Category: HOLY COMMUNION

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One Minute Reflection – 4 June –  ‘ … They clothe themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 4 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – St Francis Caracciolo CRM (1563-1608) Confessor –Within the Corpus Christi Octave – 1 Corinthians 23-29; John 6:56-59.– Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“For as often as you shall eat this Bread and drink the Cup, you proclaim the Death of the Lord, until He comes.” – 1 Corinthians 11:26

REFLECTION – “In our offering of the Holy Sacrifice we fulfil the Command of our Saviour, as recorded by the Apostle Paul: The Lord Jesus, on the night in which He was betrayed, took bread and after He had given thanks, broke it and said: This is My Body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me. The same way, after the supper, He took the Cup saying: This Cup is the New Covenant in My Blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this Bread and drink this Cup, you shall proclaim the Death of the Lord until He comes.

This Sacrifice is offered, then, to proclaim the Lord’s Death; it is offered in remembrance of Him, Who laid down His Life for our sake. As He says: Greater love than this no man has, that he lay down his life for his friends. Because Christ died for us out of love, we ask, when we make remembrance of His Death, at the time of Sacrifice that we too may be granted love through the coming of the Holy Ghost. We pray, that by the Love which Christ had for us, when He braved the Cross, we may receive the grace of the Spirit and be crucified to the world and the world to us. The Death Christ died, He died to sin, once for all but the Life He lives, He lives to God. Let us imitate our Lord’s Death and also live a new life. Strengthened with the gift of His Love, let us die to sin and live for God.

For God’s Love has been poured out in our hearts, through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us. Indeed our sharing in the Lord’s Body and Blood, when we eat His Bread and drink His Cup, teaches us, that we should die to the world and that we should keep our life hidden with Christ in God, crucifying our flesh with its vices and evil desires.

That is why all the faithful who love God and their neighbour, truly drink the Cup of the Lord’s Love even though, they may not drink the cup of His Bodily Suffering. And becoming inebriated from it, they put to death, whatever in their nature is rooted in earth. They clothe themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not indulge fleshly desires. They do not fix their gaze on visible things but contemplate things, which the eye cannot see. Thus they drink the Lord’s Cup by preserving the holy bond of love – without it, even if a man should deliver his body to be burned, he gains nothing. But the gift of love enables us to become, in reality, what we celebrate as Mystery in the Sacrifice.” – St Fulgentius of Ruspe (c462 – 533) Bishop, Father (An excerpt from Against Fabianus).

PRAYER – Almighty, eternal God, Thou Who have given Thy servants, in the confession of the true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity and in the power of that Majesty, to adore its unity, grant, we beseech Thee, that in the firmness of this faith, we may ever be protected from all harm. And may the example and intercession of Thy Confessor, St Francis Caracciolo ever assist us on our journey to our eternal home. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

MAY the HEART of JESUS be loved everywhere. 100 Days, Indulgence Once a day – Bl Pope Pius IX 23 September 1860

Posted in CATECHESIS, DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, HOLY COMMUNION, I BELIEVE!, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on LOVE, St Francis de Sales, The COMMUNION of SAINTS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The RESURRECTION

Quote/s of the Day – 3 June – The Holy Eucharist is …

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 3 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” –

“The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love.
It signifies Love,
It produces love.
The Eucharist is the consummation
of the whole spiritual life.”

St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Doctor angelicus/Doctor communis

“The Holy Eucharist
is the perfect Communion of Saints,
for it is the food common to Angels
and sainted souls in Paradise
and ourselves – it is the true Bread
of which all Christians participate.
The forgiveness of sins,
the Author of forgiveness being there, is confirmed;
the seed of our resurrection sown,
life everlasting bestowed. …
This very belief in the Most Holy Sacrament,
which, in truth, reality and substance,
contains the true and natural
Body of Our Lord,
is actually the abridgment of our Faith,
according to that of the Psalmist:
“He had made a memory of His wonderful works.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritatis

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, HOLY COMMUNION, I BELIEVE!, INDULGENCES, ONE Minute REFLECTION, PARTIAL Indulgence, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FAITH, SACRED HEART ASPIRATIONS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 3 June – He who eats this Bread shall live forever. John 6:59

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One Minute Reflection – 3 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – Within the Octave of Corpus Christi – 1 Corinthians 23-29; John 6:56-59– Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“This is the Bread that has come down from Heaven; not as your fathers ate the manna and died. He who eats this Bread shall live forever.” – John 6:59

REFLECTION – Christ is “the bread of life” for those who believe in Him: to believe in Christ is to eat the Bread of Life, to possess Christ within one, is to possess eternal life…
“I am the Bread of Life,” He says; “your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and they are dead” (Jn 6:48f). By this is to be understood ,spiritual death. Why are they dead? Because they believed in what they saw and did not understand what they could not see… Moses ate manna, Aaron ate it and many others, too, who pleased God and are not dead. Why are they not dead? Because they understood, in a spiritual fashion, they were spiritually hungry, they tasted the manna spiritually, so that they might be spiritually satisfied. “This is the Bread that came down from Heaven: whoever eats It will never die” (v.50).
This manna – that is to say, Christ, who Himself spoke like this … was prefigured by the manna but was able to do more than manna could. For manna could not, of itself, prevent dying spiritually… But the righteous saw Christ in the manna, they believed in His coming and Christ, of Whom manna was the symbol, grants to all who believe in Him that they should not spiritually die. Hence He says: “This is the Bread come down from Heaven; whoever eats it will never see death.” Here on earth, here now, before your eyes, your eyes of flesh: here is to be found the “Bread from Heaven” (v.51). The “Bread of Life” we spoke of a moment ago is now called “Living Bread.” Living Bread because it contains, within Itself, the life which abides and can deliver from spiritual death and bestow life. First He said: “Whoever eats It will never die” now He speaks clearly, concerning the life He gives: “Whoever eats this bread will live for ever” (v.58). Archbishop Baldwin of Canterbury (c 1125-1190) Cistercian – The Sacrament of the Altar II

PRAYER – Grant, O Lord, that we may always fear and love Thy holy Name, for Thou never fail to guide those whom Thou firmly establishes in Thine Love. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

SACRED Heart of JESUS, Thy Kingdom come!
Indulgence 300 Days. Everytime Raccolta 178 St Pius X, 4 May 1906.

Posted in Act of SPIRITUAL COMMUNION, GOD ALONE!, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE

Quote/s of the Day – 2 June – Spiritual Communion

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Quote/s of the Day – 2 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – The Solemnity of Corpus Christi

“It is enough for us to love Him
and to be ready to keep His commandments.
Such an act of sincere
and effective love for Jesus,
will cause Him to enter
and to remain in our hearts,
even after the Sacramental Species
has been consumed.
This is Spiritual Communion,
which consists mainly in the yearning for Jesus.
“I have come to cast fire upon the earth
and what will I but, that it be kindled”
(Lk 12:49).”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

Act of Spiritual Communion
By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
Most Zealous Doctor

I desire, good Jesus,
to receive Thee in Holy Communion
and since I cannot now receive Thee
in the Blessed Sacrament,
I beseech Thee to come to me spiritually
and to refresh my soul with Thy sweetness.
Come, my Lord, my God and my All!
Come to me
and never let me ever again
be separated from Thee by sin.
Teach me Thy blessed ways,
help me with Thy grace to imitate Thy example,
to practise meekness, humility,
charity and all the virtues of Thy Sacred Heart.
My divine Master, my one desire is to do Thy will
and to love Thee, more and more.
Help me, that I may be faithful to the end, in Thy service.
Bless me in life and in death,
that I may praise Thee, forever in heaven,
Amen

Posted in "Follow Me", ASPIRATIONS and EJACULATIONS, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY COMMUNION, INDULGENCES, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on WISDOM, SACRED HEART ASPIRATIONS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 2 June – Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city …’ Luke 14:21

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One Minute Reflection – 2 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – The Solemnity of Corpus Christi The Second Sunday after Pentecost – 1 John 3:13-18; Luke 14:16-24.– Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“The servant went and reported this to his Master. Then the Master of the house was angry and commanded His servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and bring in here, the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame…” – Luke 14:21

REFLECTION – “He turned to the Gentiles from the careless scorn of the rich. He invites both good and evil to enter, in order to strengthen the good and change the disposition of the wicked for the better. The saying that was read today is fulfilled, “Then wolves and lambs will feed together.” He summons the poor, the maimed and the blind. By this, He shows us, either that handicaps do not exclude us from the Kingdom of Heaven that the Lord’s mercy forgives the weakness of sinners. Whoever glories in the Lord, glories as one redeemed from reproach, not by works but by faith.

He sends them into the highways because Wisdom sings aloud in passages. He sends them to the streets because He sent them to sinners, so that they should come from the broad paths, to the narrow way which leads to life. He sends them to the highways and hedges . They, who are not busied with any desires for present things, hurry to the future on the path of goodwill. Like a hedge, which separates the wild from the cultivated and wards off the attacks of wild beasts, they can distinguish between good and evil and extend a rampart of faith against the temptations of spiritual wickedness.” – St Ambrose (340-397) Bishop of Milan, Father and Doctor of the Church (Exposition on the Gospel of Luke, 7).

PRAYER – O God, Thou Who in this wondrous sacrament have left us a memorial of Thy Passion, grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate the Sacred Mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, that we may ever experience, within us, the effect of Thy Redemption. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
EUCHARISTIC Heart of JESUS, model of the priestly heart, have mercy on us.
COR JESU Eucharisticum, cordis sacerdotalis exemplar, miserere nobis. – Indulgence 300 Days, Everytime – Raccolta 177 St Pius X, 11 September 1907.

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, EUCHARISTIC, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, HOLY COMMUNION, HYMNS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Our Morning Offering – 2 June – Lauda Sion Salvatorem

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Our Morning Offering – 2 June – The Solemnity of Corpus Christ, The Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ

Lauda Sion Salvatorem
Sion, Lift Up thy Voice and Sing
(Excerpt)
By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Doctor Angelicus / Doctor Communis

Sion, lift thy voice and sing,
Praise thy Saviour and thy King,
Praise with hymns thy Shepherd true,
Dare thy most to praise Him well,
For He doth all praise excel,
None can ever reach His due.

Special theme of praise is Thine,
That true living Bread divine,
That life-giving flesh adored,
Which the brethren twelve received,
As most faithfully believed,
At the Supper of the Lord.

Let the chant be loud and high,
Sweet and tranquil be the joy
Felt to-day in every breast;
On this festival divine
Which recounts the origin
Of the glorious Eucharist.

St Thomas Aquinas wrote the Liturgy for Corpus Christi when Pope Urban IV added the Solemnity to the universal Church’s Liturgical calendar in 1264. He provided a great sequence, one of the great poems chanted or recited before the proclamation of the Gospel.
Lauda Sion is one of only four medieval sequences which were preserved in the Roman Missal published in 1570 following the Council of Trent (1545–1563)—the others being Victimae Paschali Laudes (Easter), Veni Sancte Spiritus (Pentecost) and Dies irae (requiem masses).
(A fifth, Stabat Mater, would later be added in 1727.)
Before Trent, many feasts had their own sequences. The existing versions were unified in the Roman Missal promulgated in 1570.
The Lauda Sion is still sung today as solemn Eucharistic hymn, though its use is optional in the post-Vatican II Ordinary form.
As with St Thomas’s other three Eucharistic Hymns, the last few stanzas of the Lauda Sion are often used alone, in this case, to form the “Ecce Panis Angelorum”.

Posted in CATECHESIS, EUCHARISTIC, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, HOLY COMMUNION, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 1 June – ‘ … Who will dare … to dispute it? …’

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One Minute Reflection – 1 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – Within the Octave of Corpus Christi – St Angelica de Merici (1474-1540) Virgin – 1 Corinthians 23-29; John 6:56-59 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“For My flesh is food indeed and My Blood is drink indeed.”- John 6:56

REFLECTION – “Take and eat; this is My Body… Take and drink; this is My Blood.” (Mt 26:26.) Since then, Christ Himself clearly described the Bread to us in the words “This is My Body” who will dare henceforward, to dispute it? And since He has emphatically said, “This is My Blood” who will waver?… So let us partake with the fullest confidence that it is the Body and Blood of Christ. For His Body has been bestowed on you in the form of bread and His Blood in the form of wine, so that by partaking of Christ’s Body and Blood, you may share with Him, the same Body and Blood… This is how, in the blessed Peter’s words: “we become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pt 1:4).

Christ once said in conversation with the Jews: “Unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, you have no life in you” They were scandalised because they did not interpret His words spiritually… Even in the Old Testament, there were “Loaves of the Presence” but since they belonged to the old dispensation, they have come to fulfilment. But in the New Testament, the Bread is of Heaven and the Chalice brings salvation, (Jn 6:41; Ps 115:4) and they sanctify the soul and the body; for, as the bread relates to the body, so the word harmonises with the soul…

The Blessed David will inform you of the meaning of the Eucharist when he says: “Thou hast laid a table before me against those who oppress me” (Ps 22:5)… The only thing he can mean is that sacramental, spiritual table which God has made ready for us against the evil spirit… “And the chalice which inebriates me, how godly it is” (Ps 22), here he mentions the chalice which Jesus took in His Hand and giving thanks said: “This is the Blood which is poured out for many, for the remission of sins” (Mt 26:28)… David was speaking of this long ago when he sang: “Bread strengthens the heart of man, that he may make his face glad with oil” (Ps 103:15). So strengthen your heart by partaking of that spiritual bread and gladden the face of your soul.” – Catechesis to the Newly Baptised of the Church in Jerusalem (4th Century) No 4.

PRAYER – O God, Who willed that through blessed Angela a new family of holy Virgins should flower in Thy Church, grant us through her intercession, to lead angelic lives, so that, foregoing all worldly pleasures, we may be found worthy to enjoy eternal appiness.Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in EUCHARISTIC, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, HOLY COMMUNION, JUNE-THE SACRED HEART, SACRED HEART PRAYERS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Our Morning Offering – 1 June – O Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament

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Our Morning Offering – 1 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – Within the Octave oif Corpus Christi

O Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
By The League of the Sacred Heart
1929 (Ireland)

O Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament,
overflowing with gentleness,
tenderness and charity,
I bury in the abyss of Thy Mercy,
all my iniquities and all my negligence.
I offer Thee
my labours and my sufferings,
my sorrows and my miseries,
I recommend to Thee
my life and my death.
Solace my doubts Sweet Jesus,
calm my fears
and grant, that day-by-day,
I may become more united to Thy Sacred Heart,
learning Thy love and Thy holiness.
Amen

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, St Francis de Sales, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 31 May – Corpus Christi

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Quote/s of the Day – 31 May – Within the Octave of Corpus Christi

“He who eats My Flesh
and drinks My Blood,
abides in Me and I in him. ”

John 6:57

“The Saviour has instituted
the most glorious Sacrament
of the Eucharist,
which truly contains His Body and His Blood,
so that, whoever eats it will live forever.
Therefore, those who receive it frequently,
with devotion, strengthen their spiritual life
and well-being, to such an extent,
that it is almost impossible for them
to be poisoned by any kind of evil attachment.”

(Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II, Chapter 20)

“I often speak with my Teacher, Jesus,
in the Blessed Sacrament
because I learn from Him.
Jesus is the Teacher of the science of holiness.
I go to Him because I would like to learn,
from Him, how to become a Saint.
Of what use to me is all knowledge
and education, if I do not become holy?”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of the Church

Posted in AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the JUDGE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, HOLY COMMUNION, JANUARY month of THE MOST HOLY NAME of JESUS, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on ENEMIES, QUOTES on JUSTICE, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The HOLY NAME, The LAST THINGS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 31 May – Christ has hidden enemies.

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One Minute Reflection – 31 May – Within the Octave of Corpus Christi – Mamorial of St Petronilla of Rome (1st Century) Virgin Martyr – 1 Corinthians 23-29; John 6:56-59 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“ … For he who eats and drinks unworthily, … eats and drinks judgement upon himself.”- 1 Corinthians 29

REFLECTION – “Christ has hidden enemies. All those who live unjust and irreligious lives are Christ’s enemies, even if they are signed with His Name and are called ‘Christians’ – I mean the ones to whom he is going to say, “I do not know you” and they say to Him, “Lord, in Thy Name we ate and drank. In Thy Name, we performed many deeds of power. What did we eat and drink in Thy Name?”

You see that they did not value their food very highly and yet, it was with reference to It that they said they belonged to Christ. Christ is the Food that is eaten and drunk. Even Christ’s enemies eat and drink Him! The faithful know the Lamb without spot on which they feed, if only they fed on It in such a way that they are not liable to punishment! The Apostle says, “Whoever eats and drinks unworthily, is eating and drinking judgement upon himself.” – St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Grace (Sermon 308).

PRAYER – Graciously hear us, O God our Saviour, that as we rejoice in the festival of blessed Petronilla, Thy Virgin, so may we be nourished by the food of her heavenly teaching that we may be enlightened by the fervour of her dedicated holiness.Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, EUCHARISTIC, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, HOLY COMMUNION, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Quote/s of the Day – 30 May – The Solemnity of Corpus Christi

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Quote/s of the Day – 30 May – The Solemnity of Corpus Christi, The Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ

“Receive the Body and Blood of Christ
very frequently. The sight of a Christian’s lips
red with the Blood of Christ terrifies the enemy.
He immediately recognises the sign of his own ruin.
He cannot stand the Instrument of Divine Victory,
by which he was taken captive and cast down.”

St Peter Damian (1007-1072)
Doctor of the Church

“Everything in us which is strong, steadfast,
firm, happy and joyful to carry out God’s commands,
bear with misfortune, act obediently, stand up for justice –
all these things come from this Bread’s strength,
this Wine’s gladness.
Happy are they whose deeds are strong and joyful!
And since no-one can do it of themselves,
happy are they who have an eager desire
to cleave to what is just and right
and to be strengthened in everything
and rejoice through Him … ”

Baldwin of Canterbury (c1125-1190)
Cistercian Abbot of Forde Monastery and
Archbishop of Canterbury

Pange Lingua Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium
Sing, My Tongue
By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Eng trans – Fr Edward Caswell CO (1814-1878)
(Excerpt on the image – the 4 last stanzas)

Sing, my tongue, the Saviour’s glory,
Of His Flesh, the Mystery sing;
Of the Blood, all price exceeding,
Shed by our Immortal King,
Destined, for the world’s redemption,
From a noble Womb to spring.

Of a pure and spotless Virgin
Born for us on earth below,
He, as Man, with man conversing,
Stayed, the seeds of truth to sow;
Then He closed in solemn order
Wondrously His Life of woe.

On the night of that Last Supper,
Seated with His chosen band,
He, the Paschal Victim eating,
First fulfils the Law’s command;
Then as Food to all His brethren
Gives Himself with His own Hand.

Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature
By His Word to Flesh He turns;
Wine into His Blood He changes,
What though sense no change discerns.
Only be the heart in earnest,
Faith her lesson quickly learns.

Down in adoration falling,
Lo, the Sacred Host we hail,
Lo, o’er ancient forms departing
Newer rites of grace prevail,
Faith for all defects supplying,
When the feeble senses fail.

To the Everlasting Father
And the Son Who comes on high
With the Holy Ghost proceeding
Forth from each eternally,
Be salvation, honour, blessing,
Might and endless majesty.
Amen. Alleluia.

Written by St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) the Angelic and Common Doctor of the Church, for the very first Solemnity of Corpus Christi, this Hymn is considered the most beautiful of Aquinas’ Hymns and one of the seven great Hymns of the Church.

The last two stanzas make up the Tantum Ergo (Down in Adoration Falling) which is used at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The Hymn is also used on Maundy Thursday during the procession from the Sanctuary to the Altar of Repose, where the Blessed Sacrament is kept until Good Friday.

“As mountain hares become white in winter
because they neither see. nor eat
anything but snow,
so, by adoring and feeding on
beauty, purity and goodness itself
in the Eucharist,
you will become altogether
beautiful, pure and good.”

“Nowhere do we find our Saviour
more tender or more loving,
than here [in Adoration]
where He, so to speak,
annihilates Himself and reduces Himself
to Food, in order to penetrate our souls
and to unite Himself
to the hearts of His friends.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritatis

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

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

O Jesus, my God, I adore Thee,
here present in the Sacrament of Thy love.
Amen

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

MORE:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/06/11/quote-s-of-the-day-11-june-he-left-his-body-and-his-blood/

Posted in EUCHARISTIC Adoration, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, HOLY COMMUNION, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

One Minute Reflection – 30 May – ‘ …Christ the Lord, for Whom we should ceaselessly hunger! …’St Columban

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One Minute Reflection – 30 May – The Solemnity of Corpus Christi, The Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ – 1 Corinthians 23-29; John 6:56-59– Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“For My Flesh is food indeed and My Blood is drink indeed.” – John 6:56

REFLECTION – “Beloved brethren, quench your thirst at the waters of that Divine Spring we want to tell you about – quench it but do not extinguish it; drink but do not become satisfied. The Living Spring, the Source of Life, calls us and says: “Let anyone who thirsts come to Me and drink” (Jn 7:37). Understand what it is you are drinking. Let the Prophet tell you and let the Source Itself tell you: “Listen to the word of the Lord, they have forsaken Me the Source of Living Water” (Jer 2:13). So the Lord our God Himself, Jesus Christ, is He Who is that Source of Life and that is why He invites us to come to Him so that we might drink Him. Whoever loves Him, drinks Him; whoever feeds on the Word of God, drinks Him. … Drink, therefore, from this Source that others have forsaken!

That we might eat of this Bread and drink from this Spring … He refers to Himself as “the Living Bread which gives life to the world” (cf. Jn 6:51) which we are to eat. … See from where this Spring flows! see from where this Bread comes down! For one and the same person is both Bread and Spring, the Only-begotten Son, our God, Christ the Lord, for Whom we should ceaselessly hunger!

It is our love which gives Him as food to us, our desire which makes us eat Him and when we have been satisfied, we desire Him still. Let us go to Him as to a fountain and drink of Him in our overflowing love, let us drink Him always with ever-new desire, finding our joy in the sweetness of His Love. The Lord is gentle and good. We eat and drink Him without ceasing to hunger and thirst for Him, for we cannot exhaust this Food and Drink. We eat of this Bread yet do not run out of it; we drink at this Spring, yet it does not run dry. This Bread is eternal; this Stream flows without end!” – St Columban (543-615) Father of the Church, Monk, Irish Missionary, Abbot, Writer, Reformer, Teacher, Miracle-worker, Founder of numerous Nonateries. (Spiritual instructions 12, 2, 3).

PRAYER – O God, Thou Who in this wondrous Sacrament has left us a memorial of Thy Passion, grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate the Sacred Mysteries of Thine Body and Blood that we may ever experience within ourselves, the effect of Thy redemption. Who lives and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in CONSECRATION Prayers, EUCHARISTIC, HOLY COMMUNION, MARIAN PRAYERS, Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 30 May – On the Feast of Corpus Christi – Consecration to Our Lady of the Eucharist After Holy Communion

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Our Morning Offering – 30 May – “The Month of the Blessed Virgin Mother” – Corpus Christi!

Consecration to Our Lady of the Eucharist
After Holy Communion
By the Claretian Fathers Teaching Ministry
Order founded by St Anthony Mary Claret (1807-1870)

Mary is called Our Lady of the Eucharist, because
without her, there would be no physical Body of Jesus
to be present in the Eucharist. (See John 6:51)

Most kind Mother,
we consecrate to thee, our bodies,
which have just been
honoured and sanctified,
by the presence of thy Divine Son,
our souls which have
conversed with Him
and our hearts which have loved Him.
O dearest Mother,
may the words which we have spoken, be made
acceptable to Him. through thy intercession.
Tell Him the things which we should have said
but were unable to express.
Love Him and beseech Him for us,
thy poor children.
Receive and keep us in thine heart.
Warn us, protect us
and guide us during this day
that we may faithfully serve thy Divine Son
and please Him
in all our thoughts, desires and actions.
Amen

Posted in GOD is LOVE, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on THE VOICE OF GOD, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 30 April – The Role of the Eucharist in Increasing Our Love of God (Part Four)

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Thought for the Day – 30 April – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

LV: … The Role of the Eucharist in
Increasing Our Love of God (Part Four)

“After Communion strive to be deeply recollected, shutting out from your heart the multiple petty encroachments of worldly distractions. Entertain the Divine Guest with such sentiments as are expressed in the following prayer:

“O Sovereign Lord of Heaven, what has brought Thee from celestial heights to the depths of earthly hearts?”
His answer will be simply, “Love.”
And you must reply: “O Eternal Love, what is it you ask of me?”

And He will answer again:
“Nothing but love.
I would have no other fire within thee but charity, the ardent flames of
which will conquer the impure flames of passion and make thee
pleasing in My sight.
Long have I wished that thou wert all Mine and I all thine.
And long have I desired that surrender of thy will ever solicitous
for frivolous liberty and worldly vanities, for only when thy will is attuned to Mine can the first wish be realised.
Know, then that I would have thee die to self, that you might live to Me.
I would have thee give Me thy heart that I might make it like unto Mine which broke on Calvary out of love for mankind.
Thou knowest Who I Am and yet thou knowest that, in some measure, I have made thee My equal in an excess of love.
When I give Myself entirely to thee, I ask nothing but thyself in return.
Be Mine and I shall be satisfied.
Will nothing, think nothing, understand nothing, see nothing but Me and My Will.
Let thy nothingness be lost in the depths of My Infinity and find there thy happiness, as I find repose in thee.”

Finally, offer to the Eternal Father, His Only-Begotten Son:
First in thanksgiving for the unspeakably great favours He has rendered, in bestowing them on you.
In petition for such things as are needed by you and those for whom you are obligated to pray; remember also, in your petitions, the Souls in Purgatory.
Let this entire offering be made in commemoration of and in union with, the offering made by Christ on Calvary’s hill, when bleeding on the Cross, He offered Himself to His Eternal Father.
Similarly, you may offer for the same intention, the Sacrifice of the Mass, wherever it may be celebrated that day, throughout the Catholic world.”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/04/27/thought-for-the-day-27-april-the-role-of-the-eucharist-in-increasing-our-love-of-god-part-one/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/04/28/thought-for-the-day-28-april-two-role-of-the-eucharist-in-increasing-our-love-of-god-part-two/
PART THREE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/04/29/thought-for-the-day-29-april-the-role-of-the-eucharist-in-increasing-our-love-of-god-part-three/

Posted in GOD ALONE!, GOD is LOVE, HOLY COMMUNION, JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 29 April – The Role of the Eucharist in Increasing Our Love of God (Part Three)

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Thought for the Day – 29 April – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

LV: … The Role of the Eucharist in
Increasing Our Love of God (Part Three)

“When the time itself draws near, we must consider, attentively, Who it is we are about to receive – for our Guest is to be the Son of the living God, the august Majesty before Whom the heavens and the powers of Heaven tremble in awesome fear!

Our Guest is to be the Saint of Saints, Mirror without blemish, Purity
itself, before Whom all is unclean in comparison.
This is Divinity become Man – One looked upon as the very outcast of men, Who was pleased to be spat upon, struck, reviled and Crucified out of love for us.

You are indeed about to receive God Himself, in Whose Hand is the destiny of the universe.
On the other hand, think of your own utter insignificance and your vile sinfulness which has reduced you below the level of the brute and made you worthy of being the sport and slave of devils!
Consider your acknowledgment of the Infinite favours you have received from your Saviour – you have insulted the Redeemer and trampled upon His Precious Blood, displaying a most absolute ingratitude.

But even human ingratitude cannot overcome Divine charity – capricious fickleness is no match for unchanging Love.
Still the gracious Lord summons you to the Divine banquet and rather
than rebuffing you for your obvious inadequacies, bids you come
under pain of death.
The arms of the merciful Father are always open to receive you, be you leprous, lame, blind, squandering, or possessed by devils.

He demands of you these few requisites alone:

To be sincerely sorry for having so grievously offended Him.
To hate sin of all kinds with an unquenchable vigour.
To consecrate yourself to cheerful acceptance of His Divine
Will, whatever it may be.
To have a firm confidence that He will forgive your sins, cleanse your soul of all taint and defend you against all your enemies.

Encouraged by this ineffable Love of the Lord for you and all penitent sinners, approach the holy table with a prudent fear, tempered by hope and love, saying:

“After so many grievous offences, I am not worthy to receive
Thee, not having fully satisfied Thy justice.
No, my God, I am unworthy of Thee, sullied as I am by an inordinate attachment to creatures and a reluctance to serve Thee completely, with my whole heart and my whole strength.
O my omnipotent Lord, be mindful of Thy goodness and Thy promise; through the Divine alchemy of Love and Faith, make my heart a worthy dwellingplace for Thy Divine Son.”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/04/27/thought-for-the-day-27-april-the-role-of-the-eucharist-in-increasing-our-love-of-god-part-one/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/04/28/thought-for-the-day-28-april-two-role-of-the-eucharist-in-increasing-our-love-of-god-part-two/

Posted in ASPIRATIONS and EJACULATIONS, GOD ALONE!, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The HEART, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 28 April – The Role of the Eucharist in Increasing Our Love of God (Part Two)

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Thought for the Day – 28 April – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

LV: … The Role of the Eucharist in
Increasing Our Love of God (Part Two)

“Meditating on this truth, let each man say within himself:

“Who could have imagined, O Lord, that a God of such Infinite greatness would bestow His affections on such an abject and insignificant creature as myself!
What could be Thy design, O King of glory?
What canst Thou expect of me who am but dust?
I see clearly, O my God, by the Light of Thy burning charity which enlightens me with knowledge and enkindles me with love that Thy design, was one divorced from all self-interest.
For Thy wish in so graciously bestowing this Sacrament, is to transform me into Thee that I may live in Thee and Thou in me.
Such an intimate union will ultimately remake my heart, fashioning from a vessel of earth, a delicate instrument attuned to things Divine!”

Then, full of joy and wonder at the indications of Divine Love given us by Christ and aware that His only purpose is the transformation of our hearts from things of earth, to things of Heaven, let us offer a sacrifice, and consecrate the will, the memory and understanding, to the sole task of pleasing Him in the gracious acceptance of His Holy Will.

After this, recognising our incapacity to dispose ourselves properly, unaided by His grace for proper reception of the Eucharist, let us strive earnestly to obtain that grace by ejaculations such as the following:

“O heavenly food, when shall I be united to Thee, to be consumed joyfully in the fire of Divine Love?
O Divine charity, when shall I live in Thee, by Thee and for Thee alone?
O heavenly manna, Sovereign good, joy of my heart, when shall I, loathing all other food, seek Thee alone?
O life of eternal joy, when shall I dwell in Thee alone?
O my Loving And almighty Lord, free my heart from the tyranny of its passions and vicious attachments; adorn it with Thy heavenly virtues and with gentle compulsion, force it to rejoice in loving and pleasing Thee.
Then O Lord, will I open my heart and bid Thee enter; then shalt Thou come, my only Treasure, to transform my heart by Thy Divine Presence.”

Such are the tender and affectionate sentiments which we should form on the evening before and, on the morning of, reception of Holy Communion.”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/04/27/thought-for-the-day-27-april-the-role-of-the-eucharist-in-increasing-our-love-of-god-part-one/

Posted in HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD

Thought for the Day – 27 April – The Role of the Eucharist in Increasing Our Love of God (Part One)

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Thought for the Day – 27 April – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

LV: … The Role of the Eucharist in
Increasing Our Love of God (Part One)

“If our motive in receiving Holy Communion be a desire of increasing our love of God, we should recall the Love which God has for us.
The preparation consists in an attentive contemplation of this Sovereign Lord of boundless Power and Majesty, Who, not satisfied with creating us to His image and likeness, nor with the immolation of His only Son on our behalf, left this Son to us in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, to be our food and support in all our necessities.
Consider well the greatness and uniqueness of this Love in the following manner:

  1. In its duration we find that God’s Love for us is eternal and unceasing; for, as He is eternal in His Divinity, so is He eternal in His Love.
    Before time was, God determined to give His Son to mankind in this marvellous manner.
    Let these words, then, echo joyfully within your heart: “In the abyss of eternity, my littleness was so loved by the most high God that He thought of me and with Love ineffable, wished to give me His Son to be my food and my nourishment!”
  2. Our strongest passions for earthly things recognise certain limits which they cannot exceed but, the Love of God for us, is limitless.
    The advent of His Son, equal to Himself in Majesty and Perfection, was a testimony to that boundless Love.
    Thus is the Gift equal to the Love and the Love to the Gift and both are Infinite, beyond the borders of human understanding.
  3. In Loving us God was not constrained by any power or necessity but heaped innumerable benefits upon us out of the magnitude of Divine Love.
  4. Neither have human merit or previous good works, rendered us worthy of this remarkable Gift.
    If God has loved to excess or given of Himself unstintingly, it is rather to be attributed to the immensity of Divine charity.
  5. God’s Love for us is untainted by the blemish of the self-interest present in human affections.
    For what is the totality of human greatness to Him, the Source of all happiness and glory?
    How could we possibly add glory to Glory itself?
    The advantages, then, are all on the side of man.    ”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in HOLY COMMUNION, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 26 April – The Manner in Which We Ought to Receive the Blessed Sacrament (Part Two)

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Thought for the Day – 26 April – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

LIV: … The Manner in which We Ought
to Receive the Blessed Sacrament (Part Two)

“You will recall, we are discussing various requirements to be observed for approaching this Divine Sacrament, at three different times:
Before Communion (completed in Part One);
At the moment of reception of Communion (No 2 below);
After Communion (No 3 below).

  1. When we are about to receive the Body of Our Lord, let us quickly consider the faults committed since our last Communion and, in order to conceive a more perfect sorrow, let us remember that we committed them as callously as if Christ had not died for us on Calvary’s tree – such a remembrance should fill us with shame and fear, for having basely preferred a trifling compliance to our own will, to the obedience due to so gracious a Master.
    But when we consider that, in spite of this ingratitude and infidelity, this God of all charity still condescends to visit us and live within us, then let us approach Him with confidence and open hearts; for when He lives within, no tainted affections of the world may steal in.
  1. After Communion, we are to remain in profound recollection, adoring Our Lord with great humility and saying within our souls: “Thou seest, O God, of my soul,
    my wretched propensity to sin;
    Thou seest how domineering is this passion
    and that, of myself, I cannot resist.
    It is Thou Who must fight my battles
    and if I share in the combat,
    it is Thee from Whom I must expect
    the Crown of victory!     ” Then addressing ourselves to the Eternal Father, let us offer to Him, this beloved Son, Who now dwells within our breast; let us offer Him thanksgiving for innumerable benefits and implore Him, for the grace which will make our victory complete.

Finally, let us resolve to fight courageously against the enemy from whom we suffer most.
Thus we may expect victory, since if we are not wanting in petition, God is not wanting in bestowing and, sooner or later, victory will be ours!”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/04/25/thought-for-the-day-25-april-the-manner-in-which-we-oughtto-receive-the-blessed-sacrament-part-one/

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on MORTAL SIN, QUOTES on SIN, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 25 April – The Manner in which We Oughtto Receive the Blessed Sacrament (Part One)

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Thought for the Day – 25 April – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

LIV: … The Manner in which We Ought
to Receive the Blessed Sacrament (Part One)

“The Motives for approaching this Divine Sacrament are many, from which it follows that there are various requirements to be observed at three different times:
Before Communion
At the moment of reception of Communion
After Communion

  1. BEFORE COMMUNION: Whatever be our motive, we must, if stained with mortal sin, cleanse ourselves in the Sacrament of Penance.
    And with all sincerity of heart, we must offer ourselves to Jesus Christ, consecrating our souls and all their faculties to His service.
    For, it is in this Sacrament that He bestows to mankind, His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, together with the immense and inexhaustible treasure of His Infinite merits.
    And as all of our gifts to Him are insignificant, when compared to His gifts to us, we should desire nothing less, than the totality of merits gained by the created beings of the universe, to offer as a gift deserving His regard.
    If our desire is victory over spiritual adversaries, we should meditate for some time previous to the reception of Communion on the incomprehensibly ardent desire, of our Saviour to be one with us in suppressing our inordinate appetites.

In order, however, to formulate some idea of this Divine wish in our regard, we might consider two things.
The first is the ineffable joy with which Wisdom Incarnate dwells among us, for He calls it His delight [Prov VIII:31].
The second is the implacable hatred He bears toward mortal sin, inasmuch as it is both an insuperable obstacle to that much-desired intimate union with Him and in utter opposition to His Divine perfections.
For as God is sovereignly good, a Light undimmed and Beauty inviolate, He must inevitably hate sin which is all malice, all darkness and all corruption.
So burning indeed is this hatred of God for sin that the entire dispensation of the Old and New Testaments, has been ordained for its destruction.
Several of God’s Saints have said that Divinity would have suffered a thousand deaths on a thousand Golgothas, if the smallest faults could be annihilated within us.
These considerations, rudimentary as they are, may enable you to see ,how much our Saviour desires to dwell within our hearts to expiate therefrom, our common enemies; thus we should welcome Him with all the fervour of which we are capable.
The joyful expectancy of His arrival will raise our courage and inspire us to war anew on our predominant passion, by performing many
acts of the contrary virtue.
Particularly should this be so on the evening before and on the morning of our reception of Holy Communion.”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in Act of SPIRITUAL COMMUNION, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 24 April – Concerning the Most Holy Sacramentof the Eucharist

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Thought for the Day – 24 April – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

LIII: … Concerning the Most Holy Sacrament
of the Eucharist

“Thus far, I have tried, as perhaps you have observed, to furnish you with four kinds of spiritual weapons and the methods by which they may profitably be employed.
It remains to present to you the invaluable aids to be derived from the Holy Eucharist in subduing the enemies of perfection and salvation.

As this sublime Sacrament towers above the others in dignity and efficacy, it is the most terrible of all weapons to the infernal powers.
The methods previously treated have no force but through the merits of Jesus Christ and by the grace He has purchased for us by His Precious Blood but the Eucharist is Jesus Christ Himself, His Body, His Blood, His Soul and Divinity.

The former methods are bestowed upon us by God that we may use them in subduing the enemy through Jesus Christ but, the Eucharist is given that we may fight against the enemy with Him!
For by eating the Body of Jesus and drinking His Blood we dwell in Him and He in us.

We may eat His Body and drink His Blood in reality every day and spiritually every hour, both of which are highly profitable and holy.
The latter should be practiced as often as possible, the former as often as shall be judged expedient.”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY COMMUNION, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Our Morning Offering – 14 April – St Anselm’s Prayer before Holy Communion

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Our Morning Offering – 14 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – The Second Sunday of Easter

Prayer Before Holy Communion
By St Anselm (1033-1109)
Doctor of the Church

O Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of the living God,
Who according to the Will of the Father
and with the co-operation of the Holy Ghost,
has, by Thy Death. given Life to the world,
I adore and revere this, Thy Holy Body
and this, Thy Holy Blood
which was given up
and poured forth, for the many,
unto remission of sins.
O merciful Lord,
I beg of Thee mercy,
that through the power of this Sacrament,
Thou will make me one of that many.
Through faith and love, make me feel
the power of these Sacraments,
so I may experience their saving power.
Absolve and free from all sin
and punishment of sin, Thy servants,
Thy handmaidens, myself,
all who confessed their sins to me,
those whom I have promised,
or am obliged, to pray for
and so too, those who themselves hope
or beg, to be helped, by my prayers to Thee.
Make our Church rejoice
in Thy constant protection and consolation.
Amen

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Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on VIRTUE, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, St PETER!, The HEART, The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The PASSION

Quote/s of the Day – 11 April – St Pope Leo the Great

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Quote/s of the Day – 11 April – St Leo I, the Great (c400-461) Pope, Confessor, Father and Doctor of the Church

“Peter has spoken
by the mouth of Leo!”

“Nothing escaped the Wisdom and Power of Christ,
the elements of nature lay at His service,
spirits obeyed Him, Angels served Him. …
And yet, out of all the world,
Peter alone was chosen to stand at the head,
for the calling of all the peoples
and the oversight of all the Apostles
and Fathers of the Church.”

“Virtue is nothing
without the trial of temptation,
for there is no conflict,
without an enemy,
no victory, without strife.”

“No-one, however weak, is denied
a share in the victory of the Cross.
No-one is beyond the help
of the prayer of Christ.”

“Our sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ
has no other purpose than to transform us
into that which we receive.”

“For the man who loves God,
it is sufficient to please the One he loves
and, there is no greater recompense to be sought,
than the loving itself.
For love is from God, by the very fact
that God Himself is love.
The good and chaste soul
is so happy to be filled with Him
that it desires to take delight in nothing else.
For what the Lord says is very true:
‘Where your treasure is,
there also will your heart be.’”

St Pope Leo the Great (c400-461)
Father and Doctor of the Church

Posted in APRIL -MONTH of the RESURRECTION and the BLESSED SACAMENT, AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on THE MYSTICAL BODY, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

Devotions for the Month of April – The Resurrection and The Blessed Sacrament

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Devotions for the Month of April

The Resurrection and The Blessed Sacrament

The Month of April is dedicated both to devotion to the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Holy Eucharist – the proof of the promise of the love of God and of ETERNAL LIFE.

“My brethren, when was it that the Lord made Himself recognised? — When He broke the bread. — So, we ourselves are convinced, too, that when we break the bread, we recognise the Lord. — If He had not wanted to be recognised until that moment, it was for our sakes, we, who were not to see Him in the flesh but who were yet to eat Him in the flesh. ” – St Augustine (354-430) Father, Doctor of Grace

“I am the Resurrection and the Life,
he who believes in Me,
although he be dead, shall live.”

John 11:25

“I am the Living Bread
Who came down from Heaven.
If any man eat of this Bread,
he shall live forever
and the Bread that I will give,
is My Flesh, for the Life of the world.”

John 6:51-52

“For His Body, has been given to you
under the appearance of bread
and His Blood, under the appearance of wine,
so that, when you have partaken
of the Body and Blood of Christ,
you might be One Body and One Blood with Him.
So shall we become Christ-bearers [“Christophers”].
His Body and Blood are diffused through all our members – see, then,
how we become participants
in the Divine Nature!”

St Cyril of Jerusalem (c 313-386)
Father and Doctor of theChurch

Posted in "Follow Me", AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, HOLY COMMUNION, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 1 April – “Stay with us!” … Luke 24:29

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One Minute Reflection – 1 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Easter Monday – Acts 10:37-43, Luke 24:13-35 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Stay with us!” … Luke 24:29

REFLECTION – “My brethren, when was it that the Lord made Himself recognised? When He broke the bread. So, we ourselves are convinced, too, that when we break the bread, we recognise the Lord. If He had not wanted to be recognised until that moment, it was for our sakes, we, who were not to see Him in the flesh but who were yet to eat Him in the flesh. So you, who believe in Him, whoever you are, you who do not bear the name of Christian in vain, who do not come casually into Church, who hear the Word of God in fear and hope – for you the broken bread will be a consolation. Our Lord’s absence is not a real absence. Trust, be faithful and He is with you, even if you do not see Him.

When the Lord hailed them, the disciples had no faith. They did not believe in His Resurrection, they did not even hope that He might be raised. They had lost faith, they had lost hope. They were dead men walking alongside a living one, they were walking, dead, with Life itself! Life was walking with them but, in their hearts, Life was not as yet renewed.

And do you long for Life? Imitate the disciples and you will recognise the Lord. They offered hospitality, our Lord seemed determined to proceed on His way but they held Him back … You too, then, keep hold of the stranger if you wish to recognise your Saviour! … Learn where to look for the Lord, where to possess Him, where to recognise Him – in breaking bread with Him!” … St Augustine (354-430) Bishop of Hippo, Father and Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – O God, Who dost heal the sick world by the solemn gladness of the Passover, continue, we beseech Thee, to pour forth Thine heavenly gifts upon Thy people, until the same shall bring them into perfect liberty and finally, avail them unto life everlasting .Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, franciscan OFM, HOLY COMMUNION, MAUNDY THURSDAY, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, The PASSION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 28 March– Maundy Thursday – ‘ … He Whom the Angels adore in Heaven, is at these fishermen’s feet! …’

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One Minute Reflection – 28 March – Maundy Thursday – 1 Corinthians 11:20-32, John 13:1-15 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“You call Me Master and Lord. And you say well, for so I Am. If then I, being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that as I have done to you, so you do also.” – John 13:14-15

REFLECTION – “Jesus rose from supper and took off His outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around His waist. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet. We read a story of the same kind in Genesis. Abraham says to the messengers – the three Angels who visit him: “Let some water be brought that you may bathe your feet and then rest yourselves under the tree; let me bring you a little food that you may refresh yourselves” (Gen 18:4-5). What Abraham did for the three Angels, Christ did for His Apostles, those messengers of the Truth, who were to preach faith in the Blessed Trinity, to all the world.

He stoops down to them, like a child – He stoops down and washes their feet. What an incomprehensible humility! what inexpressible goodness! He Whom the Angels adore in Heaven, is at these fishermen’s feet! The Face that causes Angels to tremble bends over the feet of these poor men! Therefore, Peter is seized with fear… When He has washed their feet He makes them “lie down under the tree” as it says in the Song of Songs: “I delight to rest in His shadow and His fruit is sweet to my mouth” (Song 2:3). This fruit is His Body and Blood, given them today by Him. It is the “morsel of bread” He set before them and that gave them strength for the work they must undertake…

Behold, “on this mountain the Lord of Hosts will prepare for all peoples a feast of rich meat with the marrow” (Is 25:6)… In the Upper Room where the Apostles are to receive the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the Lord of all the world, throws a feast today for all the peoples who believe in Him… This is what the Church does today throughout the world. It was for her sake that Christ prepared this feast on Mount Zion, this food that restores us, His True Body, rich in every spiritual virtue and charity. This He has given to His Apostles and has commanded them to give to those who believe in Him.” – St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Franciscan, Doctor of the Church (Sermons for Sundays and Feasts, Maundy Thursday).

PRAYER – O God, from Whom Judas received the punishment of his guilt and the thief the reward of his confession: grant unto us the full fruit of Thy clemency, that even as in His Passion, our Lord Jesus Christ gave to each a retribution according to his merits, so having taken away our old sins, He may bestow upon us the grace of His Resurrection. Who with Thee lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in CATECHESIS, CHRIST the PHYSICIAN, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY COMMUNION, LENT 2024, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

Our Lenten Journey with the Angels and the Saints – 14 March – His Life-giving Eucharist

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Our Lenten Journey with the Angels and the Saints – 14 March – Thursday of the Fourth Week in Lent – 4 Kings 4:25-38, Luke 7:11-16 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Seek the Lord and be strengthened,
seek His Face evermore.”
Psalm 104:4

“Young man, I say to thee, arise!”
Luke 7:14

His Life-giving Eucharist

St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444)
Father & Doctor of the Church

“Even for restoring the dead to life, the Saviour did not stop at acting by Word alone, although it was the bearer of Divine Commands.
For such a surpassing work, He took His own Flesh as His assistant – if one might put it that way – that He might show, that it has the power to give life and, that He might cause it to be seen that it is entirely One with Him.
For, it is indeed His very own Flesh and not an alien body.

This is what happened when He restored life to the synagogue leader’s daughter, saying to her: “My child, arise!” (Mk 5:41).
He took her by the hand, as it is written.
As God, He gave her back her life, by His all-powerful command and animated her too, by contact with His Holy Flesh.
Thus, He bore witness that, in Flesh as in His Word, one and the same Divine energy was at work.
In the same way, too, when he came to a Town called Nain, where the widow’s only son was being buried, He touched the coffin, saying: “Young man, I say to thee, arise!” (Lk 7:14).

Thus, He not only conferred to His Word the power to raise the dead but He even touched the dead, to show that His Body is Life-giving and, through His Flesh, He caused life to pass into their corpses.
If the touch alone of His Sacred Flesh restores life to a corrupting body, what profit shall we not discover in His Life-giving Eucharist when we make of it our food?
It will wholly transform into its own property which is immortality, those who participate in it.” – (Commentary on the Gospel of John Ch 4).

Posted in DEVOTIO, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on DIVINE PROVIDENCE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, SELF-DISTRUST, The HEART, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli, The WILL of GOD

Thought for the Day – 10 March – Of the Devil’s Artifices, In Order to Draw Us Away, From the Path of Holiness (Part Two)

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Thought for the Day – 10 March – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

XXXI: … Of the Devil’s Artifices, In Order
to Draw Us Away, From the Path of Holiness
(Part Two)

“In like manner, if prevented by your spiritual Father, or in any other way, from attending, as frequently as you desire, to your devotions and especially, Holy Communion, suffer not yourself to be troubled or disquieted by longings after them but, casting off all that is your own, clothe yourself with the good pleasure of your Lord, saying within yourself:

“If the eye of Divine Providence had not perceived sin and ingratitude in me, I should not now be deprived of the blessing of receiving the Most Holy Sacrament but, since my Lord thus makes known to me, my unworthiness, be His Holy Name forever blessed and praised.
I trust, O Lord, that in Thy Infinite loving-kindness, Thou wilt so rule my heart that it may please Thee in all things, in doing, or suffering Thine Will that my heart may open before Thee, so that, entering into it spiritually, Thou may comfort and strengthen it, against the enemies, who seek to draw it away from Thee.
Thus may all be done as seems good in Thy sight.
My Creator and Redeemer, may Thy Will be now and ever, my food and sustenance!
This one favour only do I beg of Thee, O my Beloved that my soul, freed and purified from everything displeasing to Thee and adorned with all virtues, maybe ever prepared for Thy Coming and, for whatsoever it may please Thee to do with me. Amen.”

If you will observe these rules, know for certain that, when baffled in any good work which you have a desire to perform, be the hindrance from the devil, to disquiet you and turn you aside from the way of virtue, or be it from God, to make trial of your submission to His Will, you will still have an opportunity of pleasing your Lord in the way most acceptable to Him.
And herein consists true devotion and the service which God requires of us.

I warn you, also, lest you grow impatient under trials, from whatever source proceeding that, in using the lawful means which God’s servants are wont to use, you use them, not with the desire and hope to obtain relief but because, it is the Will of God that they should be used — for we know not, whether His Divine Majesty will be pleased, by their means, to deliver us.

Otherwise you will fall into further evils — for if the event should not fulfill your purpose and desires, you will easily fall into impatience, or your patience will be defective, not wholly acceptable to God and of little value.”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/09/thought-for-the-day-9-march-of-the-devils-artifices-in-order-to-draw-us-away-from-the-path-of-holiness-part-one/

Posted in BLESSED TRINITY PRAYERS, EUCHARISTIC, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, HOLY COMMUNION, Holy Name PRAYERS, JANUARY month of THE MOST HOLY NAME of JESUS, LENT 2024, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, QUOTES on BLASPHEMY, QUOTES on REPARATION/EXPIATION, SACRED HEART PRAYERS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The HOLY NAME, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 25 February – The Golden Arrow

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Our Morning Offering – 25 February – “The Month of the Most Holy and Blessed Trinity” – The Second Sunday in Lent

The Golden Arrow

This prayer was revealed by Jesus Himself to a Carmelite Nun of Tours in 1843 as a Reparation for Blasphemy. “This Golden Arrow will wound My Heart delightfully” He said “and heal the wounds, inflicted by blasphemy.”

May the Most Holy,
Most Sacred,
Most Adorable,
Most Mysterious
and Unutterable Name of God
be always praised,
blessed, loved, adored
and glorified in Heaven.
on earth and under the earth,
by all the creatures of God
and by the Sacred Heart
of our Lord Jesus Christ
in the most Holy Sacrament
of the Altar.
Amen

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY COMMUNION, HYMNS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on THE WORLD, QUOTES on VICE, St PAUL!, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Quote/s of the Day – 23 February – St Peter Damian

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Quote/s of the Day – 23 February – St Peter Damian (1007-1072) Cardinal Bishop, Confessor, Father and Doctor of the Church

“He who does not attack a vice
but rather, coddles it,
is justly judged guilty
of the death, together with those
who die by that vice!”

“Receive the Body and Blood of Christ
very frequently. The sight of a Christian’s lips
red with the Blood of Christ terrifies the enemy.
He immediately recognises the sign of his own ruin.
He cannot stand the Instrument of Divine Victory,
by which he was taken captive and cast down.”

“Truly, this vice is never to be compared
with any other vice
because it surpasses the enormity of all vices….
It defiles everything, stains everything, pollutes everything.
And as for itself, it permits nothing pure,
nothing clean, nothing other than filth!”

“No-one can fight properly
and boldly for the faith,
if he clings to a fear of being stripped
of earthly possessions.”

Have Mercy, Lord
By St Peter Damian (1007-1072)
Doctor of the Church

Have mercy, Lord,
on all my friends and relatives,
on all my benefactors,
on all who pray to Thee for me
and on all who have asked me
to pray to Thee, for them.
Give them the spirit of fruitful penance,
mortify them in all vices
and make them flower
in all Thy virtues.
Amen

Paule Doctor Egregie
Let Gentiles Raise the Thankful Lay
By St Peter Damian (1007-1072)
Father and Doctor of the Church
Trans. John Mason Neale, 1854

Let Gentiles raise the thankful lay
Upon their great Apostle’s Day,
Whose doctrine, like the thunder, sounds
To the wide world’s remotest bounds.

O bliss of Paul beyond all thought!
To Paradise, yet living, caught,
He hears the heav’nly myst’ries there,
Which mortal tongue can not declare.

The Word’s blest seed around he flings
And straight a mighty harvest springs
And fruits of holy deeds supply,
God’s everlasting granary.

The lamp his holy lore displays
Hath fill’d the world with glorious rays
And doubt and error are o’erthrown,
That Truth may reign, and reign alone.

Long as unending ages run,
To God the Father laud be done,
To God the Son our equal praise
And God the Holy Ghost, we raise.
Amen.

MORE:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/02/23/quote-s-of-the-day-23-february-st-peter-damian-2/

St Peter Damian (1007-1072)
Doctor of the Church

Posted in GOD ALONE!, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Quote/s of the Day – 18 February – St Bernadette

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Quote/s of the Day – 18 February – St Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879)
Virgin, The Visionary of Lourdes,

“You must receive God well –
give Him a loving welcome,
for then, He has to pay us rent.”

“Nothing is anything anymore to me,
everything is nothing to me,
only Jesus!
Neither things,
nor persons,
neither ideas,
nor emotions,
neither honour,
nor sufferings.
Jesus is for me honour,
delight,
heart and soul.”

St Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879)