Tag: Jesus Christ

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 12 August – Give me the strength to meet you with the wise virgins

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One Minute Reflection – 12 August – “Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – Readings: Ps 44:8, Ps 44:2, 2 Cor 10:17-18; 11:1-2, Matt 25:1-13.

Then will the kingdom of heaven be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom and the bride. Five of them were foolish and five wise.

Matt 25:1-13

REFLECTION – Inexpressible birth, conception without seed, exempt of corruption, the deliverance of a mother that has no spouse. The birth of God renews the human nature; this is why all the generations magnify you as is due, O mother and Spouse of God!

O my Christ, friend of man, God of all goodness, in the middle of the night, before the trumpet sounds, as the scripture says, "Rise, the Spouse is here!" Purify my soul and my mind, and give me the force to go to meet you with the wise virgins.

When the souls of the just are filled with Joy while sinners groan and cry, when judgement is at the door, and you appear as one coming down from heaven, spare me then, O compassionate One, have mercy and save me
You who are without beginning, uncreated, Son of God, Supreme Deity, in your mercy save me, and give me the strength to stand in your presence, without flinching, till morning that I might worship you and glorify you, O my Creator. Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Book of hours of Sinai

PRAYER – Holy God, grant we pray, Your Holy Spirit of love and divine grace to grow ever more in faith and love. . By our prayers and love for You and our neighbour, may we merit Your divine assistance. Lord Jesus, help us to dwell often on the manner in which we are following You. Let us strive each day to become more and more like You in all things and, to become beacons of Your Light, to all the world. St Clare of Assisi, and St Jane Frances de Chantal, you who were lights to all, pray for us,amen.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 12 August – St Clare 

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Quote/s of the Day – 12 August – “Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – Memorial of St Clare of Assisi (1194-1253)

Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Ps 44:8

For though you, more than others, could have enjoyed the magnificence and honor and dignity of the world, and could have been married to the illustrious Caesar with splendor befitting you and His Excellency, you have rejected all these things and have chosen with your whole heart and soul a life of holy poverty and destitution. Thus you took a spouse of more noble lineage, who will keep your virginity ever unspotted and unsullied, the Lord Jesus Christ.

When you have loved Him, you shall be chaste;
when you have touched Him, you shall become pure;
when you have accepted Him, you shall be a virgin.
Whose power is stronger,
Whose generosity is more abundant,
Whose appearance more beautiful,
Whose love more tender,
Whose courtesy more gracious.
In whose embrace you are already caught up;
who has adorned your breast with precious stones
and has placed priceless pearls in your ears
and has surrounded you with sparkling gems
as though blossoms of springtime
and placed on your head a golden crown
as a sign to all of your holiness.

O blessed poverty, who bestows eternal riches on those who love and
embrace her!

O holy poverty, to those who possess and desire you
God promises the kingdom of heaven and offers, indeed, eternal glory and
blessed life!

O God-centered poverty, whom the Lord Jesus Christ who ruled and now
rules heaven and earth, who spoke and things were made, condescended to
embrace before all else!

Be filled with a remarkable happiness and a spiritual joy! Contempt of the world has pleased you more than its honors, poverty more than earthly riches, and you have sought to store up greater treasures in heaven rather than on earth, where rust does not consume nor moth destroy, nor thieves break in and steal. Your reward then, is very great in heaven! And you have truly merited to be called a sister, spouse, and mother of the
Son of the Father of the Most High and of the glorious Virgin.

What a great laudable exchange: to leave the things of time for those of eternity, to choose the things of heaven for the goods of earth, to receive the hundred-fold in place of one, and to possess a blessed and eternal life.

She was the first flower in Francis’ garden, and she shone like a radiant star.

St. Bonaventure on Clare

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 11 August – “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and (the) mute speak”

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One Minute Reflection – 11 August – Saint Susanna & Tiburtius – Readings: Ps 67:6 67:7 67:36, Ps 67:2, 1 Cor. 15:1-10, Mark 7:31-37

And looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, Ephpheta, that is, Be opened. And his ears were at once opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak correctly.

Mark 7:31-37

REFLECTION – Let us take a close look at what makes someone deaf. The first couple, our ancestors, were the first to become deaf because they gave an ear to the Enemy’s insinuations and paid attention to his words. And we follow them to such an extent that we cannot either hear or understand the eternal Word’s lovable inspirations. And yet we know that this eternal Word is at the depths of our being, so unspeakably close to us and within us that our very being, our own nature, thoughts, everything we can name, speak or understand is not so close or so intimately present to us as is the Word eternal. And this Word never ceases to speak in the human creature who does not hear it all because of the great deafness with which he is afflicted. At the same time, he has been so afflicted in all his other faculties that it has also made him dumb from it, unable to know himself. If such a one would speak of his own interior life, he would be unable to, not knowing where to find it or understanding his own way of being.

So what is this harmful whispering of the Enemy? It is all the disorder he lets you see beneath the shimmering of his side, persuading you to accept it by using your love or quest for created things, for the things of this world and all that belongs to it: goods, honors, even friends and relatives, even your own nature, in fact anything that conveys a taste for the good things of this fallen world. All these are what make his whisperings.

It is then that Our Lord comes: he puts his holy finger in man's ear and, with the saliva of his tongue, causes him to regain his speech.

Fr John Tauler (Sermon 49)

PRAYER – May the constant protection of Thy holy Martyrs, Tiburtius and Susanna, support us, O Lord, for Thou never fails to look mercifully upon those ,whom Thy have given the help of such intercession.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.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 10 August – He who loves his life, loses it; and he who hates his life in this world, keeps it unto life everlasting.

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Quote/s of the Day – 10 August – Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr, Readings: Ps 95:6, Ps 95:1, 2 Cor. 9:6-10, John 12:24-26

“If anyone serves me,
he must follow me
and where I am,
there will my servant be also.”

John 12:26

What sort of excuse then will they have who disbelieve the Resurrection, when the action is practiced each day, in seeds, in plants, and in the case of our own generation? For first it is necessary that the seed die, and that then the generation take place. But, in short, when God does anything, reasonings are of no use; for how did He make us out of those things that were not? 

St John Chrysostom (Homily 66 on the Gospel of John)

This case is just like the one involving that great man of theirs Paul, who fell down outside the village and on the road as a Jew, yes, he fell in order to arise as a Christian, and he was blinded while under the Law, so that he might see when under grace, just as we find it stated: “Now we see in a mirror, in a riddle, but then we shall see face to face.” “Then”, it will be when what has been buried in death will rise to life, and whatever has been sown in dishonour will rise in glory.

St Peter Chrysologus

The day of their victory shone forth, and they proceeded from the prison into the amphitheatre, as if to an assembly, joyous and of brilliant countenances; if perchance shrinking, it was with joy, and not with fear.

Tertullian (The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity)

Not only does Solomon exclaim that the riches of this world are vanity which cannot satisfy, but he says that they are pains which torment the mind.” Behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.” (Eccles. i. 14.) Poor sinners ! they think to be happy in sin ; but they only find bitterness and remorse.” Destruction and unhappiness is in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known.” (Ps. xiv. 7.) What peace! what peace ! No, saith God, “There is no peace, unto the wicked.” What is a soul that lives without God ? Holy Scripture tells us that it is like a stormy sea. ” But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest.”

St Alphonsus Liguori (Preparation For Death)

Unless we resolve to put up with death and ill-health once and for all, we shall never accomplish anything.

St Teresa of Avila (The Way of Perfection)

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 9 August – “His ears opened and his mouth opened and he spoke correctly”

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For what does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will render to everyone according to His conduct.

Matt 16:24-27

REFLECTION – How desirable it would be, my brothers, that we could say of each of us what the Gospel says of this mute that Jesus healed, that he spoke very well. Alas! My brothers, could we not, on the contrary, reproach that we almost always speak badly, especially when we talk about our neighbor.

What is the conduct of most Christians these days? Here it is. Criticize, censor, blacken and condemn what the neighbor does and says: these are all the most common, the most universally widespread vices, and, perhaps, the worst of all. Vice that you can never hate enough, vice which has the most fatal consequences, which carries disturbance and desolation everywhere.

Ah! May God give me one of these coals of which the angel used to purify the lips of the prophet Isaiah, in order to purify the language of all men! Oh ! How many ailments would be banished from the earth, if we could chase away this backbiting! May I, my brothers, give you so much horror, that you have the happiness of correcting you forever!

I finish saying that, not only, it is bad to depreciate and slander others, but also to listen to backbiting and slander with pleasure; Because if no one listened, there would be no sown. Let us often say: "My God, give me the grace to know myself. "Happy ! A thousand times happy, the one who will only use his tongue to ask God for forgiveness for his sins and sing his praises!"

St John Vianney (Sermon for the 11th Sunday after Pentacost)

PRAYER – Almighty and merciful God, by Your grace, St John Vianney was remarkable for his zeal as priest and shepherd. Help us, by his example and prayers, to win our brethren for Christ by our love and to share with them in eternal glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 8 August – “Ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks”

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At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, Let your loins be girt about and your lamps burning, and you yourselves like men waiting for their master’s return from the wedding; so that when he comes and knocks, they may straight-way open to him.

Luke 12:35-40

REFLECTION – God, the Word, stirs up the lazy and arouses the sleeper. For indeed, someone who comes knocking at the door is always wanting to come in. But it depends on us if he does not always enter or always remain. May your door be open to him who comes; open your soul, enlarge your spiritual capacities, that you may discover the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace and sweetness of grace. Expand your heart; run to meet the sun of that eternal light that “enlightens everyone”. It is certain that this true light shines for all, but if anyone shuts their windows then they themselves shut themselves off from this eternal light.

So even Christ remains outside if you shut the door of your soul. It is true that he could enter but he doesn't want to use force, he doesn't put those who refuse under pressure. Descended from the Virgin, born from her womb, he shines throughout the universe to give light to all. Those who long to receive the light that shines with an everlasting brightness open up to him. No night comes to intervene. Indeed, the sun we see each day gives way to night's darkness; but the Sun of justice knows no setting for Wisdom is not overcome by evil.

Saint Ambrose (12th Sermon on Psalm 118)

PRAYER – Almighty, ever-living God, in Your Word, You shed the light of Your glory on the peoples who are living in the shadow of death. By Your Word, You teach us all things and ‘draw’ us in the way of hope and love. For Your Word is Truth and Your Word became flesh and filled our world with the Sun of Justice, Your Son, He who is the Sun and the Truth. May our steps be guided by His Mother, Our Blessed Lady, as we follow in the footsteps of Your Word and be a protection in our trials by the Bread of Life. Through Christ, our Lord Jesus, with You in union with the Holy Spirit, now and forever, amen.

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 7 August – Choosing to enter through the narrow gate

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One Minute Reflection – 7 August – “Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – Readings: Ps 36:30-31, Ps 36:1, Sir 31:8-11, Matt 6:24-33

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

Matt 6:24-33

REFLECTION – I firmly believe that you know the kingdom of heaven is promised and given by the Lord only to the poor, because she who loves what is temporal loses the fruit of love.

It is not possible to serve God and mammon, for either the one is loved and the other hated, or the one is served and the other despised; one clothed cannot fight another naked because she who has something to be caught hold of is more quickly thrown to the ground: someone who lives in the glory of earth cannot rule with Christ; it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore you have cast aside your garments, that is, earthly riches, so that instead of being overcome by the one fighting against you, you will be able to enter the kingdom of heaven through the straight path and the narrow gate.

St Clare (1st Letter to Agnes of Prague)

PRAYER – Holy God, grant we pray, Your Holy Spirit of love and divine grace to grow ever more in faith. By our prayers and love for You and our neighbour, may we merit Your divine assistance. Lord Jesus, help us to dwell often on the manner in which we are following You. Let us strive each day to become more and more like You in all things and, to become beacons of Your Light, to all the world. St Cajetan, you who were and are a light to all, pray for us, We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 6 August – Transfigured Christ, Believed and Loved,

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Our Morning Offering – 6 August – “Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary”- Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

Transfigured Christ, Believed and Loved,
(More Ancient than the Primal World)
Benedictine Nuns of Stanbrook Abbey
Breviary Lauds Hymn
Feast of the Transfiguration

More ancient than the primal world
And older than the morning star,
Before the first things took their shape,
Creator of them all, You are.

Your image is the Lord of life,
Your Son from all eternity,
All that must perish, He restores,
In Him, all reconciled will be.

Transfigured Christ, believed and loved,
In You our only hope has been.
Grant us, in Your unfathomed love,
Those things no eye has ever seen.

O Father, Son and Spirit blest,
With hearts transfigured by Your grace,
May we Your matchless splendour praise
And see the glory of Your Face.

Posted in QUOTES on HEAVEN

Quote/s of the Day – 6 August – How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts!

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Quote/s of the Day – 6 August – Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord – Readings: Ps 76:19, Ps 83:2-3, 2 Pet. 1:16-19, Matt 17:1-9

How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts! My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord.

Ps 83:2-3

Your lightning illumined the world; the earth quivered and quaked.

Ps 76:19

But not men only, but women also practise this self-denial, overcoming the weakness of their nature by the abundance of their zeal. Let us be abashed then at their earnestness, we who are men, let us cease to be fastened to the things present, to shadow, to dreams, to smoke. For the more part of our life is passed in insensibility.

St John Chrysostom (Homily 55 on Matthew)

Wherefore, I pray, let us seek the unmovable and eternal goods, and the life that never has old age.

St John Chrysostom (Homily 55 on Matthew)

Think what happiness it will be for thee, when thy body shines like the sun at midday. Everything that lives and moves rejoices in the light and warmth of the sun: it gladdens all the face of nature. In like manner thy body will be a joy and delight to thyself and all around thee in Heaven, because of its beauty and its glory.

Fr Martin von Cochem (The Four Last Things)

We must not, as some do, picture to ourselves heaven as a purely spiritual realm. St Dorothea sent to Theophilus by the hands of an angel a basket of flowers culled in the gardens of the celestial paradise, of such surpassing beauty that the sight of them led him to become a Christian, and lay down his life for the faith of Christ.

Fr Martin von Cochem (The Four Last Things)

We know that when He shall appear we shall be like to Him, because we shall see Him as He is.

St John the Evangelist

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 5 August – Concórdi lætítia

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Our Morning Offering – 5 August – “Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – The Memorial of the Dedication of Mary Major, Our Lady of the Snows

Concórdi lætítia
Harmonious Joy

Sounds of joy have put to flight
All the sadness of the night.
Now a Maid beyond compare
Hears her praises fill the air:
Virgo María.

Who is she whom angels sing,
Making all creation ring?
She it is who wins our priase,
As on earth our voice we raise:
Virgo María.

Queen of virgins, Maiden mild,
Hear me, take me for your child.
Ever my protector be,
Bring eternal life to me:
Virgo María.

Mighty Godhead, Three in One,
While eternal ages run,
Look to Mary, full of grace,
And forgive the human race:
Virgo María.
Amen

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 5 August – Before all ages, in the beginning, He created me

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One Minute Reflection – 5 August – “Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” –  The Memorial of the Dedication of Mary Major, Our Lady of the Snows

“Upon this rock I will build my church” – Matthew 16:18

REFLECTION – “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. Thus, even though there are many priests and shepherds among the people of God, Peter governed them all in person while Christ also governs them in the capacity of Head.

The Lord asks all the Apostles what people think of Him and they all say the same thing so long as they are making known the doubts deriving from human ignorance. But when the Lord demands to know what the disciples themselves think, the first to confess the Lord is he who is the first in dignity of the Apostles. As he had said: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”, Jesus answers him: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my heavenly Father.” That is to say: blessed are you because my Father taught this to you. Earthly opinion has not led you astray but it is heavenly inspiration that has instructed you. It is not flesh and blood that enabled you to discover me but He whose only Son I am.

“And so I say to you”, that is to say: – just as My Father has manifested My divinity to you, so I am making known your superiority to you. “You are Peter,” namely – I am the unshakeable Rock, the Cornerstone Who makes two peoples one, the Foundation, other than which, no-one can lay any other. But you also, you are rock since you are impregnable by My Strength and what I have by virtue of My Power, you have, in common with Me by the fact, that you participate in it. “On this rock I will build my Church“. On the firmness of this foundation, He says, will I build an everlasting temple and My Church, whose summit is to reach to heaven, will be raised on the strength of that faith.”

– St Pope Leo the Great (4th Sermon for the Anniversary of his Ordination)

PRAYER – Forgive the sins of Your people Lord and since of ourselves, we are unable to do what pleases You, lead us on the way of salvation by the prayers of Mary, the Immaculate Mother of Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.

Posted in AUGUST - The Immaculate Heart of Mary

Thought for the Day – 5 August – The Divine Heart of Mary

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St John Eudes – The Admirable Heart of Mary

The Divine Heart of Mary

Jesus Christ, the Heart of the Eternal Father, is the Heart of His Holy Mother. Is not the heart the principle of life? And what is the Son of God to His dear Mother? He always was and will be forever the heart of her heart, the soul of her soul, the spirit of her spirit, and the sole principle of all the movements, uses and functions of her most holy life. St. Paul tells us that it is not himself who lives but Jesus Christ who lives in him. Our Lord is the life of all Christians: so who could doubt that He abides in His holy Mother, and that He is the life of her life, the heart of her heart, in a union incomparably more excellent even than with St. Paul and the other faithful saints?

Let us listen to what Our Lady revealed to St. Brigid: “My Son was truly my Heart to me. When He left my bosom to be born, it seemed as though half of my Heart were going forth from me. When He suffered, I felt His pain as though my Heart endured the identical sorrows and torments that He endured. When my Son was being scourged and torn with whips, my Heart was scourged and whipped with Him. When Hel ooked at me from the Cross, and I at Him, two streams of tears gushed from my eyes; and when He saw me oppressed with sorrow, He experienced such violent anguish at my desolation that the pain caused by His sorrow was my sorrow as His Heart was my Heart. Because Adam and Eve together betrayed the world for one, single forbidden fruit, so did my beloved Son wish that I should cooperate with Him in redeeming it with one Heart, quasi cum uno Corde.“

Jesus lives in her soul and in her body, and in each faculty of her body and soul. He lives in her entirely, which means that whatever is in Jesus is also in Mary. His Heart abides in her heart, His soul in her soul, His spirit in her spirit. The memory, intellect and will of Jesus are alive in the memory, intellect and will of Mary; his interior and exterior senses in her interior and exterior senses. His passions in her passions; His virtues, mysteries and divine attributes are living in her Heart. Nay, more than living, they hold sovereign sway, producing inconceivably marvellous effects and impressing a living image of themselves as her Heart mirrors His Sacred Heart.

This veneration of Mary means honoring the corporeal Heart, the spiritual Heart and the divine Heart of Jesus, who are also the Hearts, or rather, the one and only Heart of Mary. It means giving glory to Our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is the Heart of the Eternal Father, and has willed to become the Heart of His Holy Mother. If Holy Church celebrates an annual feast in honor of the chains of St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, how great a solemnity does not the august Heart of the Queen of Apostles deserve!

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 3 August – Saint Nicodemus

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Saint Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, a teacher of Israel, and a member of the Sanhedrin. He went in the secrecy of the night to learn from Jesus, whom he professed as a teacher sent by God. Owing to his insistence on a hearing for Jesus according to Jewish law, Nicodemus is called “defender of Jesus”. In return, the chief priests and his fellow pharisees mocked him by saying that no prophet comes from Galilee.

He sought to understand from Jesus how a person might be born again after having left his mother’s womb. After Jesus’ crucifixion, Nicodemus assisted Joseph of Arimathea in laying Jesus’ body in a nearby tomb. He brought a royal, thirty-three kilogramme mixture of myrrh and aloe to anoint the Saviour of the world, thus testifying to his faith and Mary Magdalene-esque devotion.

Later, he was ostracized by the Pharisees for his Christianity. He lived the remainder of his life in the home of Gamaliel, another member of the Sanhedrin. Their relics were housed and venerated together in the 5th century, along with those of St. Stephen the martyr.

He carved both the Holy Face of Lucca and the Batlló Crucifix, receiving angelic assistance with the face in particular.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 3 August – He heard my voice

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When I call upon the Lord, He heard my voice, from those who war against me; and He humbled them, Who is before all ages, and remains forever: cast your care upon the Lord, and He will support you.

Ps 54:17-20; 54:23

I saw an Angel come down from Heaven, having great power ; and the earth was enlightened with his glory. And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen: and is become the habitation of devils. For her sins have reached unto Heaven, and the Lord hath remembered her iniquities. Render to her as she also hath rendered to you, and double unto her according to her works. As much as she hath glorified herself, and lived in delicacies, so much torment and sorrow give ye to her. Rejoice over her, thou Heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath judged your judgment on her.

The Apocalypse of St John

And it came to pass at midnight, the Lord slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, unto the firstborn of the captive woman that was in the prison, and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh arose in the night, and all his servants, and all Egypt: for there was not a house wherein there lay not one dead.

Exodus 12: 29-30

Alas, my dear brethren, some of us do not even know what it is to be tempted because we hardly ever, or very rarely, resist. Which one of us can expect to escape from all these dangers? Which one of us will be saved? Anyone who wanted to reflect upon all these things could hardly go on living, so greatly terrified would he be! However, my dear brethren, what ought to console and reassure us is that we have to deal with a good Father Who will never allow our struggles to be greater than our strength, and every time we have recourse to Him, He will help us to fight and to conquer.

He expels demons with a command from heaven, and he leads those who had been possessed and kept in cruel bondage back to his own free service, he strengthens the impaired limbs of the paralytic, lest the beauty of his image be subject to a bodily deformity. He restored the dead to life, and he orders souls to return to their already decaying members, so that a double show of power would drive out both death and decay.

St Peter Chrysologus

The Saints stand around my Son like countless stars, whose glory is not to be compared with any temporal light. Believe me, if the Saints could be seen shining with the glory they now possess, no human eye could endure their light all would turn away, dazzled and blinded.

The Blessed Mother of God to St Bridget

Posted in AUGUST - The Immaculate Heart of Mary

Thought for the Day – 3 August – The Corpreal Heart of Mary

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St John Eudes – The Admirable Heart of Mary

The Corporeal Heart of Mary

Just as everything in Our Lord Jesus Christ is great and admirable, so also everything that concerns Mary, His holy Mother, is replete with grandeur and marvels. Every part of the sacred humanity of the Son of God is deified and raised to an infinite dignity through its union with the Divinity; so likewise everything in the Blessed Virgin Mary is ennobled and sanctified by her divine maternity. There is no part of the sacred body of the God-Man that is not worthy of the eternal admiration of angels and men, and there is nothing in the virginal body of the Mother of God that is unworthy of the eternal praise of all creatures.

There are five marvellous prerogatives of the corporeal heart of Mary which render it forever worthy to receive the veneration of men and angels.

The first prerogative consists in the fact that the heart is the principle of the life of our holy Mother. It is the principle of all the functions of her bodily, material life, ever holy in itself and in its every function and employment. It is the source of the life of the Mother of God, the life of her who gave birth to the only Son of God, the life of the woman through whom God gave life to all the children of Adam, sunk as they were in the abyss of eternal death. Finally, her heart is the source of a life so holy, so noble, so sublime that it is more precious in the sight of God than the lives of all the angels and men.

The second prerogative of the corporeal heart of Mary is that it produced the virginal blood with which the sacred body of the God-Man was formed in the chaste womb of His blessed Mother.

The third prerogative of Mary’s heart of flesh is that it was the source of the human, material life of the Infant Jesus during the nine months that He dwelt in Mary’s sacred womb. While the infant is in its mother’s bosom, the mother’s heart is to such an extent the source of the infant’s life that both mother and infant can be said to depend upon it for their existence. Mary’s admirable heart was therefore the source of the two most noble and precious lives, at once the source of the holy life of the Mother of God and of her only son, the humanly divine as well as the divinely human life of the God-Man.

The fourth prerogative of the amiable heart of Mary to Jesus, who is her Son and her Father, her Brother and her Spouse: “Our bed is flourishing,” that is, our bed is covered and perfumed with flowers. What is this bed? It is the pure heart of the Blessed Virgin where the divine Infant so gently rested?

It was a great privilege for St. John, the beloved disciple, to have rested once on the Saviour’s adorable breast, from which he drew such great light and derived the knowledge of so many marvellous secrets. But not only once but many times did our divine Saviour rest on the virginal heart of His dearest Mother. What abundance of lights, of grace and of blessings the Eternal Sun, the very source of light and grace, must have poured into that maternal heart, on which He rested so often! Her heart never interposed the slightest obstacle to divine grace. On the contrary, she was always disposed to welcome every celestial favor. Our Lord loved her heart more than all other hearts put together, and was in turn loved by it more perfectly than by the hearts of all the Seraphim. What union, what intimacy, what understanding, what correspondence between these two Hearts! What fire in these two furnaces of love constantly inflamed by the breath of the Holy Ghost!

And now we come to the fifth prerogative of this holy heart. It is the altar upon which a great and perpetual sacrifice, most agreeable to God, is constantly offered. On it are immolated all the natural passions which reside in the human heart.

We may consider the most pure body of Mary as a sacred temple, indeed as the most august temple that ever was or will be, next to the temple of the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ, her divine Son.

Posted in AUGUST - The Immaculate Heart of Mary

Quote/s of the Day – 2 August – St Alphonsus

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Quote/s of the Day – 2 August – The Memorial of St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787) Most Zealous Doctor of the Church

Everyone knows that honor paid to a mother redounds to her children. Hence St. Bernard says, let not any one think that by greatly praising the mother he will throw into the shade the glories of the Son; for the more he honors the mother, so much more he honors the Son. And there is no doubt that on account of the merits of Jesus, the great privilege has been granted to Mary to be the mediatrix of our salvation; not, indeed, mediatrix of justice, but of grace and intercession.

How great then should be our confidence in this queen, knowing how powerful she is with God, and at the same time how rich and full of mercy; so much so that there is no one on earth who does not share in the mercies and favors of Mary! 

Let us always have recourse to this most sweet queen, if we would be sure of our salvation; and if the sight of our sins terrifies and disheartens us, Let us remember that Mary was made queen of mercy for this very end, that she might save by her protection the greatest and most abandoned sinners who have recourse to her.

Oh, happy those who live under the protection of a mother so loving and so powerful! The prophet David, although Mary was not yet born, besought of God salvation, by dedicating himself to Mary as her son, and thus prayed; “Save the son of thy handmaid.” Whose handmaid?” asks St. Augustine, “she who says: Behold the handmaid of the Lord.”

Be joyful then, all ye children of Mary; remember that she adopts as her children all those who wish her for their mother. Joyful; for what fear have you of being lost when this mother defends and protects you? 

Every one who loves this good mother and trusts in her protection, should take cour age and repeat: What do you fear, oh my soul? The cause of thy eternal salvation will not be lost, as the final sentence depends upon Jesus, who is thy brother, and upon Mary who is thy mother. And St. Anselm full of joy at this thought, exclaims, in order to encourage us: Oh, blessed confidence! Oh, secure refuge! The mother of God is my mother also. 

And because all men have been redeemed by Jesus, Mary loves and favors all. She was seen by St. John clothed with the sun: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun.” She is said to be clothed with the sun, because, as “There is no one that can hide himself from his heat,” so there is no one living on the earth who is deprived of the love of Mary. 

Posted in AUGUST - The Immaculate Heart of Mary

Thought for the Day – 2 August – The Heart of Mary in General

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St John Eudes – The Admirable Heart of Mary

The Heart of Mary in General

The first heart of Mary, the Mother of God, is the heart of flesh enclosed in her virginal breast. Although this heart is corporeal, it is nevertheless completely spiritualized by the spirit of grace and the spirit of God which fills it.

The second heart is her spiritual heart, made God-like, not indeed by the hypostatic union as in the Incarnate Word, but by a superlative participation in the divine perfections, as we shall see in the following pages. This heart is referred to by the words of the Holy Ghost: “All the glory of the king’s daughter is within,”

The third heart of Mary is divine and is truly God Himself, for it is none other than the love of God. This is the heart of which she says: “I sleep, and my heart watcheth,” which means according to the interpretation of several holy Doctors: “While I grant necessary rest to my body, my Son Jesus, who is my Heart and whom I love like my own heart, is always watching over me and for me.”

These three hearts of the Mother of God constitute a single Heart, through the holiest and most intimate union that ever was and will be, next to the hypostatic union. Of these three hearts, or rather, of this single Heart, the Holy Ghost has said twice: “Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.” Our Lady cherished the mysteries and marvels of her Son’s life, first of all, in her material and corporeal heart, the principle of life, the seat of love and of the other physical emotions. All the movements, every beat of this virginal heart, the material functions that it accomplished and the emotions that swayed it, existed solely for Jesus and for the things that concerned Him. Her love was spent in loving Him, her hatred in hating all that is contrary to Him, her joy in rejoicing in His glory and His grandeurs, her sorrow and compassion in bewailing His trials and sufferings. The same may be said of every emotion of her bodily heart.

Secondly, Mary kept all these things in her spiritual heart, that is, in the noblest part of her soul, in the inmost recesses of her mind, All the faculties of her soul were constantly applied to contemplating and adoring everything that took place in the life of her Beloved Son, down to the very smallest details. Thirdly, Our Lady kept all these things in her divine Heart, that is, in her Son Jesus, who was the mind of her mind and the heart of her heart. He in turn kept them for her and recalled them to her mind when necessary, that she might feed herself in contemplation upon the mysteries of His life, rendering them due honor and adoration, and repeating them to the holy apostles and disciples, who were to preach them to the faithful.

This then is what is meant by the admirable Heart of the beloved Mother of God.

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 1 August – “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it”

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At that time, as Jesus was speaking to the multitudes, a certain woman from the crowd lifted up her voice and said to Him, Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts that nursed You. But He said, Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.

Luke 11:27-28

REFLECTION – “Happy the one who bore you and she who nursed you at the breast.” How great is the devotion, how great the faith are expressed in the words of this woman in the gospel. Whereas scribes and Pharisees put the Lord to the test and blaspheme against him, this woman acknowledges his incarnation before them all with such loyalty and confesses it with such assurance that she undoes the calumny of her contemporaries and the false faith of heretics to come. Offending against the works of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ contemporaries deny he is really the Son of God, consubstantial with the Father. Later on people also denied that Mary ever-Virgin had, through the working of the Holy Spirit, provided the substance of her flesh to the Son of God, who would be born with a truly human body. They denied he was really Son of man with the same nature as his mother. But the apostle Paul condemns this opinion when he says of Jesus that he was “born of a virgin, subject to the Law”. For, conceived in the womb of the Virgin, he took his flesh, not out of nothing, nor from some other source, but from the body of his mother. Otherwise it would not be correct to call him truly Son of man.

O truly happy mother who, in the words of the poet: “has given birth to the King who, through all ages, rules heaven and earth. She has the joy of motherhood and the honor of virginity. Before there was none like her and none will be seen after her”. Nevertheless the Lord adds: “Happy, rather, are those who hear the Word of God and keep it”. The Savior gives magnificent confirmation to this woman’s testimony. Not only does he declare blessed she to whom it was granted to give birth to the Word of God bodily, but blessed, too, all those who give themselves to spiritually conceiving the same Word through the hearing of faith and to giving birth and feeding him either in their own hearts or in that of others, keeping him present by doing good.

Saint Bede the Venerable (Homily on St Luke)

PRAYER – Forgive the sins of Your people Lord and since of ourselves, we are unable to do what pleases You, lead us on the way of salvation in Your divine Son who lives in us and gives us life. May the prayers of Mary, His Mother help us to constantly meditate on His eternal sustenance. He is our food, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.

Posted in AUGUST - The Immaculate Heart of Mary

Quote/s of the Day – 1 August – Hail, holy Mother

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Quote/s of the Day – 1 August – “Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – Readings: Sedulius, Ps 44:2, Ecclus 24:14-16, Luke 11:27-28

Hail, holy Mother, who in childbirth brought forth the King Who rules heaven and earth world without end.

Sedulius, Ps 44:2

She is clothed with the eternal Sun of the Godhead and with all the perfections of the Divine Essence, which surround, fill and penetrate her to such an extent that she has become transformed, as it were, into the power, goodness and holiness of God.

St John Eudes (The Admirable Heart of Mary)

That which denotes the grandeur and the charm of maternity in a woman are grief and tenderness. Grief which rends the heart as it rends the body in order to give life. Tenderness which binds the child to the mother and the mother to the child in such a way as to form only one being, as they form only one flesh. All these characteristics are found physically in the human maternity of Mary, in her relations with Jesus, and mystically in the spiritual maternity of Mary vis-a-vis all Christians but more especially Religious. The poem of maternal love which each mother lives, often without knowing it, is found in Mary with more grandeur and glory.

Thomas a Kempis (The Imitation of Mary)

Fifthly, on nothing will thine eyes rest with such keen delight as on the inexpressible beauty of Jesus and Mary, whose glorified bodies are so irresistibly charming, attractive, beautiful and majestic, that if the damned were permitted to behold them, they would no longer find Hell intolerable.

Father Martin von Cochem (The Four Last Things: On Heaven)

Mary has produced, together with the Holy Ghost, the greatest thing which has been, or ever will be, which is a God-Man; and she will consequently produce the greatest things that there will be in the latter times. The formation and education of the great Saints, who shall come at the end of the world, are reserved for her. For it is only that singular and miraculous Virgin who can produce, in union with the Holy Ghost, singular and extraordinary things.

St Louis de Montfort (True Devotion to Mary)

Before all ages, in the beginning, He created me, and through all ages I shall not cease to be. In the holy Tent I ministered before Him, and in Sion I fixed my abode. Thus in the chosen city He has given me rest, in Jerusalem is my domain. I have struck root among the glorious people, in the portion of my God, His heritage, and my abode is in the full assembly of Saints.

Ecclus 24:14-16

Posted in AUGUST - The Immaculate Heart of Mary

Thought for the Day – 1 August – Reasons for the name ‘Admirable’

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St John Eudes – The Admirable Heart of Mary

Reasons for the name ‘Admirable’

Jesus Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God, chose the incomparable Virgin Mary from among all creatures to be His Mother and deigned to be nourished and governed by her. In His infinite goodness He also gave her to us to be our Queen, our Mother and our sure Refuge in all our needs. He therefore wishes us to honor her as He honors her and to love her as He loves her.

According to the Apostle St. Paul, Christ is the Head of His Mystical Body, the Church, and we are the members. We must therefore be animated by His Spirit; we must follow His inspirations, walk the path He has traced, and continue, as it were, His life on earth by practising the virtues which were His own. It follows that our devotion to His Holy Mother must be a continuation of His devotion to her. We must be filled with the sentiments of respect, submission and affection which He entertained for her on earth and still entertains in heaven. Mary always held and will hold forever the first place in the Sacred Heart of her Divine Son; she always was and will never cease to be the first object of His love after the Eternal Father; and so He wishes that, next to God, she should be the principal object of our devotion. For this reason, after the veneration we owe to the Divine Majesty of God, we cannot render a greater service to Jesus Christ or do anything more pleasing to Him than to serve and honor His most worthy Mother.

Among the divinely inspired passages of Sacred Scripture I select one from the twelfth chapter of the Apocalypse, which is a compendium of all the great things that can be said or thought of our marvellous Queen. “A great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”

What is this great sign? Who is this miraculous woman? St. Epiphanius, St. Augustine, St. Bernard and many other holy doctors agree that the woman is Mary, the Queen among women, the Sovereign of angels and men, the Virgin of virgins. She is the woman who bore in her chaste womb the perfect man, the God-Man. “A woman shall compass a man.” Mary appears in heaven because she comes from heaven, because she is heaven’s masterpiece, the Empress of Heaven, its joy and its glory, in whom everything is heavenly. Even when her body dwelt on earth, her thoughts and affections were all rapt in heaven.

She is clothed with the eternal Sun of the Godhead and with all the perfections of the Divine Essence, which surround, fill and penetrate her to such an extent that she has become transformed, as it were, into the power, goodness and holiness of God. She has the moon under her feet to show that the entire world is beneath her. None is above her, save only God, and she holds absolute sway over all created things.

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection 31 July – The harvest is plentiful

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One Minute Reflection 31 July – “Month of the Precious Blood” and the Memorial of Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) – Readings: Phil. 2:10-11, Ps 5:12-13, 2 Tim. 2:8-10; 3:10-12, Luke 10:1-9

And He said to them, The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest.

Luke 10:1-9

REFLECTION – Christ, filled with enthusiasm for his work, prepared to send out laborers. And so he has sent out reapers. “For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps’. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work and you are sharing the fruits of their work”. Now what is this? Has he sent reapers without sending sowers? Where has he sent the reapers? Where others had already labored… Where the prophets had already preached since they themselves were the sowers.

Who were the ones who thus labored? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Read the account of their labors: in all their works a prophecy of Christ is to be found; in this sense, then, they were sowers. As for Moses, the other patriarchs and all the prophets, how much they had to put up with in the cold while they were sowing! It follows that the harvest was already ready in Judah. And we understand that the harvest was ripe at the moment when so many thousands of people brought along the value of their possessions, placed it at the feet of the apostles and, setting down the burdens of this world, began to follow Christ the Lord. The harvest had indeed come to maturity.

What was the outcome? Out of this harvest a few seeds were set aside; these sowed the whole world and now see how another harvest rises up that is to be harvested at the end of the ages. It will not be the apostles but the angels who will be sent to gather this harvest.

Saint Augustine (Sermons on Saint John’s Gospel, no.15)

PRAYER – Almighty God, grant that the example of Your saints may spur us on to perfection, so that we, who are celebrating the feast of St Ignatius, may follow him step-by-step in his way of life to reach You in heaven. Grant us the grace, by his intercession, to find our treasure in Your divine Son, through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God for always and forever, amen.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 31 July – St Ignatius Loyola

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Quote/s of the Day – 31 July – “Month of the Precious Blood” and the Memorial of St Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556)

To have prevented one single sin is reward enough for the labors and efforts of a whole lifetime.

God freely created us so that we might know, love, and serve him in this life and be happy with him forever. God’s purpose in creating us is to draw forth from us a response of love and service here on earth, so that we may attain our goal of everlasting happiness with him in heaven. All the things in this world are gifts of God, created for us, to be the means by which we can come to know him better, love him more surely, and serve him more faithfully.
As a result, we ought to appreciate and use these gifts of God insofar as they help us toward our goal of loving service and union with God. But insofar as any created things hinder our progress toward our goal, we ought to let them go.

Laugh and grow strong.

If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a saint. And if you wish to become a great saint, entreat Him yourself to give you much opportunity for suffering; for there is no wood better to kindle the fire of holy love than the wood of the cross, which Christ used for His own great sacrifice of boundless charity.

He who goes about to reform the world must begin with himself, or he loses his labor.

For it is not knowing much, but realising and relishing things interiorly, that contents and satisfies the soul.

Posted in JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD

Thought for the Day – 31st July – The Precious Blood in Heaven

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The Precious Blood – Short Meditations for July

By Rev. Richard F. Clarke

31st Day – The Precious Blood in Heaven

In heaven the Precious Blood of Jesus will not only share the glory of His sacred humanity, but it will be the source of its divine beauty, for the glory of Jesus will then consist in having bought us with a great price, and that price was none other than His Precious Blood. It will be a continual source of joy and thanksgiving to us, and will ever remind us of our ransom from sin and hell, and of the unspeakable blessings we shall then enjoy. Grant, O Lord, that I may share that joy!

The special glory of the Precious Blood appears to be ever present in the minds of the redeemed in heaven, and to form the subject of their songs and praise. ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive honour and glory and power.’ ‘Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God in Thy blood.’ ‘We have washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’ If this is to be the continual song of heaven we must try to anticipate it on earth by cultivating a devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus.

The Precious Blood will also receive the unceasing homage of the blessed in heaven on account of its having won for them all their graces. It purchased for them the glory that they now enjoy. In the overflowing of their hearts they will recognise it as the fount of all those delights that will inebriate their souls. Through it they drink of the waters of life, through it they gaze in ecstasy on the glory of Jesus, through it they are absorbed in the beatific vision. O my Lord! it is to Thy Precious Blood that I owe everything in this life, and shall owe my eternal happiness in the life to come. Oh, fill me with unspeakable gratitude to Thee now and forever!

Posted in Uncategorized

Notre-Dame-de-Gray / Our Lady of Gray, France (1602) and Memorials of the Saints – 30 July

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Notre-Dame-de-Gray / Our Lady de Gray, France (1602) – 30 July:

The Shrine of Notre-Dame-de-Gray, or Our Lady of Gray, is located near Besancon in Northern France near Franche-Comte. The Statue of Our Lady of Gray is made of an oak tree from Montaigu, has a dark wooden colour and is only 14.5 centimeters tall. It is much honoured in the country and there are many miracles and graces granted to petitioners that are attributed to Our Lady’s intercession at this shrine.

About five centuries ago, on a hill near Montaigu, a pious person placed a small statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary upon an old oak tree. The tree itself is believed to date from the time of the Druids and crested one of the hills in the Diocese of Malines. Soon the faithful began to come in crowds from throughout the region, for there were miraculous cures and various miracles granted to the pilgrims who invoked Mary under the name of Our Lady of the Oak.

In the year 1602 a small wooden chapel was built on the hill of Montaigu. The oak upon which the statue of Our Lady had once been displayed was now cut up into small pieces and carved by a local craftsman into statuettes of the same image. These statues were presented as a mark of respect to patrons of the shrine. Even the wood of the oak was considered almost a precious relic, for it had once touched the miraculous statue of the Blessed Virgin.
Wherever they went these figures were enshrined with honour and it seemed as if Our Lady of Montaigu sent her favour, for her miraculous power went with them.

In the year 1613, a poor, seventy year old widow named Jeanne Bonnet de Salins made a pilgrimage to the shrine. She obtained a piece of the venerable old oak and took it to a sculptor named Jean Brange to carve into a statue similar to that of the original. On 4 April 1613, the Archbishop of Besancon blessed the Statue and allowed it to be exhibited for public veneration.

It is reported, that Jeanne Bonnet was rewarded by signal graces she obtained through Our Lady’s intercession. She intended to give the statue to a local church but, in 1616, yielded to the repeated entreaties of Father Gabriel Appremont, who wanted to have the image for the Capuchins of Gray. A special chapel was richly decorated to receive it. The news soon spread in the region of Gray and the faithful flocked to pay their respects to the new Madonna, Our Lady of Gray.

Our Lady of Gray holds in her right hand a gleaming sceptre of gold that a parishioner donated in the year 1807. It was at this time that the chapel – now a Basilica (see below), was undergoing reconstruction after the ravages of the French Revolution. There are also three semi-precious stones set in the front of the base of the statue that were given by grateful petitioners to the Blessed Virgin. Finally, the two gold crowns were created in 1909 on the occasion of the celebration of the coronation of the statue of Our Lady of Gray.

St Peter Chrysologus (c 400-450) (Optional Memorial) “Golden Words,” Father and “Doctor of Homilies” of the Church

St Abdon
Bl Antonio di San Pietro
Bl Edward Powell
St Ermengyth
St Hatebrand
St Julitta of Caesarea
Blessed Manés de Guzmán OP (c 1168-1235) Dominican Priest and Friar, Brother of Saint Dominic

Bl Richard Featherstone
St Rufinus of Assisi
St Senen
St Tatwine of Canterbury
St Terenzio of Imola
Bl Thomas Abel
St Ursus of Auxerre
Bl Vicenta Chavez-Orozco
—
Martyrs of Castelseras: Three Dominicans, two of them priests, one a novice, who were martyred together in the Spanish Civil War for refusing to renounce Christianity.
• Joaquín Prats Baltueña
• José María Muro-Sanmiguel
• Zosimo Izquierdo Gil
They were shot on 30 July 1936 at a farm house outside Castelserás, Teruel, Spain.

Martyrs of Tebourba – 3 saints: Three girls martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know little else about them but the names – Donatilla, Maxima and Secunda. 304 at Tebourba in North Africa.

The Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War:
Bl Alejandro González Blanco
Bl Eugenio García Tribaldos
Bl Guillermo Álvarez Quemada
Bl Juan Lanz Palanca
Bl Luis Herrero Arnillas
Bl Miguel Solas del Val
Bl Pablo Díaz de Zárate y Ortiz de Zárate
Bl Racardo Pla Espí
Bl Sergio Cid Paz

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

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

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

A Prayer to Seek the Consolation of the Cross
By St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)

Jesus, love of my soul,
centre of my heart!
Why am I not more eager to endure pains
and tribulations for love of You,
when You, my God,
have suffered so many for me?
Come, then, every sort of trial in the world,
for this is my delight, to suffer for Jesus.
This is my joy, to follow my Saviour
and to find my consolation
with my Consoler on the Cross.
This is my happiness,
this my pleasure:
to live with Jesus,
to walk with Jesus,
to converse with Jesus,
to suffer with and for Him,
this is my treasure.
Amen

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 30 July – St Peter Chrysologus

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Quote/s of the Day – 30 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”– The Memorial of St Peter Chrysologus (c 400-450) “Golden Words,” Father & Doctor of the Church

Impiety always suffers from a fever, cruelty is always possessed by madness. Fury does not know that it is depriving itself of clemency, for indeed he rages against himself as often as he aims for another, he punishes himself by striking down the innocent, he is completely destroying himself when he is cruel to a just person. See how John, as you yourself say, is now alive in Christ. He who has come to cure all with heavenly grace returns to punish you.

In concluding our remarks, we bring to your attention that the serpent ran in vain, for our John here destroyed all the brood of the ancient serpent, and by shedding his own blood, he who was murdered killed them all.

God recieves sinners, but God does not allow those whom he recieves to remain sinners.

Brothers, he sought us on earth, let us seek him in heaven. He has borne us to the glory of His divinity, let us bear him in our body with perfect holiness. The one who bears no sin through the action of his flesh bears God in his body.

‘He receives sinners and eats with them.’ This is how the envious see, how the haughty perceive, how the harsh understand, and how the malicious think.

‘Give it me on a dish.’ Why on a dish? Why do you carry about in a precious vessel the one whom you have killed so cheaply, except for the reason that ‘precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints’? This very thing that you want, you do not accomplish as you yourself want, since a heavenly purpose is at work doing something other than what you want.

Summon the sky and invoke the earth, so that both the earth be amazed and the sky marvel at the new kind of mercy presented by the Lord. What mind perceives, what ear grasps, what teaching has communicated the lesson to which the evangelist draws his Christian audience when he says: Love your enemies. Mortal perception does not absorb this, the human heart does not grasp this, the fleshy condition rejects this, the world’s hearing does not let this in. The feeble mind is insufficient to love those who love it, and fickle human nature is able only with difficulty to be charitable to those who are charitable.

You certainly were the only human being who saw the Holy Ghost come down in bodily form from heaven upon him. You are the one who grasped the Father with your ears, the Son with your hands, and the Holy Ghost with your eyes at one and the same moment in an unparalleled manifestation of power.

Posted in JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, Uncategorized

Thought for the Day – 30 July – The Precious Blood in Holy Communion

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The Precious Blood – Short Meditations for July

By Rev. Richard F. Clarke

30th Day – The Precious Blood in Holy Communion

If in other sacraments the Precious Blood is morally applied to the souls of those who receive them, in holy Communion it is physically communicated to body as well as soul. We have the wonderful privilege of being brought into bodily contact with the Precious Blood, whether it be under the species of wine in the chalice, or of bread in the Sacred Host. How pure our bodies should be if they are thus to touch the Source of all purity, the Holy of holies, the God Whose infinite purity is such that the very angels are not pure in His sight! How can we venture thus to touch Christ Himself? To receive the Precious Blood into our sinful and impure bodies?

Yet Christ Our Lord invites us to do so. In His inexplicable love for us, He desires us, asks us to receive His Precious Blood in holy Communion. Instead of saying, as he did to Mary, Touch Me not, He says, Drink, O My friends, and be inebriated, O my dearly beloved. Admire His divine condescension, and beware of presuming on His patience and His love.

How are we to account for Jesus’ willingness, nay, anxiety, to be thus received by sinful men. It is because in thus communicating Himself to us, He makes us more like to what He Himself is, and what He desires us to be. The Precious Blood imparts to our souls all heavenly gifts and graces if we receive it as we ought. O Jesus, grant that I may receive Thee frequently, fervently, with a complete oblation of my whole self!

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

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

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

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

Luke 10:38-42

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

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

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

Posted in QUOTES on WORRY/ANXIETY

Quote/s of the Day – 29 July – Anxiety

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 29 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Memorial of St Martha

Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; and yet only one thing is needful.

Luke 10:38-42

Another sign of (St Vincent Ferrer’s) unbounded hope in God’s providence was the little solicitude he evinced in the course of his great apostolate, either for his own personal maintenance, or that of the numerous company who followed him. His confidence in his heavenly Father never failed him. Neither he nor his companions were ever in want, and on one occasion, our Lord came miraculously to their aid.

Fr Andre Pradel (St Vincent Ferrer: His life, Spiritual Teaching and Practical Devotion)

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow. The same loving Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings.

Saint Francis de Sales

Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to Him. That is all the doing you have to worry about.

Saint Jeanne de Chantal

The greater and more persistent your confidence in God, the more abundantly you will receive all that you ask.

Saint Albert the Great 

Those whose hearts are enlarged by confidence in God run swiftly on the path of perfection. They not only run, they fly; because, having placed all their hope in the Lord, they are no longer weak as they once were. They become strong with the strength of God, which is given to all who put their trust in Him.

St Alphonsus Liguori

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

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

Posted on by AnaStpaul

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

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

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