Our Morning Offering – 19 October – The Memorial of St Peter of Alcantara OFM (1499-1562)
The Absorbeat
St Francis of Assisi (1181/82-1226)
May the power of Your love, Lord Christ,
fiery and sweet as honey,
so absorb our hearts
as to withdraw them
from all that is under heaven.
Grant that we may be ready
to die for love of Your love,
as You died for love of our love.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 17 October
O Lord, show Your mercy to me
By St Jerome (347-419) Father and Doctor
O Lord, show Your mercy to me
and gladden my heart.
I am like the man on the way to Jericho
who was overtaken by robbers,
wounded and left for dead.
O Good Samaritan,
come to my aid.
I am like the sheep that went astray.
O Good Shepherd,
seek me out and bring me home
in accord with Your will.
Let me dwell in Your house
all the days of my life
and praise You for ever and ever
with those who are there.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 15 October – The Memorial of St Teresa of Jesus/Avila (1515-1582) Doctor of the Church “Doctor of Prayer”
Morning Offering
Of St Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Lord,
grant that I may always
allow myself
to be guided by You,
always follow Your plans,
and perfectly accomplish
Your Holy Will.
Grant that in all things,
great and small,
today and all the days of my life,
I may do
whatever You require of me.
Help me respond
to the slightest prompting
of Your Grace,
so that I may be
Your trustworthy instrument
for Your honour.
May Your Will be done
in time
and in eternity
by me,
in me
and through me.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 14 October – Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Prayer of Thanksgiving for
the Holy Eucharist
By St Pope John Paul (1920-2005)
For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast! (1 Corinthians 5:7-8)
O Christ the Saviour,
we give You thanks
for Your redeeming sacrifice,
the only hope of men!
O Christ the Saviour,
we give You thanks
for the eucharistic breaking of bread,
which You instituted
in order to really meet Your brothers,
in the course of the centuries!
O Christ the Saviour,
put into the hearts of the baptised,
the desire to offer themselves with You
and to commit themselves,
for the salvation of their brothers!
You, who are really present
in the Blessed Sacrament,
spread Your blessings
abundantly on Your people
Amen.
Our Morning Offering – 13 October – Saturday of the Twenty seventh week in Ordinary Time, Year B and the 101st Memorial of the Last Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima
Prayer to Spend the Day Well
By Blessed James Alberione (1884-1971)
Dear and sweet Mother Mary,
keep your holy hand upon me;
guard my mind,
my heart and my senses,
that I may never commit sin.
Sanctify my thoughts,
affections,
words and actions,
so that I may please you
and your Jesus, my God,
and reach heaven with you.
Jesus and Mary,
give me your holy blessing;
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 12 October
Grant me Grace O Lord
By St Paschal Baylon O.F.M. (1540-1592)
I am a sinner
and You are He
who justifies the impious.
I am poor,
You are rich in infinite riches.
Give me an increase of faith,
an increase of love,
a complement of all virtues
with which I may serve You
and praise You
all my life so that, at last,
I may enjoy You in Heaven.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 11 October – The Memorial of St Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)
Every Day I Need You, Lord
By St Pope John XXIII
Every day I need You, Lord
but today especially,
I need some extra strength
to face whatever is to come.
This day, more than any other day,
I need to feel You near me
to strengthen my courage
and to overcome any fear.
By myself, I cannot meet
the challenge of the hour.
We are frail human creatures
and we need a higher power
to sustain us in all that life may bring.
And so, dear Lord,
hold my trembling hand.
Be with me, Lord, this day
and stretch out,
Your powerful arm to help me.
May Your love be upon me
as I place all my hope in You.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 10 October – The Memorial of St Daniel Comboni (1831-1881)
Lord, we Trust in You
By St Daniel Comboni (1831-1881)
Lord,
we trust in You
and we entrust
ourselves to You,
take us as we are
and make us
the way You
want us to be.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 8 October
A Prayer for Enlightenment
St Alcuin of York (735-804)
Eternal light, shine into our hearts,
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil,
Eternal Power, be our support,
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the
darkness of our ignorance,
Eternal Pity, have mercy on us;
that with all our heart
and mind
and soul
and strength,
we may seek Your Face
and be brought by Your infinite mercy
to Your Holy Presence;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord
Amen.
Our Morning Offering – 6 October
Mary, Let Me Love Your Jesus
By St Ildephonsus (607-670)
Virgin Mary, hear my prayer:
through the Holy Spirit
you became the Mother of Jesus;
from the Holy Spirit may I too have Jesus.
Through the Holy Spirit
your flesh conceived Jesus;
through the same Spirit
may my soul receive Jesus.
Through the Holy Spirit
you were able to know Jesus,
to possess Jesus,
and to bring Him into the world.
Through the Holy Spirit
may I too come to know your Jesus.
Imbued with the Spirit,
Mary, you could say:
“I am the handmaid of the Lord,
be it done unto me according to your word”;
in the Holy Spirit,
lowly as I am,
let me proclaim the great truths about Jesus.
In the Spirit you now adore Jesus as Lord
and look on Him as Son;
in the same spirit,
Mary, let me love your Jesus.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 4 October – The Memorial of St Francis of Assisi OFM (1181/2–1226)
Dear friends, Francis was a great Saint and a joyful man. His simplicity, his humility, his faith, his love for Christ, his goodness towards every man and every woman, brought him gladness in every circumstance. Indeed, there subsists an intimate and indissoluble relationship between holiness and joy. A French writer once wrote that there is only one sorrow in the world – not to be saints, that is, not to be near to God. Looking at the testimony of St Francis, we understand that this is the secret of true happiness: -to become saints, close to God!
May the Virgin, so tenderly loved by Francis, obtain this gift for us. Let us entrust ourselves to her with the words of the Poverello of Assisi himself:
“Blessed Virgin Mary, no one like you among women has ever been born in the world, daughter and handmaid of the Most High King and heavenly Father, Mother of our Most Blessed Lord Jesus Christ, spouse of the Holy Spirit.
Pray for us… to your most blessed and beloved Son, Lord and Master”
(Francesco di Assisi, Scritti, 163)….Excerpt from Pope Benedict XV’s Catechesis on St Francis – General Audience, 27 January 2010
St Francis leaves us with his blessing:
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you
and give you peace.
Our Morning Offering – 4 October – The Memorial of St Francis of Assisi OFM (c1181–1226)
I Beg Thee, Lord
By St Francis of Assisi (c1181–1226)
I beg Thee, Lord,
let the fiery, gentle power
of Thy love
take possession of my soul
and snatch it away,
from everything under Heaven,
that I may die,
for love of Thy love,
as Thou saw fit, to die
for love of mine!
Amen
One Minute Reflection – 3 October – Today’s Gospel: Luke 9:57–62 – Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year B and the Memorial of St Theodore Guerin SP (1798 – 1856)
“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.”…Luke 9:58
REFLECTION –
“Remember the Father’s glory,
Remember the divine splendour
You left in exiling Yourself on earth
To redeem all the poor sinners.
O Jesus! Humbling Yourself to the Virgin Mary,
You veiled Your infinite greatness and glory.
Ah! Your mother’s breast
Was Your second heaven,
Remember…
Remember that on other shores
The golden stars and silver moon
On which I gaze in the cloudless sky
Delighted and charmed Your Infant eyes.
With Your little hand that caressed Mary
You upheld the world and gave it life,
And You thought of me,
Jesus, my little King,
Remember.
Remember that You worked in solitude
With Your divine hands.
To live forgotten was Your sweetest task.
You rejected human learning.
O You who with just one word could charm the world,
You took delight in hiding Your profound wisdom.
You seemed unlearned,
O All-powerful Lord!
Remember.
Remember that You wandered as a Stranger on earth.
You, the Eternal Word,
You had nothing, no, not even a stone,
Not a shelter, like the birds of heaven.
O Jesus! come within me, come rest Your Head,
Come, my soul is truly ready to receive You.
My Beloved Saviour,
Rest in my heart.
It is Yours.”…St Thérèse of the Child Jesus OCD (1873-1897) Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, increase our love and trust for and in You, every day. Teach us total abandonment to Your loving providence and thus enable us to do Your will in all things. St Mother Theodora Guérin, you who suffered great persecutions and trials but always abandoned yourself to the Divine Will, please pray for us that we learn to do the same, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 3 October
St Pio’s Prayer of Today for Tomorrow
Eternal Father,
today, while I am fully conscious,
totally lucid and completely free,
I offer You my life with all its mystery and suffering.
Indeed, Eternal Father,
I offer You my life as an ultimate act of love,
as an act of infinite gratitude,
as an act of faith in Your mercy.
My God and Father,
accept this prayer I am making to You now
for the day when You will call me back to You.
If I am unconscious at the final moment of my life,
if anguish and doubt assail me,
if medication prevents me from thinking of You,
I want my last heartbeat to be an act of perfect love,
telling You with Jesus,
“Into Your hands, I commend my spirit.”
Amen.
Our Morning Offering – 2 October – The Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels
My Oldest Friend
By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
My oldest friend, mine from the hour
When first I drew my breath,
My faithful friend, that shall be mine,
Unfailing, till my death….
Mine when I stand before the Judge,
And mine, if spared to stay
Within the golden furnace, till
My sin is burn’d away.
And mine, O Brother of my soul,
When my release shall come,
Thy gentle arms shall lift me then,
Thy wings shall waft me home.
Our Morning Offering – 1 October – The Memorial of St Thérèse of Lisieux O.C.D. (1873 – 1897)
Morning Offering
By St Thérèse
O my God!
I offer Thee all my actions of this day
for the intentions and for the glory
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart,
my every thought,
my simplest works,
by uniting them to Its infinite merits
and I wish to make reparation for my sins,
by casting them into the furnace of Its Merciful Love.
O my God!
I ask Thee for myself
and for those whom I hold dear,
the grace to fulfil perfectly Thy Holy Will,
to accept for love of Thee,
the joys and sorrows of this passing life,
so that we may one day be united together
in Heaven for all Eternity.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 30 September – Memorial of St Jerome (347-419) Father and Doctor
A light for our Path
By St Jerome
O Lord,
You have given us Your word
for a light to shine upon our path,
grant us so to meditate on that word
and follow its teaching,
that we may find in it,
the light that shines more and more
until the perfect day.
Amen
On The Memorial of St Simón de Rojas O.SS. (1552-1624) known as “Father Ave Maria” and the “Apostle of the Ave Maria”, we learn a little from St Louis.
How do I find the Grace of God?
TO FIND THE GRACE OF GOD, WE MUST DISCOVER MARY
(Excerpt from The Secret of Mary by St Louis Marie de Montfort)
The difficulty, then, is how to arrive at the true knowledge of the most holy Virgin and so find grace in abundance through her. God, as the absolute Master, can give directly Hhat he ordinarily dispenses only through Mary and it would be rash to deny that He sometimes does so. However, St Thomas assures us that, following the order established by His divine Wisdom, God ordinarily imparts His graces to men through Mary . Therefore, if we wish to go to Him, seeking union with Him, we must use the same means which He used in coming down from heaven to assume our human nature and to impart His graces to us. That means was a complete dependence on Mary His Mother, which is true devotion to her.
28. Chosen soul, this devotion consists in surrendering oneself in the manner of a slave to Mary and to Jesus through her and then performing all our actions with Mary, in Mary, through Mary and for Mary. Let me explain this statement further.
29. We should choose a special feast day on which to give ourselves. Then, willingly and lovingly and under no constraint, we consecrate and sacrifice to her unreservedly our body and soul. We give to her our material possessions, such as house, family, income, and even the inner possessions of our soul, namely, our merits, graces, virtues and atonements. Notice that in this devotion we sacrifice to Jesus through Mary all that is most dear to us, that is, the right to dispose of ourselves, of the value of our prayers and alms, of our acts of self- denial and atonements. This is a sacrifice which no religious order would require of its members. We leave everything to the free disposal of our Lady, for her to use as she wills for the greater glory of God, of which she alone is perfectly aware.
30. We leave to her the right to dispose of all the satisfactory and prayer value of our good deeds, so that, after having done so and without going so far as making a vow, we cease to be master over any good we do. Our Lady may use our good deeds either to bring relief or deliverance to a soul in purgatory, or perhaps to bring a change of heart to a poor sinner.
31. By this devotion we place our merits in the hands of our Lady but only that she may preserve, increase and embellish them, since merit for increase of grace and glory cannot be handed over to any other person. But we give to her all our prayers and good works, inasmuch as they have intercessory and atonement value, for her to distribute and apply to whom she pleases. If, after having thus consecrated ourselves to our Lady, we wish to help a soul in purgatory, rescue a sinner, or assist a friend by a prayer, an alms, an act of self-denial or an act of self-sacrifice, we must humbly request it of our Lady, abiding always by her decision, which of course remains unknown to us. We can be fully convinced that the value of our actions, being dispensed by that same hand which God himself uses to distribute His gifts and graces to us, cannot fail to be applied for His greatest glory.
Act of Consecration to Mary
By St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716)
I, N…., a faithless sinner-
renew and ratify today in thy hands,
Immaculate Mother, the vows of my Baptism;
I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works,
and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom,
to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life
and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before.
In the presence of all the heavenly court,
I choose thee this day, for my Mother and Mistress.
I deliver and consecrate to thee, as thy slave,
my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior
and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future,
leaving to thee the entire and full right of disposing of me
and all that belongs to me, without exception,
according to thy good pleasure,
for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity.
Amen
“One cannot contemplate Mary
without being attracted by Christ
and one cannot look at Christ
without immediately perceiving
the presence of Mary.”
“Those who would receive Christ and bring Him forth must become like her . . .
her soul was virginal, so well cut loose from everything of earth,
so humble before God, that He could wholly fill her.”
(D Aemiliana Löhr, The Mass Through the Year)
Thought for the Day – 27 September – The Memorial of St Vincent de Paul C.M. (1581-1660)
It is not enough to love God if my neighbour does not love Him.
“Our vocation is to go and enflame the heart of men, to do what the Son of God did, He who brought fire into the world to set it alight with His love. What else can we wish for, than for it to burn and consume all things?
Thus it is true that I have been sent not only to love God but also to make men love Him.
It is not enough to love God if my neighbour does not love Him. I must love my neighbour as the image of God and the object of His love and do everything so that in their turn men love their Creator who knows and considers them as His brothers, whom He has saved, I must obtain that they love each other with mutual love, out of love for God who loved them to the point of abandoning to death His very Son. So that is my duty. Now, if it is true that we are called to bear God’s love near and far, if we must set nations alight, if our vocation is to go and spread this divine fire in the whole world, if it is so, my brothers, if it is really so, how must I myself burn of this divine fire!
How can we give love to others, if we do not have it among us? Let us look if it is so, not generally but if each one has it within himself, in due amount, because if love is not on fire in us, if we do not love each other as Jesus Christ loved us and if we do not act as He did, how can we hope to spread such love throughout the world? You cannot give what you do not have. The precise duty of charity consists in doing to others what you reasonably would like done to yourself. Do I really behave towards my neighbour as I wish he would towards me?
Let us look at the Son of God. Only our Lord can be so taken by love for creatures so much as to leave His Father’s throne and take a body subject to infirmity. And why? In order to establish among us, with His word and example, the love of our neighbours. This is the love that led Him to the Cross and accomplished the wonderful work of our redemption. If we had a little of such love, would we stay here with folded arms? Oh! no, love can not remain barren, it urges us to obtain salvation and relief for others.”
Prayer for Vocations
By St Vincent de Paul
O Lord,
send good workers to Your Church,
but may they be good!
Send good missionaries
to work in Your vineyard,
labourers, O my God,
such as they ought to be:
utterly detached from themselves,
their own comfort,
and worldly goods.
Let them even be few in number,
provided that they are good.
O Lord, grant this grace
to Your Church.
Amen.
Our Morning Offering – 27 September – The Memorial of St Vincent de Paul C.M. (1581-1660)
Let Thou Thyself O Lord,
Be Thine Eternal Thanksgiving!
By St Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)
O Saviour,
Who gave us the law
to love our neighbour as ourselves,
Who practised it,
in such a perfect fashion, towards men.
Let Thou Thyself, O Lord,
Be Thine eternal thanksgiving!
O Saviour, how happy I am
to be in the state of loving my neighbour!
Grant me the grace
to acknowledge my good fortune,
to love this blessed state
and to ensure that this virtue,
may be revealed now,
tomorrow and always.
Amen.
Our Morning Offering – 26 September – The Memorial of Blessed Pope Paul VI (1897-1978) and Blessed Louis Tezza M.I. (1841-1923)
Make Us Worthy, Lord
By Blessed Pope Paul VI
Make us worthy, Lord,
to serve our fellow-men
throughout the world
who live and die
in poverty and hunger.
Give them through our hands,
this day, their daily bread,
and by our understanding love,
give peace and joy.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 25 September
O my God, all is Good if it comes from You
By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
O my God,
I will put myself without reserve,
into Your hands.
Wealth or woe, joy or sorrow,
friends or bereavement,
honour or humiliation,
good report or ill report,
comfort or discomfort,
Your presence
or the hiding of Your countenance,
all is good if it comes from You,
You are wisdom and You are love –
what can I desire more?
You have led me in Your counsel
and with glory You have received me
What have I in heaven
and apart from You,
what want I upon earth?
My flesh and my heart fail
but God is the God of my heart
and my portion forever.
Amen
One Minute Reflection – 23 September – Today’s Gospel: Mark 9:30–37
– Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B and the Memorial of St Padre Pio (1887-1968)
“If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”…Mark 9:35b
REFLECTION – “The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self:
there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection, except at the price of pain.”………St Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968)
PRAYER – “And you, Blessed Padre Pio, look down from heaven upon us assembled …today. Intercede for all those who, in every part of the world, are spiritually united … and raise their prayers to you. Come to the help of everyone; give peace and consolation to every heart. Amen!” – from the homily of St Pope John Paul II at the Beatification of Padre Pio
Our Morning Offering – 23 September – The Memorial of St Padre Pio (1887-1968)
Stay With Me, O Lord
St Padre Pio (1887-1968)
Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life
and without You I am without fervour.
Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light
and without You I am in darkness.
Stay with me, Lord,
so that I hear Your voice and follow You.
Stay with me, Lord,
for I desire to love You very much
and always be in Your company.
Stay with me, Lord,
if You wish me to be faithful to You.
Stay with me, Lord, as poor as my soul is,
I want it to be a place of consolation for You,
a nest of Love.
Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late
and the day is coming to a close
and life passes, death, judgement
and eternity approach.
It is necessary to renew my strength,
so that I will not stop
along the way and for that, I need You.
It is getting late and death approaches,
I fear the darkness, the temptations,
the dryness, the cross, the sorrows.
O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile!
Stay with me tonight, Jesus,
in life with all its dangers, I need You.
Let me recognise You as Your disciples did,
at the breaking of the bread,
so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light
which disperses the darkness,
the force which sustains me,
the unique joy of my heart.
Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death,
I want to remain united to You,
if not by Communion, at least by grace and love.
Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for,
Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will,
Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You
and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.
With a firm love, I will love You
with all my heart while on earth
and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 22 September – The Memorial of St Thomas of Villanova O.S.A. (1488-1555)
I Will Love You, Lord
By St Thomas of Villanova (1488-1555)
I will love You, Lord,
in every way
and without setting limits to my love.
You set no limits
to what You have done for me;
You have not measured out Your gifts.
I will not measure out my love.
I will love You, Lord,
with all my strength,
with all my powers,
as much as I am able.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 21 September
Lord, be the Centre of Our Hearts
by St Claude de la Colombiere S.J. (1641-1682)
O God, what will You do to conquer
the fearful hardness of our hearts?
Lord, You must give us new hearts,
tender hearts, sensitive hearts,
to replace hearts
that are made of marble and of bronze.
You must give us Your own Heart, Jesus.
Come, lovable Heart of Jesus.
Place Your Heart deep in the centre of our hearts
and enkindle in each heart a flame of love
as strong, as great, as the sum of all the reasons
that I have for loving You, my God.
O holy Heart of Jesus, dwell hidden in my heart,
so that I may live only in You and only for You,
so that, in the end,
I may live with You eternally in heaven, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 20 September
God of Our Life
St Augustine (354-430)
Father & Doctor of the Church
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 gray 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
Our Morning Offering – 19 September – The Memorial of St Alonso de Orozco O.S.A. (1500 – 1591) Augustinian Priest
Prayer to Seek God Continually
By St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor
O Lord my God, I believe in You,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Insofar as I can,
insofar as You have given me the power,
I have sought You.
I became weary and I laboured.
O Lord my God, my sole hope,
help me to believe
and never to cease seeking You.
Grant that I may always
and ardently seek out Your countenance.
Give me the strength to seek You,
for You help me to find You
and You have more and more given me,
the hope of finding You.
Here I am before You
with my firmness and my infirmity.
Preserve the first and heal the second.
Here I am before You
with my strength and my ignorance.
Where You have opened the door to me,
welcome me at the entrance;
where you have closed the door to me,
open to my cry;
enable me to remember You,
to understand You
and to love You.
Amen.
Painting: Jeffrey A Gomez – The Confession of St Augustine
Our Morning Offering – 16 September – Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Jesus, Joy of Loving Hearts
By St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Doctor of the Church
Jesus, joy of loving hearts,
You Fount of life,
You Light of men,
from the best bliss that earth imparts
we turn unfilled to You again.
We taste You,
O You living Bread,
and long to feast upon You still:
We drink of You, the Fountainhead,
and thirst our souls from You to fill.
O Jesus, ever with us stay,
make all our moments calm and bright;
chase the dark night of sin away,
shed o’er the world Your holy light.
Amen, Amen
Thought for the Day – 15 September – The Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows
The Seven Sorrows of
the Blessed Virgin Mary
1. The prophecy of Simeon
2. The Flight to Egypt
3. Loss of Child Jesus for 3 days
4. Meeting Jesus carrying His Cross
5. The Crucifixion of Jesus
6. The Pieta – receiving Jesus’ Body
7. The Burial of Jesus
“The Liturgy teaches us to meditate on the sorrows of Mary. So we turn once more to a memory of sadness, an example of patient endurance, to remind ourselves, for our own good, that our whole life here below is beset with trials and difficulties. It is a life of hardships but at the end, we shall receive the reward of eternal joy.
So we must always take courage – Jesus, Mary and Joseph, give us the certainty of future triumphs. In every moment of their earthly lives, they knew sorrow, privations and suffering and yet, they always reflected the eternal splendour of heaven.
The lesson all the faithful may learn from such sublime examples, is a continual encouragement and strength, by means of which, rising again after every failure and correcting the faults of our temperaments, we may all seek to reach that shore, whee perfect peace and blessing are to be found.”…St Pope John XXIII
John’s account of Jesus’ death is highly symbolic. When Jesus gives the beloved disciple to Mary, we are invited to appreciate Mary’s role in the Church – she symbolises the Church, the beloved disciple represents all believers. As Mary mothered Jesus, she is now mother to all his followers. Furthermore, as Jesus died, he handed over His Spirit. Mary and the Spirit co-operated in begetting new children of God—almost an echo of Luke’s account of Jesus’ conception. Christians can trust that they will continue to experience the caring presence of Mary and Jesus’ Spirit throughout their lives and throughout history.
Prayer to our Lady of Sorrows
By St Bonaventure (1217-1274) 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,
as well as 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
to our divine Lord Jesus,
and to the you,
the Holy and Immaculate
Mother of God.
Amen
AnaStpaul 
You must be logged in to post a comment.