A Grandmother's gaze...

 

 

Between his breviary pages, Pope Francis keeps his Grandmother Rosa's letters and her last words to her grandchildren before she died. She said that in times of sadness, trouble or loss, to look to the tabernacle, "where the greatest and noblest martyr is kept," and to Mary at the foot of the cross so that they may "let fall a drop of salve on the deepest and most painful wounds."

 

 

Excerpt from... Pope Francis: Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio

by Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti,

originally published 2010 under title "El Jesuita" ("The Jesuit")

It is not yet available in English.

 

 

If only you knew...

"Nothing can compare with the beauty of the soul after Holy Communion.  The angels are in admiration and, as God is with them, they fall down in adoration.  O Souls, if you only knew your dignity! ...

    Your soul is My heaven; every time you receive Me in Holy Communion, My grace augments both your dignity and your beauty." 

 ~ Our Lord to Sr Josefa Menendez

(1890-1923)

That generous word, "be it done"...

The ANNUNCIATION of the LORD

Solemnity

"The Virgin Mary utters that generous word, "be it done"

...Immediately the Heart of Jesus, ever to be adored,

has begun to pulsate with love, divine and human."

 Pius XII, On Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 63

Depictions of the Annunciation usually show St Gabriel the Archangel handing lilies to Our Lady. Mary is often represented by lilies, and the Madonna Lily, named for her, is often called the Annunciation Lily in honor of this Feast and is a perfect ornament for the day. The Venerable Bede (A.D. 672-735) described the translucent white petals as symbolic of Mary's pure body, and the golden anthers as a symbol of the glory of her soul when she was taken up to Heaven at the Assumption.

Mary the dawn, Christ the Perfect Day;
Mary the gate, Christ the Heavenly Way!
Mary the root, Christ the Mystic Vine;
Mary the grape, Christ the Sacred Wine!

Mary the wheat, Christ the Living Bread;
Mary the stem, Christ the Rose blood-red!
Mary the font, Christ the Cleansing Flood;
Mary the cup, Christ the Saving Blood!
Mary the temple, Christ the temple's Lord;
Mary the shrine, Christ the God adored!
Mary the beacon, Christ the Haven's Rest;
Mary the mirror, Christ the Vision Blest!
Mary the mother, Christ the mother's Son
By all things blest while endless ages run. Amen.  

Mystical Rose

“When the Divine Child was conceived, Mary’s humanity gave Him hands and feet, eyes and ears, and a body with which to suffer. Just as the petals of a rose after a dew close on the dew as if to absorb its energies, so too Mary as the Mystical Rose closed upon Him Whom the Old Testament had described as a dew descending upon the earth. When finally she did give Him birth, it was as if a great ciborium had opened, and she was holding in her fingers the Guest Who was also the Host of the world, as if to say, ‘Look, this is the Lamb of God; look, this is He Who takes away the sins of the world.'"   

  Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Life of Christ

More on the Annunciation...

Click here: Feast of the Annunciation (Lady Day)

Click here: Feast of the Annunciation

The Annunciation heralds the beginning of our salvation.  By Mary's obedient "Fiat," the earth has become heaven. ... All that our heart cries out for became flesh in Mary's womb.  When we repeat the words of the angel by praying the Hail Mary, the Word of God germinates in our soul.  Christianity is this never-ending event of encounter with God made present in the maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Magnificat, Vol 15, No 2/April 2013, pg 120).

Jesus, I trust in You!

“Let your heart ever belong to God
through purity of intention, attachment to His love,
and confidence in His divine mercy. 

… You must reach the point where Jesus is sufficient to you.”
~ St. Peter Julian Eymard

  

Divine Mercy Sunday

"Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;

for forgiveness has risen from the grave."~ St John Chrysostom 

Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (#10):

"Especially from the Eucharist,

grace is poured forth upon us as from a fountain."

 

Fr. Michael Callea, MIC, at the Great Elevation

 "O what awesome mysteries take place during Mass! ... One day we will know what God is doing for us in each Mass, and what sort of gift He is preparing in it for us.  Only His divine love could permit that such a gift be provided for us ... this fountain of life gushing forth with such sweetness and power (Diary of St Faustina, 914) ...

"O living Host, my one and only strength, fountain of love and mercy, embrace the whole world, fortify faint souls.  Oh, blessed be the instant and the moment when Jesus left us His most merciful Heart!" (Diary of St Faustina, 223).

      

 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faint;

O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony. ~ Psalm 6:2

“Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to His Love

and the future to His Providence. ” ~ St. Augustine

 "Pray with great confidence, with confidence based upon the

goodness and infinite generosity of God and upon the promises of

Jesus Christ. God is a spring of living water which flows unceasingly

into the hearts of those who pray." ~ St. Louis de Montfort

Jesus, I trust in You!

Alleluia! sing to Jesus! (EASTER SATURDAY)

 

Alleluia! sing to Jesus! His the scepter, His the throne.
Alleluia! His the triumph, His the victory alone.
Hark! the songs of peaceful Zion thunder like a mighty flood.
Jesus out of every nation has redeemed us by His blood.

Alleluia! not as orphans are we left in sorrow now;
Alleluia! He is near us, faith believes, nor questions how;
Though the cloud from sight received Him when the forty days were o’er
Shall our hearts forget His promise, “I am with you evermore”?

Alleluia! bread of angels, Thou on earth our food, our stay;
Alleluia! here the sinful flee to Thee from day to day:
Intercessor, Friend of sinners, Earth’s Redeemer, plead for me,
Where the songs of all the sinless sweep across the crystal sea.

Alleluia! King eternal, Thee the Lord of lords we own;
Alleluia! born of Mary, Earth Thy footstool, Heav’n Thy throne:
Thou within the veil hast entered, robed in flesh our great High Priest;
Thou on earth both priest and victim in the Eucharistic feast.

William C Dix (1867)

Melody:  Llanfair -  Click here: Alleluia Sing To Jesus - YouTube