who, having become Pope with the name of Urban IV in 1264, instituted the Solemnity of Corpus Christi on the Thursday after Pentecost as a holiday of obligation for the universal Church.
Until the end of the world
Detail of the reliquary containing the corporal with traces of the Eucharistic miracle that occurred in Bolsena in 1263. It is kept in the Cathedral of Orvieto, Italy.
In the Bull of its institution, entitled Transiturus de hoc mundo, (11 Aug. 1264), Pope Urban even referred discreetly to Juliana’s mystical experiences, corroborating their authenticity. He wrote: “Although the Eucharist is celebrated solemnly every day, we deem it fitting that at least once a year it be celebrated with greater honour and a solemn commemoration.
“Indeed we grasp the other things we commemorate with our spirit and our mind but this does not mean that we obtain their real presence. On the contrary, in this sacramental commemoration of Christ, even though in a different form, Jesus Christ is present with us in his own substance. While he was about to ascend into Heaven he said ‘And lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age’ (Matthew 28:20).”
The Pontiff made a point of setting an example by celebrating the solemnity of Corpus Christi in Orvieto, the town where he was then residing. Indeed, he ordered that the famous Corporal with the traces of the Eucharistic miracle which had occurred in Bolsena the previous year, 1263, be kept in Orvieto Cathedral — where it still is today.
While a priest was consecrating the bread and the wine he was overcome by strong doubts about the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist. A few drops of blood began miraculously to ooze from the consecrated Host, thereby confirming what our faith professes.
Texts that move the heart
Urban IV asked one of the greatest theologians of history, St Thomas Aquinas — who at that time was accompanying the Pope and was in Orvieto — to compose the texts of the Liturgical Office for this great feast. They are masterpieces, still in use in the Church today, in which theology and poetry are fused. These texts pluck at the heartstrings in an expression of praise and gratitude to the Most Holy Sacrament, while the mind, penetrating the mystery with wonder, recognizes in the Eucharist the Living and Real Presence of Jesus, of His Sacrifice of love that reconciles us with the Father and gives us salvation.
In the words of St. Thomas:
“How inestimable a dignity, beloved brethren, divine bounty has bestowed upon us Christians from the treasury of its infinite goodness! For there neither is nor ever has been a people to whom the gods were so nigh as our Lord and God is nigh unto us.
“Desirous that we be made partakers of His divinity, the only-begotten Son of God has taken to Himself our nature so that having become man, He would be enabled to make men gods. Whatever He assumed of our nature He wrought unto our salvation. For on the altar of the Cross He immolated to the Father His own Body as victim for our reconciliation and shed His blood both for our ransom and for our regeneration. Moreover, in order that a remembrance of so great benefits may always be with us, He has left us His Body as food and His Blood as drink under appearances of bread and wine.
“O banquet most precious! O banquet most admirable! O banquet overflowing with every spiritual delicacy! Can anything be more excellent than this repast, in which not the flesh of goats and heifers, as of old, but Christ the true God is given us for nourishment? What more wondrous than this holy sacrament! In it bread and wine are changed substantially, and under the appearance of a little bread and wine is had Christ Jesus, God and perfect Man. In this sacrament sins are purged away, virtues are increased, the soul is satiated with an abundance of every spiritual gift. No other sacrament is so beneficial. Since it was instituted unto the salvation of all, it is offered by Holy Church for the living and for the dead, that all may share in its treasures.
“My dearly beloved, is it not beyond human power to express the ineffable delicacy of this sacrament in which spiritual sweetness is tasted in its very source, in which is brought to mind the remembrance of that all-excelling charity which Christ showed in His sacred passion? Surely it was to impress more profoundly upon the hearts of the faithful the immensity of this charity that our loving Savior instituted this sacrament at the last supper when, having celebrated the Pasch with His disciples. He was about to leave the world and return to the Father. It was to serve as an unending remembrance of His passion, as the fulfillment of ancient types — this the greatest of His miracles. To those who sorrow over His departure He has given a unique solace.”
“Eucharistic springtime”
I would like to affirm with joy that today there is a “Eucharistic springtime” in the Church. How many people pause in silence before the Tabernacle to engage in a loving conversation with Jesus! It is comforting to know that many groups of young people have rediscovered the beauty of praying in adoration before the Most Blessed Sacrament.
John Paul II said in his Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia: “In many places, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is also an important daily practice and becomes an inexhaustible source of holiness. The devout participation of the faithful in the Eucharistic procession on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ is a grace from the Lord which yearly brings joy to those who take part in it. Other positive signs of Eucharistic faith and love might also be mentioned” (no. 10).
In remembering St Juliana of Cornillon let us also renew our faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. As we are taught by the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist in a unique and incomparable way. He is present in a true, real and substantial way, with his Body and his Blood, with his Soul and his Divinity. In the Eucharist, therefore, there is present in a sacramental way, that is, under the Eucharistic Species of bread and wine, Christ whole and entire, God and Man” (no. 282).
Dear friends, fidelity to the encounter with Christ in the Eucharist in Holy Mass on Sunday is essential for the journey of faith but let us also seek to pay frequent visits to the Lord present in the Tabernacle! In gazing in adoration at the consecrated Host, we discover the gift of God’s love, we discover Jesus’ Passion and Cross and likewise his Resurrection.
Source of joy
It is precisely through our gazing in adoration that the Lord draws us towards Him into His mystery in order to transform us as He transforms the bread and the wine.
The Saints never failed to find strength, consolation and joy in the Eucharistic encounter. Let us repeat before the Lord present in the Most Blessed Sacrament the words of the Eucharistic hymn Adoro te devote, “Devoutly I adore Thee: Make me believe ever more in you, Draw me deeply into faith, into Your hope, into Your love”.
“This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace, continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the Cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress and Mediatrix. This, however, is so understood, that it neither takes away anything from, nor adds anything to, the dignity and efficacy of Christ the one Mediator.”
“What seems to shine forth especially in the life of Andrew Bobola is his Catholic faith, whose vigour, nourished by divine grace, grew so much stronger with the passing of the years that it conferred on him a special mark of distinction, and spurred him on to undergo his martyrdom with courage.
But the Catholic Church, particularly in the countries to the East, was facing an extremely grave crisis owing to the efforts of the schismatics, who were striving by every device to draw the faithful away from the unity of the Church into their own errors. Andrew went, therefore, into those regions on the instruction and command of his Superiors and by public sermons and private instruction through their cities, towns and villages and most of all by the fervour of his exceptional holiness and the burning zeal of his apostolate, he freed the wavering faith of a multitude of Christians from beguiling falsehood, brought them back to sound principles, and joyfully invited all he could to return to the one fold of Jesus Christ.
He did not merely restore and strengthen the faith of the Christians, languishing and on the verge of collapse but roused them also to weep for their own sins, to settle their disputes, to heal their divisions, to restore true morality. It seemed that, like his Divine Master, wherever he passed by doing good, a new spring blossomed forth, bright with heavenly flowers and fruits of salvation. Consequently, as tradition has it, he received from all, even from the schismatics, the significant title of “Hunter of Souls.”
This tireless apostle of Jesus Christ had lived by faith, had spread the faith and had defended the faith; so too, he did not hesitate to die for the faith of his fathers.” INVICTI ATHLETAE (On St. Andrew Bobola) (Venerable) Pope Pius XII Encyclical Promulgated on 16 May 1957
Do you find yourself persecuted, in trouble, disliked and maligned because you live by and defend the Faith? But this is our mission – we do not live according to the instructions of our Divine Master, unless we ‘go forth and spread the good news’. If we miss a single opportunity to live and speak the truth, we may well be responsible for the eternal damnation of a soul – what a frightening thought!
St Andrew Bobola, inspire us with your zeal for souls and please Pray for us!
AnaStpaul 
You must be logged in to post a comment.