Go...with JOY...

    With joy you will draw water

from the wells of salvation. - Isaiah 12:3 

 

"Go to the heart of Jesus

and draw from it, 

and when you need more, 

go back to the Source 

and draw again."

St Madeleine Sophie Barat

Painting:  Institution of the Eucharist ~ Barocci

Traditionally...

During the Octave of All Saints' Day (Nov 1 thru Nov 8)

any of the faithful, by devoutly visiting a cemetery

and praying for the departed, can obtain

a plenary indulgence (each day this is done),

applicable to the holy souls in purgatory,

(under the usual conditions for obtaining indulgences).

 

Make every effort to do this!

Let us empty Purgatory!

_______________

"I will join in offering Holy Communion for the 

dear departed one, so that God who is rich in mercy 

may give him a share in the inheritance 

of the saints in light." - St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Union beyond compare...

   

"He who comes to Communion loses himself in God,

as a drop of water in the ocean.

They can be no more separated." - St John Vianney

"His union with those whom He loves surpasses 

every union of which one might conceive, and 

cannot be compared with any model. 

 Therefore even Scripture needed many illustrations to be able to express that connection, since one would not suffice.  In one place it employs the figures of an inhabitant and a dwelling, in another those of a vine and branch, here that of a marriage, there that of members and a head.  

None of those figures is adequate for that union, for it is impossible from these to attain to the exact truth.  Above all it is necessary that the union should conform to friendship - yet what could be adequate for divine love?

 ...So I come to that which is strangest.  To whom else could one be more closely united than to oneself?  Yet this very unity is inferior to that union.  For each of the spirits of the blessed ones is identical with himself, yet it is united to the Saviour more than to him.  It loves the Saviour more than itself."

Nicholas Cabasilas (+ 1392)

Greek monk, mystic, bishop

Stay quiet...

   Your beauty ... should be that of your inner self, 

the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, 
which is of great worth in God's sight. - I Peter 3: 3,4

 "Stay quiet with God.  

Do not spend your time 

in useless chatter.”

St. Charles Borromeo
Italy ~ 1538 -1584

Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal 

Towering figure of the Catholic Reformation
Key player - Council of Trent
Lived life of great humility and austerity,
always striving for holiness 
Patron saint of catechists, seminarians & bishops

Feast Day - November 4

Painting above: Grenville Manton (1855-1932): "Jesus, mi Senor, mi Dios"

"Be sure that you first preach by the way you live."  

St Charles Borromeo
_______________________

St Charles Borromeo offers some wise and beautiful words 

to Seminarians and Priests 

(and others can 'listen in' and merit too):

"My brothers, you must realize that for us churchmen nothing is more necessary than meditation. We must meditate before, during and after everything we do. The prophet says: I will pray, and then I will understand. When you administer the sacraments, meditate on what you are doing. When you celebrate Mass, reflect on the sacrifice you are offering. When you pray the Office, think about the words you are saying and the Lord to whom you are speaking. When you take care of your people, meditate on the Lord's blood that has washed them clean. In this way, all you do becomes a work of love. This is the way we can easily overcome the countless difficulties we have to face day after day, which, after all, are part of our work: in meditation we find the strength to bring Christ to birth in ourselves and in other men." (Office of Readings, November 4)

Life and Ministry of St Charles Borromeo - YouTub

St. Charles Borromeo, pray for us!

Our most valuable treasure...

 "Holy Mass is the most valuable 

treasure the Church has." 

St Lawrence of Brindisi

St Albertus - Detroit, MI (2010)

  "At every Mass, God offers us 

the opportunity to renew 

our commitment to Him."

St Teresa of Avila

_________________

The Lord's Day is the lord of days, 

but also remembering today... 

 St Martin de Porres

aka: St Martin of Charity

Dominican Coadjutor Brother
Peru ~ 1579-1639

Father: Peruvian nobleman

Mother: free slave of Panama

Patron saint of Social justice 

and Interracial harmony

Feast Day - November 3

In 1962, Pope St John XXIII beautifully remarked at the canonization of Saint Martin de Porres: "He excused the faults of others. He forgave the bitterest injuries, convinced that he deserved much severer punishments on account of his own sins. He tried with all his might to redeem the guilty; lovingly he comforted the sick; he provided food, clothing and medicine for the poor; he helped, as best he could, farm laborers and Negroes, as well as mulattoes, who were looked upon at that time as akin to slaves: thus he deserved to be called by the name the people gave him: 'Martin of Charity.'"

Click here: St. Martin de Porres - YouTube (2 mins) Apostleship of Prayer

St Martin de Porres, pray for us!

All Souls Day...

  All Souls Day*

Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed

November 2

*The commemoration of All Souls is rooted in the Church's 
strong conviction that we, the living, have a serious responsibility 
in love to accompany with prayer those who have died but who 
must yet complete the purificatory preparation every human being 
needs to be able to dwell in the all-encompassing love of God. 
(From Magnificat, November 2021, Vol 23, No 9)
www.magnificat.com

Artist - Ludovico Carracci

"Eternal Father, I offer You the most precious Blood

of Your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with

the Masses said throughout the world today,

for all the Holy Souls in purgatory.  Amen."

St Gertrude the Great

"I would go so far as to say that if there was no purgatory, then we would have to invent it, for who would dare say to himself that he was able to stand directly before God. .... (God) can cleanse us in such a way that we are able to be with Him and can stand there in the fullness of life.  Purgatory strips off from one person what is unbearable and from another the inability to bear certain things, so that in each of them a pure heart is revealed, and we can see that we all belong together in one enormous symphony of being." - Pope Benedict XVI 

LITTLE LITANY OF THE HOLY SOULS 

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. 

Holy Souls, Pray for us. For the souls of our families, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of our friends, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of our enemies, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all pagans, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all priests, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all religious, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of the just, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all sinners, We pray Thee, O God. For the Holy Souls in Purgatory, We pray Thee, O God. For those who have none to pray for them, We pray Thee, O God. O almighty and eternal God, we beg Thee to have mercy on the Holy Souls in Purgatory, especially those for whom we  are bound to pray; and we ask Thee also to listen to the prayers of the Blessed Souls in our behalf. Amen.

All Souls Day ~ Jakub Schikaneder (1888)

  PRAYER FOR A HAPPY DEATH…

written by St John Henry Cardinal Newman

O my Lord and Savior, support me in my last hour by the strong arms of Thy sacraments, and the fragrance of Thy consolations. Let Thy absolving words be said over me, and the holy oil sign and seal me; and let your own body be my food, and Thy blood my sprinkling; and let Thy Mother Mary come to me, and my angel whisper peace to me, and Thy glorious saints and my own dear patrons smile on me, that in and through them all I may die as I desire to live, in Thy Church, in Thy faith, and in Thy love. Amen.   

My Jesus, mercy.

____________________

*MORE on All Souls Day...   Click here: All Souls Day 

 BOTH EXCELLENT!!  DVD: Purgatory: The Forgotten Church  

(Director: Fr John Clote) 

BOOK: Purgatory - Explained by the Lives and Legends of the Saints (Author:  Fr F.X. Schouppe)

Let us empty purgatory!

_________________________________

Remember those, O Lord,

Who in Your peace have died,

Yet may not gain love's high reward

Till love is purified 

With You they faced death's night

Sealed with Your victory sign;

Soon may the splendor of Your light

On them forever shine!

  

“Grant, O Lord, that I may experience a reasonable sorrow at the death of those who are dear to me, shedding tears of resignation over our mortal condition, yet soon restraining them by this consoling thought of the faith: that in dying, the faithful have only withdrawn a little from us to go into a better world.   May I not weep as do the pagans who are without hope. I may have reason to be sad, but in my affliction hope will comfort me. With hope so great, it is not fitting, O my God, that Your temple should be in mourning. You dwell there, You who are our Consoler; and You cannot fail in Your promises.” - St. Augustine